Installing hard Brakelines

jury · Post by **jury** » Tue May 14, 2013 9:00 pm

Any advice on this lot please

I received a new Cohline hard Brakeline kit:

A couple of questions:

1. Any ideas Left to Right what goes where ?
2. What is the best way to straighten the long front to back line ?

Cheers
Chris

haasad · Post by **haasad** » Tue May 14, 2013 9:21 pm

Chris I'd hazard a guess the longest is through the tunnel but no idea on the rest. You can straighten and bend by hand if you are careful and trust me you will need to do some hand working to get decent alignment once you know which line goes where. Just don't try to form sharp bends which result in kinking of the tubular section. You could simply use a former like a 2 inch diameter tube to bend the tube open and closed Car Builder Solutions do a simple little bender very cheap which is ace to form nice proffessional looking radii though.

Personally I have always used the cheaper cupro nickel tube. Bought fittings and used my own bender and flare tools to make lines that fit the particular need.

Hope this helps

Jesse · Post by **Jesse** » Wed May 15, 2013 9:39 am

Jury, I am afraid you will have some trouble with the longest one (through the tunnel) I believe the bracket in rear where it goes into a banjo was modified in 68 or so because the one in the dual circuit Cohline-kit is about an inch to short hence you won´t be able to attach it to the bracket if you don´t want to cut it out and move it. You can quite easily bend the pipes by hand but you´ve got to get it right the first time otherwise they are tough to handle. I do them by hand and/or with the help of a bending tool.

I have ran into this this trouble with my SWB, just ordered an additional single circuit kit in hope for the correct length of the "through the tunnel" one.

I know it would be easier to just fab my own piece but I´m stubborn..

Anyone else had this experience?

hot66 · Post by **hot66** » Wed May 15, 2013 10:05 am

always made my own lines. Worth investing in a decent flaring tool and a box of fittings

misteralz · Post by **misteralz** » Wed May 15, 2013 12:34 pm

I always make my own as well. I've found you can sometimes get them straight if you roll them between two bits of wood. Radii I'll form over anything round that's in or near the garage - be that a vice handle, socket, trailer nosewheel...

johnM · Post by **johnM** » Wed May 15, 2013 1:04 pm

Hi Chris

I made my own, if you look at mt resto thread you can see the hard lines I made. If you need any more pics give me a shout.

Kind regards.

jury · Post by **jury** » Wed May 15, 2013 1:36 pm

Thanks for all the replies guys, very useful info.

I am going to a look at them in 'situ' and see if it makes sense where each one goes, if that fails I will look at the option of making my own. I have the existing long front to back line that was originally fitted to the car ('68), so I could just use this rather than trying to straighten the new one.

I have a mini pipe bender, but I spoke to a local guy who mentioned a hard line that can be bent by hand without kinking.....just need to get some more info from him.

Any advice on what pipe you guys used to make your own would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Chris

Bruce M · Post by **Bruce M** » Wed May 15, 2013 3:16 pm

Cunifer. Softer than steel and less fragile than copper.

shoestring7 · Post by **shoestring7** » Wed May 15, 2013 3:46 pm

This is one way:

http://www.fueltopia.co.uk/profiles/blo ... ening-tool

C>

Lightweight_911 · Post by **Lightweight_911** » Wed May 15, 2013 5:34 pm

I always use Kunifer too ...

I bought a good quality Sykes-Pickavant flaring kit (used for brake, clutch & fuel pies) ~ 25 years ago & have used it extensively & found it invaluable but it's probably only worth it if you are going to make use of it repeatedly.

Otherwise, once you know what pipe lengths/thread/flare types you need then you should be able to find a local (old skool) garage to make them for you relatively cheaply.

Classic · Post by **Classic** » Mon May 20, 2013 10:37 am

Just use a piece of string to measure the original line to help figure out which line is which.

RHD have different length lines from the master cylinder.

I ended up purchasing a hand roller, about $20 I think, as you don't want to kink them.

Gary71 · Post by **Gary71** » Mon May 20, 2013 11:21 am

My experience making them up myself is the tool is key. It's not worth using anything cheap and 'budget' for this job.

Gary71 wrote:...I spent a couple of hours on Friday trying to make a decent flare with a Sealey tool I borrowed from a friend. What a waste of time! There is no way I'd put that on my car. So I borrowed the proper job tool from work yesterday and the difference in quality was clear!

Sealey nasty v Sykes Pikavant pro Can you tell which is which?

jury · Post by **jury** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 8:54 pm

I finally got these fitted today and it was surprisingly straight forward, start to finish about an hour.
I will show a more detailed fitting on the restoration thread:

This little tool worked a treat...

LEFT TO RIGHT for a LHD '68...

1. FRONT TO BACK
2. MASTER CYLINDER TO FRONT PASSENGER-SIDE STRUT
3. CONNECTING REAR OF #1 TO REAR DRIVER-SIDE TRAILING ARM
4. MASTER CYLINDER TO FRONT DRIVER-SIDE STRUT
5. REAR CALIPER TO TRAILING ARM
6. REAR CALIPER TO TRAILING ARM
7. CONNECTING FRONT OF #1 TO MASTER CYLINDER
8. FRONT STRUT TO CALIPER
9. FRONT STRUT TO CALIPER

Cheers
Chris

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