Fuel Rail Cover Install?

Hey All....

I tried the search function, came up nada. So I'm asking, what all does it take to install fuel rail covers on my '95? I've heard you have to change a brake line, remove fuel lines, re-direct wire harness? I'm sure someone here has done this, just wanting to get an idea of how bad a pita this is before I actually buy some of these...TIA....Tom

Hopefully someone can post some pics for ya, I don't have any.

Brake line - You replace the vacuum hose from the brake booster to the intake. The one used with the 'Vette rail covers routes differently to accommodate the covers.

Fuel lines - This is the tough part. It's easiest to disconnect the fuel rails while working on this. But you also have to slightly bend them so they clear the covers.

Wire harness - This is really just a matter of taking off the bracket that's there and mashing the wiring harness down between the intake and valve covers. Mashing gently of course so as not to break the 15-17 year old wiring there.

Hope this helps!

You actually need to really fight that harness on the drivers side to get it on the other side of the fuel lines. It was way more of a pain in the balls than I was expecting. be sure to unplug the fuel injectors first so you don't pull the wires out of the pins. (ask me how I know )

What's been said already - these wiring harnesses are 15-16 years old. Work carefully!

Thanx for all the helpful info guys....where do I find a vaccum hose that won't kink making all those bends? Or is there a specific pre-formed one I could buy?

Such as the one seen here in the link...
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Is this the hose I need?

The hose I have is preformed and came with the rails (I bought the set from a forum member). That one looks right but I'd have to go find mine to compare.

Well, after much contimplating about wether that hose looks right, I went ahead and found one on weepay and bought one that looked like it, from a '92 vette. I'm 90% certian it will work, or 100% certian I WILL make it work if it doesn't. Ordered my fuel rail covers....in around a weekish I will have my stuff to do this....thanx for all the input.

Good luck to ya! Let's see some pics too!

Thank you...and will doccument my journey with 'da pics [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

You can use the Vette booster hose, but you will need an adapter and a splice. Or, you can use a Gates hose from a truck app, and it has the perfect 90 bend and doesn't need the adapter.

Here is the hose I came up with...looks to have all the right bends...I'll make it work.

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I guess I'm just a cheap bastid. I got the fuel rail covers for free and had to scrounge the mounting posts (from 3 different people, no less) and went to AZ and bought 6 feet of hose, used leftover steel tubing from a oil cooler line repair and bent it into shape, then ran the steel line into the vacuum hose. Been working fine for 2 years now.

the problem:

creased hose.
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The leftover tube:

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all bent up:

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and complete:

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Nothing wrong with being a cheap bastard, lol...I've earned that title on several occasions. After 2 years, if it still works, can't nobody put you down for that.....

Well, here's the update. I got my covers, studs, and the hose all this week. Now, the challenge. Finding the time to install. Having a 6 month old, a jungle for a yard in despiration of mowing, and all the other good things that go with life while working 12 hour days during the week...

I have run into a problem already...the corvette brake booster hose is 11/32, as the caprice hose is 1/2...wonder if I can get some reducers or something to make this work.... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Well, a week later and I've made some progress. The 'vette hose I got was too small in diamater, so I had to get somewhat creative. I pulled the fitting from the intake, and replaced it with one that had a 3/8 barb as opposed to the 1/2 from the factory. Cost, $3.00 from lowes.
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Next, I got a double male adapter (3/8 to 1/2) and attached it to the end of the vette hose, and on the other end cut off a bit of the factory 1/2 hose to hook to the brake booster. Looks kinda ghetto, but it'll work for now.
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On a side note, the RAISS makes a great clutter catcher, lol...
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I then removed the homepl8 bracket and added the mounting studs for the covers....
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And this is where I'm at now, I didn't have the correct size fuel disconnect tool, so I have to get one....it still looks much better than before [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

From my turn at doing this mod....it will also help you if you get some small washers to act as spacers at the bottoms of the studs. (you don't have to have the studs threaded in all the way)

This will allow some 'wiggle' room with the harness stuffing. IIRC I used two small washers on each stud. You don't see that once the covers are installed.

Chris

Thanx for that advice...I will get some washers...I can definitely see where I'm gonna need some more clearance.

