Oil line removal question (to repair crushed line)

[mthomas58]

My final parts order is on the way (new clutch) in preparation for my engine swap which I hope to complete upon return from a well needed week of vacation in Hilton Head.

While the engine is out I'm going to tackle fixing a crushed oil line to the front cooler using the air compressor/propane torch method. I've heard horror stories about the hard line/thermostat connections in the rear wheel well. Is it best to remove both lines and the thermostat as one unit and handle the connections on the bench?

[KTL]

Mark,

I'll say that you have no choice but to remove the aux. oil lines as a pair connected to the thermostat bottom and work it on the bench in a vise. There's just not good access to the two collar nuts on the bottom of the thermostat.

Good luck with the removal. As you alluded to, it's not always a pretty picture after removing the thermostat connections. I've done a handful of thermostat jobs and some came clean, some not. Even when it comes apart cleanly, you will likely find that you have to really clean the threads well to get it back together easily.

[mthomas58]

Some thermostat connection tips from Tim Hancock ....thanks Tim!

".......when I did mine, I ended up removing the lines and thermostat as an assy which allowed me better access for heating/penetrant soaking/wrenching on the lines where they attach to the thermostat. It may sound like more work, but int the end it is probably the easiest way.

There have been many posts about how to disconnect the frozen lines at the thermostat many of which recommend cutting the nut with a dremel (which means you are going to have to replace the line).

While I am a big fan of heat for most stubborn fasteners, the thermostat is kind of a different animal as the threaded area is thin walled aluminum which seems to heat up at the same rate as the big heavy nut you are trying to expand with heat to facilitate removal. I found that multiple combinations of heat and PB Blaster ALONG with SITTING over night after the last volley of heat and penetrating oil did the trick for me. The one offending nut I was having trouble with came off with very little force the next morning even though the night before I was convinced it was not coming off without splitting the nut or damaging the thermostat and it's threads via brute force."

More good info here in this thread:

1982 SC Oil Line replacement


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[SCrescue]

+1 regarding Tim Hancock's comments above...came to the same conclusions myself through experience.

Last night I had to change the aft inboard line with a new backdated line and decided it was more prudent to dremel the nut off rather than try to remove it intact. Worked like a charm...

Mike...

[damian911]

I had a crushed oil line on the passenger side from a inexperienced employee at ntb who put his jack right underneath the lines.....well i found it months later and it actually looked like it was half way crushed so i decided to cut the crushed area out, bout 2 inches and replaced it with rubber and clamps....Of course i didnt use just any rubber, i located a heavy duty truck auto parts location and told them i needed a high temp. rubber oil line and they gave me some pretty tuff stuff that ive been using for several years and has worked great.....not sure if this was what u needed but works and didnt need to remove that hard and pretty exp. oil line.....damian

[mthomas58]

More frozen thermostat connection information here:

For those of you with crushed oil lines...

After further consideration, I think I'm going to postpone this project to another day rather than tackle it in tandem with the engine drop and swap.

I can see this project spinning quickly out of control with the potential for some serious downtime and more $$$ neither of which I'm prepared to deal with until I complete the swap and any associated surprises.