The rubber insert inside the electrical connector went brittle, presumably through exposure to the petrol that was spraying on it from the crack in the now-epoxied plastic dome

As I raised the fuel filter housing out the orange gasket seal came into view. I couldn't see anything visibly wrong with the seal but decided to replace it anyway. The two electrical connectors are also visible in the foreground

Undoing the two electrical connectors allowed the fuel filter housing to come up some more. I'm guessing one is to power the fuel pump, the other for the fuel level gauge. I wasn't really in the mood to investigate

I zip-tied the two connectors to a seat bracket as I didn't fancy fishing them out of the fuel tank if they were to slip in unceremoniously

This picture summarizes the biggest obstacle I faced in the entire procedure. The fuel filter housing has three hoses attached to it. Two of them are easily disconnected with black quick-connects, but the middle hose is crimped on. Any attempt to undo this crimp-clamp requires replacement with a new clamp (and ideally a special tool to ensure snugness)

From the replacement part I knew that there was a quick-connect at the other end of this hose, but couldn't tell where it terminated from the top deck. I stuck a decent amount of arm in to figure out that it was headed to the other side of the fuel tank but couldn't quite reach the end

After much deliberation I ultimately decided to open up the other side to investigate what was happening

It was a fairly similar story on the other side once the protective lid was removed. An electrical connector and two quick-connects here. I found that a plastic trim removal tool makes it easier to pop off the quick-connect as it allowed me to focus on properly depressing the release tab

Et voilà this half is where the fuel pressure regulator resides!

I discovered that the other end of the third hose connected to the FPR housing. Makes sense in hindsight. I tied and zip-tied some electrical wire around this connector after disconnecting it from the housing for a reason that should become apparent shortly

At this point I could return back to the fuel filter housing and pull the third hose out all the way

At this point the two black quick-connects were the only things attaching the fuel filter housing to the car. Disconnecting them was fairly drama-free. Germanic wisdom dictates that the two hoses have different diameters, so it's impossible to get them on backwards. If I'm not mistaken, these should be the feed lines coming from the fuel pumps. And yes, this car has two fuel pumps

Now, here's where that bit of electrical wire came in handy. I used it to pull through the new connector back to the other side of the fuel tank. Saved me from a lot more finagling for sure!

And that was pretty much it really. The rest of it was just buttoning up the fuel system, recharging the battery and testing the car for any fuel leaks

You make it look easy :o)

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 it must be the nitrile gloves :)

You at work?

@Zaid - Yah

The stupid connection is timing out again, so got a double post.

I'm in the process of building a slide hammer/vice-grips combo.

I'll see if I can post a pic of what I have after I get home.

Basically, I have a pair of knock-off Vice Grips (which appear to be of pretty good build). I didn't want to use any of my "real" Vice-Grips as if it doesn't work, I didn't want to be out a $20-30 pair of good Vice Grips, so I went to Harbor Freight and picked up one of their "better" pairs, which was $7 (their cheap ones are ~$5).

I then purchased a 4' length of 1/2" rod.

To make the weighted throw, I bought 3/4" nuts, were as big and as heavy as I could find at Lowe's. I've since welded them together, with some pieces of metal which I formed a bit to sit over the top of the bolts (long wise). I then attached thick large metal washers, one on each end. These washers are about 2.5" wide with a 1/2" hole in the middle. They slide very nice.

I threaded the end of the rod and put a couple of nuts on the end of it.

I went to the metal place and bought a chunk of 2"x4" round stock solid steel. The idea was to drill a 1/2" hole down the middle and use it as my "throw weight". I realized when I got home I didn't have a "good" way of drilling a hole through it. Soooooo, I'm thinking about using it a my end stop instead of the nuts. I can drill a hole down far enough into it I can cut threads on it, then I can thread it onto the end of the rod to use as my stop.

The added weight on the end of it should work with the kinetic energy of the slide to make the whole thing be more impactful. I don't know if that's right, but it seems right to me.

I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to attach the bolt to the rod, but I've got some ideas.

I can't picture where the Vise grips are going to go

@Zaid - You put the Vice-Grips at the end of the rod. The purpose is to grab something and hold on to it securely, so you can use the slide on the rod to pull it out with weighted persuasion.

The rod will be directly behind and inline with the clamping force of the jaws, that way it won't be bending anything as it's pulling it out.

It's just a straight pull.

Gotcha. But what pray tell are you yanking with this widget?

Wellllllll ...

Remember when I said I was having an issue with sticking exhaust valves?

Uh huh

I was working the valves back and forth trying to get them to be free enough to pull out of the head.

While I was doing this, I hit one of the valves wrong and busted the head off of it.

The only way I figure to get it out without killing the valve guide is by pulling it out. Not much to grab onto, I tried just using a set of Vice-Grips to get the stem to twist, but it wsn't having it.

So, my next best option is to do this and try to pull it out.

If this doesn't work, or I end up screwing up the valve guide (very likely), I've got a set of aluminum heads with 2.02"/1.60" valves I want to pick up off of eBay. Standard heads for this engine are 1.94/1.50 and cast iron.

The price on the heads is $567 for the pair ... very reasonable. I've not seen any bad info on them, so it's worth a gamble.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 outer diameter/inner diameters?

the size is the head diameter for Intake/Exhaust valves (respectively)

Oh yeah, lol

For some reason I thought you were talking about the valve guides

2.02" valves flow pretty good. These come stock with a 3-angle valve job

So you're going to have to enlarge the valve seats a bit

@Zaid - No. These would be completely new heads.

I'll post some info on them when I get home.

Oh, I thought you wanted to use just the valves from them

If I can't get the stuck valve out of this head, these are pretty much toast. It'd cost me a bit of money to get them fixed, money which I'd rather sink into getting new heads. Makes a lot more sense.

(Which in hindsight would make for a very expensive set of valves)

If I can get this stuck valve out of the head, I'm going to get a set of stainless valves of the same size which came out. Then I'll just have to lap them in and call it a day.

You know anything about lapping ;-)

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 you bet :)

I am skeptical that the Vise grips will provide enough purchase

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 How's the other end of the broken valve?

@Zaid - There is still part of the "tulip" where it busted, so there is something to grab hold of.

@Zaid - The other end may be shroomed just a tad. I'm going to have to grind off the tip to make sure I'm not pulling it through the guide.

Is there any possibility to press the valve out?

@Zaid - Maybe, but I don't have any way to make it happen. The stem is too thin to get anything in there to press on it (reliably). Pulling it seems like the best option.

Are the other valves out?

And is the broken valve one of the middle two?

Yes, the other valves are out. And yes, it is one of the two middle exhaust valves.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 is the valve stem diameter close enough to a size of commonly available steel rod stock?

@Zaid - I have a punch the right size which is not doing the job. I'd not want to trying to wedge it between my hydraulic press and the head to see if I could get it to press it out.

The punch is what "might have" mushroomed the end a little bit. Right now I cannot get it to move either way (in or out). I think this is a losing battle with this head, so going to cut my losses if this puller idea doesn't pan out.

I will still be able to use the puller for other things if it doesn't work for this. I've wanted one for a while, but not had any real reason for it.

I'm heading home in a few. Have a great evening.