Getting rid of home plate and the bracket sure does clean the bay up! Lookin good!

Well....finally done. Didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped for it to, but it's done. And yes, it was a ROYAL PITA.
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I tried to drill holes for the fuel lines, couldn't get it right, ended up having to notch it out...my Jedi skills were weak, lol...
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I couldn't get the wiring harness covered up completely on the drivers side, so it's kinda faulty looking...
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The pcv hose was pushing up the cover, so I had to re-route it thru the bigger hose as seen in this pic...straight GHETTO [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] .

Another note, not seen in the pics, is the small vaccum line on the pass side that was too short after re-routing the harness to the other side of the fuel lines, which is a whole different pita in itself. I had to extend the line around 2", luckily I had a junk harness laying around that I cut the extra needed line off of.

In summary, I'm happy it's done, it's better than before, I'm not completely content with it, but, I'm gonna rock it as is....

And did I mention, I'm happy it's done [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Now, go and get some red "touch up pen" paint and fill in the letters..... looks WAY better IMHO

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I was thinking I may do the letters in blue, since my air filter and pinstripe is blue.

phastlt1 wrote:

I was thinking I may do the letters in blue, since my air filter and pinstripe is blue.

Someone..... Stewart I think..... put LED's behing the covers so the "corvette' lights up...........

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

phastlt1 wrote:

I was thinking I may do the letters in blue, since my air filter and pinstripe is blue.

Someone..... Stewart I think..... put LED's behing the covers so the "corvette' lights up...........

I've seen pics of that....very sharp

Anyone have any pics of what it all looks like once the hoses and wires are re-routed, but before you clip the covers on? Would be helpful to see how the wiring harness and such ends up sitting.

I'm about to tackle this mod on my 96 Roadmaster wagon. Got the covers, mounting studs, and Vette brake hose. I pulled off the Home Plate cover and the tangle of hoses, wires, and tubes is a little daunting. BUT I really want to do this mod.

This is a GREAT post, thanks for putting it up.

-Mike

Well, I HAD it, but it must have been deleted. The main concern is the harness on the drivers side, as you have to disconnect the fuel lines and pull the harness to the outside of them....yes there is stretching involved, and it's not real easy to do. As mentioned earlier in this thread, if possible disconnect the injector plugs so you don't accidentaly pull the wire out of the plug. Also, I found it to be necessary to extend the vaccum hose on the passenger side (off the intake) as it wasn't quite long enough to stay connected.

phastlt1 wrote:

Well, I HAD it, but it must have been deleted. The main concern is the harness on the drivers side, as you have to disconnect the fuel lines and pull the harness to the outside of them....yes there is stretching involved, and it's not real easy to do. As mentioned earlier in this thread, if possible disconnect the injector plugs so you don't accidentaly pull the wire out of the plug. Also, I found it to be necessary to extend the vaccum hose on the passenger side (off the intake) as it wasn't quite long enough to stay connected.

It is just as easy and no stress on the harness if you just pull your injectors out of the intake. Gives you a chance to change the o-rings...........

Thanks for the tips. Will post how it comes out this weekend

Man that was NO FUN. Was up almost all night but at long last my Vette rail covers are on. No check engine lights yet...ha! Was SCARY pulling, strectching, and re-routing those harnesses and hoses.

Started the job by removing and exchanging the EGR valve again. In my other post I'd mentioned that the car had a slightly rough idle after doing this job last week. When I pulled it off I used a mirror and sure enough there was some old gasket residue around the mounting studs. Got all that off, and for good measure exchanged the 1-week-old Roadmaster EGR for a 96 Z28-6spd EGR. Not real sure what the difference is, but had read it was a good idea to use the F-body EGR.

Fired the car up and it ran smooth as new again.

Next to relieve fuel pressure and because I hadn't done it yet anyway, I got under the car and put on a new fuel filter. Then went back to the engine compartment and used one of the fittings from the $8 kit I bought to remove both fuel lines. Still spit some gas but I had a towel under them. Not too messy.

Next I tackled the fuel rails. SUCH fun. I unplugged all the fuel injectors. Then I ended up having to cut the PVC metal hose and add some rubber hose to get it down below where the main harness would run. Replaced the PVC valve too...since it's now buried that was a good idea.


