• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Brake/clutch lines

Share this page

D

David_Doan

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
I've been working on my car for a while getting it ready to paint. Pretty much everything is done except for painting the body. The original brake lines are in good shape. I cleaned them up but did not protect them with anything. Now after being storage in the garage for a year or so, they have lots of surface rust. This is probably worse than normal because my son left a plastic tray full of muratic acid open on my workbench for a month or so. (I did not know because i was stuck in the house with a broken leg).

Now that I'm cleaning them again, what should I protect them with? Penetrating oil, Fluid film, wax, and clear paint are some ideas I have. I guess I'm lucky that this occurred before assembling my car.

Any suggestions?


thanks,

David
 
I painted mine black but I don't care about it being "per factory"
Maybe you could use "aluminum" or "cast iron" colored paint, I wouldn't trust clear
BillM
 
I used "aluminum" colored paint on mine and they still look good. In my bugeye I made new lines from the cupro-nickle material. Easy to work with and will not rust.
 
Thanks guys. I've used cast coat iron, cast coat aluminum, and plain aluminum on other stuff. One of those sounds great for the brake lines.

I wasn't aware that clear coat was less "tough" than regular paint. At least when painting a color, I can spend a lot less time prepping.
 
Problem with clear coat is that the metal will still rust under it and will be visible.
 
Just curious how do you determine only the condition of a 55 year old steel brake tube from the outside? Doesn't brake tubing corrosion accumulates from the inside too?
 
Alan makes a good point. And it would be easy to make new ones using the originals as templates.
 
BlueMax said:
Just curious how do you determine only the condition of a 55 year old steel brake tube from the outside? Doesn't brake tubing corrosion accumulates from the inside too?
Click to expand...

Ah, just make sure your park brake is good!:highly_amused:

Just went through no brakes with my 66.....major pucker moment! Lines not corroded but PO had bent the line through the tunnel so that it rubbed through on the transmission.

Kurt
 
Rut, I'd be afraid that the tubing clamp might not be up to the job. I have a cheap set that look's a lot like that and the tubing will slip as you are flaring it. I've heard Fedhill are the best and their tool look's nothing like that. Of course it cost's many times that!!:greedy_dollars:

You can rent it though!

Kurt
 
Those cheapo flaring tools work OK if you take your time and pay close attention. You need to be sure your cut is square and clean. Then you need to use a small file and emery cloth to eliminate all burrs. You also need to be sure the die is properly lubricated. It is slow and tedious, but if you are only doing a dozen or so flares ... it is an affordable option.
 
Trevor, is your experience with steel, cuppro nickel, copper? I am going to make up a bunch of lines out of Fedhill's cuppro nickel. The claim is that their tubing is up to standard while the cheap stuff sold on e-bay is not. Much thinner.

Kurt.
 
I've used mild steel and the cuppro nickel from Fedhill. They use cuppro nickel on some farm tractors as well, but not in 3/16". I've not looked at the stuff on ebay. When I did mine back in 2007 Fedhill was the only source I could find.
 
I have used the Fedhill lines and fittings on a couple of projects and been favorably impressed.
Scott in CA
 
Well, looks like Jegs will get some of my business as well as Fedhill!

Kurt.
 
Back
Top