Purchasing and installing hard brake lines

[six_sigma 12]

Hey guys, I'm getting ready to install my power disk brake and 5 lug rear axle conversion (on the way to a V8/MT swap from I6/C4 baby steps).

 

Here's my question, I want to run new brake lines front and back and I'm wondering is buying preformed lines and installing them a pretty straight forward process or should I have the lines custom fabbed and installed at a shop?

 

I've gotten a quote of around $400 to bend and install the lines from a local speed shop. Has anyone run their own lines and thought it was piece of cake or was it unrelenting pain.

 

Thanks for any input in advance.

[Daves69Coupe 10]

I bought factory line from cjponys for like $70 or so and they fit perfect. Easy install.

[miketyler 15]

Yup - I think they are a dealer for Classic Tube? I bought my stainless set there

[70mstang 11]

I got preformed stainless and it wasn't too difficult to get them to fit. I did need to bend them by hand up around the master cylinder and picked up a brake line bender at autozone.

[Lemon Owner 11]

I fabricate my own with no problems, just be sure to buy a good flaring tool if you choose this route. I had a cheap one and it didn't make the flange very well.

[1969mustang 10]

I bought a prebent kit from mustangs unlimited, I believe it said classic tube on the box. It came with shipping bends which were labeled and I easily straightened them by hand. The installation went pretty smooth. Some of the bends were not exactly perfect but no big deal. The hardest part to me we're the short lines on the distribution block below the master cylinder.

[six_sigma 12]

Thanks for the input guys, looks like I'm going to add installing my own lines to the list for projects.

[manley 13]

If you don't have the tools already, it won't save you much money to make them yourself. So, if this is a one time thing, make sure you consider the overall cost.

 

Saying that, I've bent my own and also bought preformed. I'll stick with buying the preformed lines.

[Powershift 19]

I fabricate my own with no problems, just be sure to buy a good flaring tool if you choose this route. I had a cheap one and it didn't make the flange very well.

 

+1 to that!!

 

Buying quality tools, ONE time, is well worth it! Nothing worse than buying a cheapo tool, and getting crappy results.

[stangs-R-me 121]

The money spent on all NEW pre-bent lines is well spent.

 

I messed around with old lines and some new auto parts store lines back in the 80's on my car as well as many other cars but only because that was the only choice back then. I have a decent bender, double flaring tool as well as the skills to do things right ... but it was still a pretty cobbled job compared to getting a complete new line kit which I FINALLY did and installed last summer.

 

The main thing about factory lines is there are a few different sized threaded nuts on the various lines even though the tubing is all the same ... the ones you get from the auto parts store have just one size threaded nut. So you either need to get reducers or you need to re-use the old nuts. A lot of times these nuts are either rusted right onto the tube, have hexes rounded out from removal, or both.

 

Reducers have their limitations too as some lines have tight bends right after the nut, so there is no room for a reducer.

 

 

New pre-bent lines:

 

The only two benefits of spending the extra cash for Stainless Steel lines is they don't corrode and they are harder so they don't expand like mild steel lines supposedly do when brake pressure is applied ... what you end up with is slightly better brake feel / performance. However since SS is harder, it is much more difficult to flare properly without splitting and if you need to tweak a line they don't bend too easily either.

 

The mild steel lines are galvanized and the nuts are plated, so if your car is a fair weather car that may see some occasional rain you will likely never see any corrosion on these lines either. Unless your building a race car or you plan on driving it through the winter months, the is absolutely nothing wrong with mild steel lines.

 

Now if you are going with any aftermarket disc brake parts (distribution block, proportioning valve, etc.) the complete pre-bent line kit may need some modifying to adapt to these aftermarket parts. Reason I say this is the '69 specific distribution block and proportioning valve are NOT BEING REPRODUCED. If you have a decent original dist block & prop valve they should be re-built prior to installation ... rebuild kits are available from http://www.musclecarresearch.com/

 

Good luck !!

 

Doug

Edited May 4, 2012 by stangs-R-me

[50dan 25]

Hey guys, I'm getting ready to install my power disk brake and 5 lug rear axle conversion (on the way to a V8/MT swap from I6/C4 baby steps).

 

Here's my question, I want to run new brake lines front and back and I'm wondering is buying preformed lines and installing them a pretty straight forward process or should I have the lines custom fabbed and installed at a shop?

 

I've gotten a quote of around $400 to bend and install the lines from a local speed shop. Has anyone run their own lines and thought it was piece of cake or was it unrelenting pain.

 

Thanks for any input in advance.

 

Do them yourself its not hard. You'd be even more disappointed after you paid someone $400 and then it looks like s**t.