Ended up removing the mounts for the wiring harness on the engine and in front of the ABS unit under the intake, and to get the wiring harness behind the the fuel lines I re-routed the harness over the ABS unit. Was able to stretch the harness behind the fuel lines after that. Carefully.... Had some issues getting the fuel injectors re-plugged and had to cut the wiring wrap a little to get more length in the wires.

Next I installed the GM truck brake vacumn hose from the intake to the brake booster. This gets tucked under the fuel lines and above the wiring harness. Move shoving involved...

Installed the rail cover mounts and spent about 30-mins pushing all the harness down and test-fitting and modifying the fuel rail cover. As ususal the drivers side cover does not sit flush....there was no way, too much stuff under it. Used three washers per stud to get the mounting studs high enough to engage...it is what it is!

Next went to the passenger side. Lots of re-routing of vacumn hoses here. I have some kind of a vacumn relay thing on this side that it seems lots of other LT1's didn't have. Don't know what it is, but part of it was bolted to one of the holes where the rail cover studs mounts. Had to re-mount that unit near the front of the engine and extend two vacumn hoses.

That being said I NEED some new rubber hoses for the passenger side of the engine. All mine are dry-rotted, and I doubt GM still stocks them. Will post exactly what I need in the Parts Wanted section....if you have them PLEASE let me know.

Back to the install. Had to bend the transmisson dipstick tube up near the wiper motor, and move the engine harness down and back, re-connected the fuel injectors and then spent some time getting the rail cover to fit. Hardest part here was getting the diptick and harness far enough back and down to get the cover on. FUN.

Finished the job by installing the chrome Buick emblem I'd ordered for the upper plate on the top of the intake. Looks cool.

Got done about 3 AM. Much to my surprise the car fired right up, ran smooth, and as mentioned, no check engine lights yet. I'm a little leery about all that wiring shoved down there in the heat between the intake and heads....but other have done this mod so hopefully it'll be fine.

It sure looks cool! Enjoy the pics!

-Mike

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I do want to be clear that I am not a mechanic and this job was NOT rocket science. I very much reccomend doing it. LOVE the look. If you decide to do it just go slow and think it through. It's WELL worth the effort!

-Mike

81X11 wrote:

I do want to be clear that I am not a mechanic and this job was NOT rocket science. I very much reccomend doing it. LOVE the look. If you decide to do it just go slow and think it through. It's WELL worth the effort!

-Mike

Piece of cake!! Looks nice!! I like the Buick logo........

Great work and that's one clean engine bay too!

Damn, that looks familiar......

On the Corvette emblems, did they come that way, or did you paint them silver? Mine came black....

I also LOVE that look

Looks sweet! Good job

those look like LT4 fuel rail covers,. LT4 rail covers have the word corvette in red,.

nick

a red scratch pen fixed that for me.......

Hi all, actually I got those rail covers from a local guy here. They're standard LT-1 covers. He'd had his Impala SS engine detailed, and they had sprayed something on the engine that put big white splotches on those covers. He'd pitched a fit and the detailer bought him new rail covers, and he posted the damaged ones on CraigsList for a whopping $25. They were pre-cut since they came off an Impala already, and the guys gave me some good install tips.

When I got them home, in additon to the splotches, some of the black paint had come off the Corvette emblems. They are flat silver metal under the black paint. I used a small paint brush and some Aircraft Stripper paint remover to get the rest of the paint off the emblems, so they were solid bare silver metal.

I then scrubbed the entire covers with Ajax, and taped over the bare metal Vette emblems, and used a razor knife to cut out the areas I wanted black inside the circle on the emblems. I then painted the entire rail covers high-heat satin black, and while they were still tackly peeled the masking tape off the emblems.

Lastly was paint details. Got out my tiny modeling paintbrushes and painted the black checkers on the flags, the red and black Chevy bowties on the emblem flags, and then carefully painted the Corvette letters red on the covers themselves. I'm really happy with how they came out....was not easy as I have shaky hands....ha!

Thanks for all the nice comments! Posted some pics from the local cruise-in tonight on the Local Shows section of the forum. I will say those rail covers REALLY got the car noticed! Best mod so far!

