When I removed the radiator during the inner fender replacement one of the transmission lines got kinked. It had to be replaced. I was undoing it from the radiator and didn't realize it was twisting with the nut as I loosened it. They were pieced together and had obviously been fixed sometime in the past. I had them on the list of things I wanted to do but I wasn't planning on it at this time. They thought otherwise :p   I called Mustangs Unlimited and ordered the CNC preformed stainless steel lines for '67-'70 V8 with the C4.

These are the new prebent stainless steel transmission cooling lines laying on the tile floor in the basement. I got them from Mustang's Unlimited. They are part # MUT1006S and well worth the $70. These are for 1967-1970 Mustangs with a V8 and C4.

The lines showed up 2 days later and I held them up under the car, they looked perfect! Now it was time to remove the old ones. As soon as I went to undo the first connection at the transmission I reached the first problem. The fitting was up near the top of the transmission with only an inch clearance on either side of the line between the transmission itself and the transmission tunnel. The line was also pointing straight down plus the nut was rounded up a bit showing that someone else had trouble with it in the past. The flare nut wrenches I had wouldn't go onto the nut due to it's position, plus when I tried the regular wrenches I had 2 problems: no leverage to reach with my hand and turn the wrench up there, plus with the nut being damaged they wouldn't grab easily. Damn! I'd have to think about this for awhile.

I couldn't start the engine until these lines were fixed. I thought about having the car towed somewhere to have this fixed but they would have to deal with the same problems. How would they handle it? Maybe I could drop the transmission to reach them? That would be a bit of work, plus the opportunity to open another can of worms. If only I could reach up there somehow with something but be able to turn the nut from below since there wasn't enough room. Then it dawned on me, I needed something I didn't have, crow's foot wrenches! I could put the crows foot on an extension to reach the nut and be able to turn it with a ratchet or the small 3/8" breaker bar I have. I grabbed the new corresponding line and measured the nut. It took a 1/2" wrench, time for a trip to Sears!

This is the best shot I could get of the difficult fitting. It's behind the vacuum modulator tube, connected to the brass fitting leaving the tranny. This was taken after the new line was installed. I had to go out and buy crow's feet wrenches to accomplish this.

At Sears I found the crow's feet. They sell them separately, plus in sets of standard and metric available in pouches. Since they were something I could possibly need from time to time I decided to buy the standard set. It would be cheaper than adding on to them in the long run. Then the second thought dawned on me for the day: the nut was damaged. While the nut was or had been a 1/2", being rounded the 1/2" crow's foot may not be the right size to remove it. Being rounded it may need a 12mm since that's the next size down from 1/2" before you get to 7/16". I wasn't about to go home only to find out I needed a metric foot and have to come back. I also grabbed the gray pouch with the complete set of metric crow's feet. Between both sets I should have what I need plus it gave me a good reason to add crow's feet sets to my toolbox :)

I was correct in my assumption. With the damaged nut the 1/2 crow's foot would slip off but with the 12mm it went on tight enough to break it loose. I actually had to wriggle with it a bit to get it on. The line was soon completely free and out of the way. I was able to use my flare nut wrenches to undo the other fittings.

Getting the new lines in place was a bit tricky and took many tries. With them being prebent and due to the length I wound up feeding then through the front. I couldn't get them from the rear no matter how many times I tried. Luckily the radiator was out which gave me the ability to go from the front. With the radiator in place I think it would be almost impossible. There were quite a few obstructions to snake them around and through. The lines were also blown out with compressed air before being hooked up. If there was any dirt or debris in there it would have wound up in the tranny and radiator.

Once they were in place I was good to go and they bolted right up. They also bolted right up to the radiator  once I reinstalled it a few weeks later. I had to use the 1/2" crow's foot for that one fitting. It worked perfect. If you're going to do this job I highly suggest the crow's feet, they will make it much easier. The complete sets at Sears are $40 each but if you really don't want to pay that or want just certain sizes you can buy then separate for a few dollars each. Just remember that if you do decide to add on from time to time you will pay much more than the initial $40 for a complete set.

Once I was able to restart the car I topped off the transmission fluid since some was lost from the removal of the radiator and cooling lines.

The new lines look good under the car. They actually insult the rest of the underside! Looks like I'll have to work on detailing the underside more sometime in the future. At least they won't rust or tarnish like regular lines will. As I replace any lines on my cars I try to go with stainless if they are available.

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