Well I had the carburetor cleaned and checked with her line blown out she’s hummin’ like a turbojet
Propped her up in the backyard on concrete blocks for a new clutch plate and a new set of shocks
Took her down to the carwash check the plugs and points I’m goin’ out tonight I’m gonna rock that joint
What is the line that Bruce speaks of, and why does it need blowing out?
With “carburetor” referenced I would assume the fuel line with blown through with compressed air to clean it out. But this is just a lyrical device to fill out a song line, this would not be any type of hot rodding practice and should never necessary in the normal life of a car.
It could be anything, it might not even be related to the carburetor. I’ve never heard that song, but look at the next two lines. He puts the car up on blocks to replace the clutch plate and shocks. Two big and totally unrelated projects. Then, he drives it down to the carwash to check the plugs and points, something he should have done at home while he was working on the carb. (But the carwash is probably just a place where people hangout and play with their cars so that might be a good time to pop the dist cap and say ‘yup, looks good’).
Anyways, like you said, it’s just a bunch of random things strung together in a way that sound good. He could have been talking about a fuel line, a drain line, a PCV hose or some other hose or line I’m not thinking of.
It was sometimes done as a shortcut repair.
The fuel pickup tube in the gas tank had a type of filter called a strainer (sometimes referred to as a “sock”) made of a fine mesh. Over time, it could clog up with dirt/debris and cause fuel starvation. The proper repair was to replace it, which meant removing the fuel sending unit from the tank. The “old Indian trick” was to blow forcefully backwards through the fuel line to detach the dirt, which in practice usually tore open the strainer making it useless as a filter, but did solve the problem. Even with disconnecting/reconnecting the fuel line for access it was typically a two-minute procedure with no parts expense, hence its appeal.