-Mike

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Oh one more thing since I posted the pics this morning. I put small black plugs in the two holes on the driver's side cover where the throttle cable and cruise cable mount on the Corvettes. I though about trying to attach my cables to the rail covers...but I have a hard time getting that cover to stay in place without something lifting up on it.

Anyway if you do this mod pick up two small push-in plugs from the Help section at any auto parts store. Looks much better with those.

And the above pic really makes me want to go clean the bugs out of the a/c condesor and detail the front side of the radiator support.

It will never be done! Ha!

-Mike

WOW. now that's what Im talkin about. Great job and thank you for the details. I will get to this someday when I have some time. Looks well worth the effort.

Hi all. A word of warning here for 96 OBD-II LT1 owners. On the passenger side there is a Evap Purge Selenoid and Valve that the 94 and 95 cars don't have. I'm tripping the check engine light and it's related to these components, which all have to be re-routed to make the rail covers fit.

It's driving me nuts. Had no CE light before. Am replacing hoses and other parts TRYING to get the light out.

Best advice is tread lightly on the 96 cars.

I hate OBD-II!

-Mike

Don't hate OBD2, just have a tuner who knows what he's doing change the error thresholds or program them out. Not a big deal.

Your fuel rail covers look very nice. A couple of points:
1. My driver's side cover doesn't sit down quite as nicely for the same reason - LOTS of wires. Remember that the Corvettes don't have nearly as many wires running through this area as B-bodies do because of the pcm location.
2. No, my throttle cables don't stay in the little brackets either. The B-body firewall is a lot higher than the corvette so while it works perfectly in the corvette, the cables have to go up a lot higher in the B-body and so they don't like to stay in those cables. I never installed those little holder thingies and nobody has ever said anything.

I wish I could find someone locally that know how to take that error code out. No joke!

Tip for those who dare on a 96. Take a really good look at where the vaccumn lines mount on the passenger side of the intake before taking everything off the mounts. OBD-II is super picky, and if you have a leak or cross a line, you're going to have a CE light.

Still my favorite mod on the car so far, it looks awesome, but between EGR and Evap codes it's been a struggle to make it "right".

Such fun!

-Mike

Do any of you guys happen to know the size of the vacuum hose needed? I'm going to parts store tomorrow and want to get what I need if possible.
Thanks! Its on my 95 .

The Corvette hose was smaller. I bought one, and all the adaptors to make it fit....then took a look at it, said "this is stupid", went to the parts store and bought a length of hose, cut it to fit and and plugged it in. No adaptors, no mods, well over a year and still working fine!

Wish I had a better picture for you. Have checked it a few times and it has no kinked or collapsed.

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I should have been more clear.......I already swapped the Brake Booster hose with the one suggested from Napa, and it works great!

I "thought" I read that there are small vacuum hoses on the passenger side that need to be extended..........those are the ones I am thinking of. I'd like to possibly get the hose or hose barbs so I have them on hand before I get back to working on this project. I just like to have everything on hand as my parts stores are all 30+ miles away!

Deadmanonduty wrote:

I should have been more clear.......I already swapped the Brake Booster hose with the one suggested from Napa, and it works great!

I "thought" I read that there are small vacuum hoses on the passenger side that need to be extended..........those are the ones I am thinking of. I'd like to possibly get the hose or hose barbs so I have them on hand before I get back to working on this project. I just like to have everything on hand as my parts stores are all 30+ miles away!

Being a '95 you may not have to make a bunch of changes over there... I don't remember offhand what size that hose is, but will look later after work.

SO how's this for reviving an old thread?   I installed my Vette Rail Covers in 2010, and now have a good wagon buddy in Maine that is about to attempt this project on his '96 wagon.   Thought I'd post some current 2018 pics here...so my friend in New Hampshire can rib on me more for posting pics of my "boring white" wagon.

This is STILL one of my favorite mods, only second to the Z28 gauge cluster and Impala wheels.
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Have a GREAT holiday weekend folks!

-Texas Mike

HOLY REVIVED THREAD BATMAN!!

And now that the wires are 8 years more brittle, while it does look nice, I would never ever do this again on a B-body without a brand new wiring harness. Too much risk in cracking the insulation and now you have a car that's susceptible to rain and humidity.