Made it home: brakes

Mr. Mace you were correct again. When I got my spit home I had my wife pump the brakes. It wasn't too hard to find the problem. Behind the right rear wheel there is a brake line that runs across the car to the left side. Directly above the piece of frame that runs to the bumper the line was squirting fluid. Question: Where's the best place to get a replacement. I searched Victoria B. but they had no pre-bent lines. If I have to get one of these, does anyone know what length I need?

I have found that they are available in various lengths at the local auto parts shops. Though over the years I have found it worth my while and have bought the double flare tool and I just make my own line as needed.

I bought mine from Roadster Factory and bent them. There is a company that sells them pre-bent, but I don't recall their name. They aren't excactly cheap, but considering the effort, may well be worth it. Bending pipes requires you to think in reverse.

Greg, glad it's as relatively simple as replacing a steel line. Your best bet might be to remove the line carefully (so as to preserve the basic shape as best you can) and measure it, then get the closest possible length. Note that you can't use American brake pipes or anything metric; neither will have the correct fittings.

Bending brake lines isn't really rocket science. If I've been able to do it all these years, anybody ought to be able to. The only "secrets" are to work slowly and with the old one as a pattern, and to make any bends on a suitable mandrel. That suitable mandrel can be a metal pipe or wood dowel or even a glass jar...whatever gives you the closest match to the diameter of your bend. Keep pressure on the tubing with both hands as you work it around your chosen mandrel. Bending it as Superman used to "bend steel in his bare hands" will kink it almost instantly. You don't want that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[ QUOTE ]
...requires you to think in reverse.

[/ QUOTE ]

Backwards thinking a problem for me, it has never been. Dyslexia I might have.

Or, that last bottle of Old Peculiar, it could be. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thirsty.gif

(Sounds like Yoda, sorta! Hmmm, I wonder if he liked his ale, too?)

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

A Guiness it is that I would choose.