mustangmike6996 34 Report post Posted November 25, 2013 When I was on leave in August I had the pleasure of working on my 69 for a few days. I finished fabbing up the stainless brake lines and did some odds and ends here and there on the car.... decided to attempt to bleed the system and discovered that the majority of my fittings leaked. at that point I had never worked with SS line before. It was a good SS line from Inline Tube (annealed and double flared with extra care taken during flaring) So I have spoken with many many car nuts and the general conclusion was to do a 37 degree flare with AN fittings.... sooooooo I got an pretty trick flaring tool that will do 45 single, double, bubble and 37 degree. I also picked up a proportioning valve/distribution block combo to replace my Ford Racing valve and stock gutted dist block to clean up the looks. I will be working on the car in about a month when Im back in MI again. If there is enough time left over I'll attempt to install my American Autowire harness and shoot another coat of primer on the body. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangmike6996 34 Report post Posted November 26, 2014 Well, here we are, a year later..... I finally finished the newly redone stainless brake lines and the AN 37 degree fittings and I have a couple that leak. The dang stainless is so hard that Im pretty sure is the reasoning for the leaks at some fittings. I will most likely head up to Inline Tube and get some mild steel OE style and go that route to relieve the a$$pain that this stainless is giving me. I have NEVER had this much of an issue. I will most likely keep all of the AN fittings though, because, well, they look very cool and are nice hardware. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted November 26, 2014 I feel your pain brother Mike. I really dislike redos, and I've had more than a few. It must be hard to swallow in that you bought what is considered to be top shelf products. C'est la vie, hang in there. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangmike6996 34 Report post Posted November 26, 2014 Well, almost everything I do on the car fights me at LEAST 2 times. So this will be the 3rd lol. I know that if I tighten the line/fittings anymore they will do 1 or 2 things: crack/split or gouge the AN adaptor. So Ill be out about another $50 on brake line, no biggie but I will be happy when its all done. The good in the situation was that I filled the master cyl, pumped the pedal a few times (no bench bleed) and went around the car 1 time with a mitivac vacuum bleeder and I had incredible pedal pressure right off the bat. So I have that going for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969_Mach1 333 Report post Posted November 26, 2014 I guess I got lucky. I installed stainless brake lines from NPD and have never had any leaks. It's easy to over tighten and damage the flare on stainless steel tubes. I wonder if the fittings are simply not tight enough. I think I would have tried some anti seize compound on the outside of the tube where the threaded fitting bears up against it. Maybe the friction between the threaded fitting and the stainless tube was preventing the threaded fitting from tightening enough Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
70769 18 Report post Posted November 26, 2014 Well, almost everything I do on the car fights me at LEAST 2 times. So this will be the 3rd lol. I know that if I tighten the line/fittings anymore they will do 1 or 2 things: crack/split or gouge the AN adaptor. So Ill be out about another $50 on brake line, no biggie but I will be happy when its all done. The good in the situation was that I filled the master cyl, pumped the pedal a few times (no bench bleed) and went around the car 1 time with a mitivac vacuum bleeder and I had incredible pedal pressure right off the bat. So I have that going for me. Your first sentence reminds me of my car. It has fought me every single step of the way. Sh!t gets expensive Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangmike6996 34 Report post Posted November 26, 2014 I have gone thru so much extra expense on this car its depressing but I continue to press on. As for the stainless lines, they are all hand fab'd because I have 2008 GT front brakes, SN95 master cyl, fox booster, stock 8" with drums and a SSBC prop valve/dist block. http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/700/799/799-642441.jpg http://paceperformance.com/images/F114138877.jpg (this one has a collar that is used on it as well, as seen below) http://radiumauto.com/admin/uploads/JIC-E-2-700.jpg that is pretty much the fittings I used to adapt the inverted flare to -3 AN fittings. AN fittings are 37 degree bevel and Inverted are 45. Not sure what lines are sold at NPD and the other stores, but I used Inline Tube for my line stock and it is VERY robust and extremely tough to bend and form. I flared everything with my Inline Tube/Eastwood/K-tools flaring tool and was amazed at how well it does, stainless is rough on it but mild steel is like butter and super fast http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/mediumlarge/KTI-70081_ml.jpg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969_Mach1 333 Report post Posted November 26, 2014 (edited) Yeah, stainless steel is tough to form and tends to crack when cold forming when mild steel won't. I've designed and engineered a lot of stainless steel food processing and packaging equipment with my last employer. It has very similar mechanical strength properties as mild steels so I am not certain why it doesn't cold form as well and is harder to cold form and machine. Plus, putting stainless to stainless fasteners together without anti seize will almost always gall up and lock together. Knowing that I had thought I like the stainless for corrosion resistance, but if I had issues with fitting leaks I would start over with steel. Edited November 26, 2014 by 1969_Mach1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hoover 12 Report post Posted November 26, 2014 Tightening and retightening of tubing, tends to work harden the material, and it will keep on leaking. Worked plumbing issues off and on at Boeing on the 747 line. After two tries, remove and replace tubing is the best answer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangmike6996 34 Report post Posted November 26, 2014 I just stopped by Inline Tube on my way to work and picked up 40 feet of OE style mild steel tubing to replace the stainless. Id assume that the stainless is tougher to form due to the added nickel in the stainless process. I love the look but its getting taken out of the car. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jagbucket 10 Report post Posted November 27, 2014 went through the same issues with the stainless you need all new fittings on both ends the original w cylinders are seated for the original steel tubes and now you are trying to force new groves in the wheel cylinders to fit the new ss lines. the nuts are not strong enough to remark the seats to fit the new ss lines they will strip first . new parts all the way around should work. at lest i hope so as i have yet to pressurize my new system. no leaks yet but not entirely bled either Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangmike6996 34 Report post Posted November 27, 2014 Everything is 100% new. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangmike6996 34 Report post Posted November 30, 2014 annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd Success. I have a fully functioning leak free system. Endurashine -3 AN fittings at each end of each line. Stainless braided hoses. 08 Mustang GT calipers/rotors in the front, drums in the rear (for now). I have a mitivac hand pump and it made bleeding the brakes a 10 minute job by myself. I also got the engine dropped into the car (trans and driveshaft still bolted in the car) in 12 minutes from engine stand to seated and bolted down. Trying to align the input shaft, block/bellhousing dowels and mounts with everything bolted in all by myself was a bit of a challenge. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SA69mach 39 Report post Posted December 1, 2014 Good work mustangmike. super work with the engine install Brakes can be frustrating. Always something. And really, all the experts and brake shops will tell you brakes are so simple. Until they cant make them work..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangmike6996 34 Report post Posted December 1, 2014 The funny part is, I am ASE Master Certified and worked at Lexus, Mercedes and now it looks like I will be going to work for BMW as a technician. You never flare new lines so its always a crap shoot lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted December 1, 2014 Congrats on your success! Were you on crack when you installed the motor in record time? :) Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangmike6996 34 Report post Posted December 1, 2014 Congrats on your success! Were you on crack when you installed the motor in record time? :) Bob Lol no, its all about prep work. Every nut and bolt was laid out within arms reach of where it needs to go in magnetic trays so they dont fall. I had a telescoping magnet on the core support so it was within arms reach if i did drop something. All my tools were laid out, not too many but all of the sockets and wrenches. There were no wasted steps or up/down do do things. Calculated moves, anytime you are up or down left or right you are installing something. The only back and forth I did was when I was guiding the bellhousing on the dowels and then tightening the bellhousing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
