Its not so much the threads - the flare nut is often seized to the line - I agreed with Carl use a little heat -- but prior to that lots of 'witches brew' stuff can't hurt 

Thanks Guys, I'll use the 50/50 ATF Acetone mix.

The plan,

I'll take a wire wheel on a drill and clean it up the best I can first. It does pull out from the frame much further than the picture shows. I'm going to clamp a little metal shelf on below the line. Place a small little magnetic pan underneath the fitting. Wrap a small strip of torn cloth around the fitting and place it into the pan. Hopefully it will wick up to and onto the fitting. Replenish daily. Leave it for a week or so. Dry the outside of the nut off completely, Heat, cool, then give it a try.

And I'm going to buy a better line wrench. I have a set, but they are cheap Chinese crap, and I have buggered even good nuts with them. I might have to resort to a small vice grip, but that wouldn't be too bad provided the nut is free from the line. 

Cheers.

See if you can borrow a Snap-On line wrench, they're much better quality than even the Craftsman ones I have.

One of the best way is with heat from a torch, and not just a straight propane torch, doesn't get hot enough. Your have to get that nut red.

For home use I have found the Bernz O Matic Oxygen/MAP gas torch works great. Nice small tip for heating that nut. Pick them up at any hardware store.

seventy2plus2 wrote:

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See if you can borrow a Snap-On line wrench, they're much better quality than even the Craftsman ones I have.

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 Exactly!   I found a set of Snap On line (flarenut) wrenches at a pawn shop a while ago and I haven't used my Craftsman set since then.

Deep 6 point socket is a great idea. Thanks for all the hints guys!

My advantage is if I can hold the flare nut tight, I can turn the flex line fitting avoiding twisting of the line. If I can get that far, I can work on freeing the nut from the line.

I like the idea of using the line wrench, in concert with a big vise grip clamping down on the wrench end.

The line is soaking in the 50/50 as we speak. I'll give it a couple of days.

Basically, although this seems like a lot of fuss to avoid a damaged line, I have no interest in using any kind of compression repair fitting. Although it could be possible to cut the line towards the rear of the frame, pull the line down to the ground and perform a McGiver double flare on the ground somehow.

cheers.

Well, all told, sometimes there is no easy way of freeing a flare nut from inside a 47 year old fitting. 

I left this fitting wrapped in cloth, soaking in the magic ATF and Acetone for two weeks. Replenished 3 times.

Today, I Sawsalled the rubber line side fitting down to the hex, 6 pt socket on tight. On the flare nut, I used a line wrench with a old school genuine Vice Grip mega clamping down on the wrench jaws... No go. The tiny soft flare nut fitting just spun in the wrench. In fact, after I gave up and spun it off to break the line, for giggles I put the fitting in a vice and super clamped onto the nut with the big Vice Grips. No go. And without heat (which I would not have done in car previous for risk of fire) that was the end of it.

So now what?

Cut the line in a good accessible spot, just as the line comes down over the frame to run down to the front. There are 5 frame clips to bump the line out of. On my car, they all popped out no issue. The more clips you can get out of, the more freedom you have to manipulate the line. Filthy with dirt and oil in the clips, but no real rust.

Droop the main line down, let the fluid drain out onto a rag. Manipulate out the cut rear section. Keep it as true as possible for reference for making the new line.

Make and flare the new rear section. Tape off the ends as to avoid crap from getting in the ends during the install. Fit the section.

And here's the rest,

The McGiver flare rig...

Clamped it to a solid section of the stand, and the blue clamp holds the line tight in the China Auto flare jig (it isn't the best by any means!). All quite solid on the ground actually.

For me, careful squaring and chamfering of the line end, reaming, cleaning, a little oil, good squaring of the die... and not over tightening the final fold over always has resulted in a good flare, regardless of my old crappy jig. But I would surely like one of those new Eastwood rigs.

Nice! And I didn't forget the nut before flaring this time!

A decent repair. Not a nice as a full line, but all round pretty safe I think. No place for a compression fitting here. I kept the old stone guard on the main line, but left it off the new. I was once told by a mechanic that the main cause of rusted lines on these cars was the gravel guard wrap. It held dirt and moisture, and the rest was inevitable. I'm amazed at the condition of this thing underneath. If it wasn't for that one pesky fitting... Oh well!

Looking at the complete line, I actually think I could (if the line would free from the front dist. block) replace it in one piece. But this will do for now.

Here's the little bugger....

Cheers, Mark

Glad the gaskets worked out well for you Jim. You'll be happy with them. Did the inserts go in no trouble as I'd mentioned they're delicate?