I have my fuel pump wires unplugged. The gas cap is off. The bracket that mounts the pump and filter to the underside of the car is loose and currently resting on top of three bricks so as to not stress either fuel line. The fuel filter strap is released so that the filter can be moved around some.

But I cannot get the nut on either end of the filter to budge. I have been trying for about two hours now.

I am afraid to apply a penetrant because of the gas and because of the two electrical plugs and sockets. I suppose I could tape these four points off, but what about PB Blaster so close to the gasoline?

I tapped both lightly with a leather mallet, dead-on, not at angles or onto any of the faces. I even tried a 1/2" breaker bar and a 1/2" ratchet on each end to turn in opposition, hoping to free at least one of these guys.

I do not know whether you should be able to see the copper crush rings once they are installed, but I do not see evidence of them at all. I suspect that someone installed this filter with none and had to really crank down to keep it from leaking.

I am - frankly - scared of working around the gas lines, so I am not really cranking like I could for fear of twisting the end of the filter and causing a leak that I cannot stop.

I have the front up on plastic "Rhino Ramps" and have thought to maybe use my jack stands on the rear to get more room.

These bolts are not reverse threaded, are they? (That would certainly explain a lot if they were.)

Oddly, the three bolts securing the bracket to the car came out *very* easily. I was fully expecting the opposite to be the case, meaning the bracket would have been more secure and the filter bolts would have been much easier to turn.

The IPD guy and two of my friends told me that I should only put the filter on (ring, line, ring bolt) just beyond finger tight and then maybe another 1/8 to 1/4 turn and no tighter. Is this correct? (It would be good to know just in case I actually ever get the old one off the dang car!)

Any ideas would be grand. Getting very frustrated, here...
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Mama always told me to eschew obfuscation...