fuel filter nut leak - quadrajet 69 Camaro

Need some advice.  How much torque do you apply to the fuel filter nut on a '68-69 4bbl quadrajet to "tighten securely" (as the book says) the fuel filter nut without distending the gasket?  I have had no luck in stopping a leak at the gasket.  The housing is not cracked and the threads of the nut and the interior threads of the housing are fine.  Do I change to a thicket gasket and avoid using the thin fiber gasket typically used on the filter nut?

Thanks for any advice.  

YOU COULD ADD SOME TEFLON TAPE OR THREAD SEALER TO THE FITTING (BUT JUST A LITTLE YOU DONT WANT ANY FOREIGN MATERIAL IN YOUR CARB).  

i recommend never using teflon tape on any fuel line... or brake line...

teflon tape will get into the fuel system somehow.. it always does... causing the carb to flood... requiring a carb rebuild... if not a replacement of the car do to the fire damage from the flooding carb...

tighten the fitting a little more... using a 1 inch wrench...  but not tight enough to strip the threads out...   carb kits for that model are cheep....   if you live near a carb rebuilding shop... they will have some of the fuel filter gaskets... if you take the filter nut in...  be sure that you use a tubing wrench to tighten the fuel line... while holding the filter nut...

oh... and some carb shops will have replacement filter nuts.. with more threads...  so it grabs deeper into the threads...

if the threads pull out .. most carb rebuilders also have heli coil sets for that ... but they will want to rebuild the carb at the same time...  a good thing to ***    be sure if that is the original carb and it works... that you get the same carb back...  

Ya use thread sealer not teflon tape.  
Professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells Engines and torque wins races.

Thanks for the information Wayne

I tightened the nut down securely and the drip turned into a spray - suggesting that the gasket warped.  I did purchase an a universal type nut with more threads but have not tried the nut as yet.

It looks like a heli coil is in the carb body already and I just had the dog-gone carburetor rebuilt a few weeks ago.  I'm heading back to the mechanic who rebuilt the carburetor to see if he will give me some relief.

Thanks again  

Thanks for the input - I'm not using teflon tape

The leak is not at the point of the fuel line threads but at the gasket between the ut and housing.  I did use thread sealer at the fuel pump however.

Thanks  

i would examine the gasket carefully...    perhaps the helicoil tap was tapped  crooked...  see if one side of the gasket is pinched tighter than the other...

perhaps the carb guy has a second ring for it...   not really  a great idea... but it might work...

you do have the option..  of removing the filter and spring...  and using JB weld to install the filter nut... as long as you don't ever move it...  they seal the bottom of the main and idle wells with it...  installing a quality fuel filter inline just before the fuel pump... which is always a good idea also...

check out the rochester 4 bbl carb hard and soft parts catalog...  page 29 has the various filter nuts.. page 30 shows the heli coil kit...    this is just FYI... these people sell mostly to carb shops... not to individuals...  a few parts stores can get stuff from them also... so you can always look up the part number... call your local rebuilder... see if they will sell you just that part...

http://www.walkerproducts.com/_pdf/rochester4barrel.pdf  

Thanks again Wayne

Discovered that the leak is due to a poor mating surface between the nut and the filter cavity body.  The nut when tightened does not mate up cleanly with the body of the cavity and leaves a slight (very slight) gap between the gasket and body. It seems that at some point in this carburetor's life the fuel cavity body had part of the mating surface milled away and thus the gasket does not have any hard surface on which to lay against.  

I took the problem up with a local machine shop.  The machinist took the filter nut and removed the small ridge on which the narrow gasket rides.  I purchased a i" "o" ring with a 3/32 thickkness and slipped it on the nut.  I assembled the filter and  nut with new "o-ring" and tightened it down.  The leak is still present but much less gas is leaking.

Finally I went to Napa Auto and met an "old-timer" who referenced a "kit" designed to stop leaks when "heli-coils" fail.  The kit is a new nut with two "0-rings".  I will be trying this new fix as soon as the part comes in

Hope this works.  If not, I will consider your solution of JB welding the nut and making it permanent.

Thank you for this last thought.

Mathman