Technical green brake line

I bought some brake line at O'Rielly's ( probably spelled that wrong ) the other day for a small project and it has a green coating on it instead of "raw" steel finish. Is this just some type of corrosion inhibitor, or something else ? any opinions on it ? pro's con's I am just curious, I have never seen this before. any info ?-------Jim

 

Anti Rust Coating . Think about “new” Nickle Copper tubing sold in a roll . Once you try it you will new use old stuff again . My Mom could install brake tube with this stuff !

 

No brake line ever has a raw steel finish. Sliver brake lines are galvanized, at minimum.

The green that you see on these lines is a coating. It is called passivation. It is bonded phosphate.

 

It is a plastic coating .I have used it before and I like it. I like the drab look of it, although not traditional I think it looks great on these old rods.

 

One mans opinion, I love the stuff, got some at both NAPA and Autozone.
Bends easily by hand, even rebend (carefully) if needed.
Bought it in straight sections with fitted ends, I've done two complete cars with it.

 

I think they are tin coated, not galvanized.

You can solder them....

 

Might be. It is some white metal. Tin makes more sense than zinc.

 

Jim, Bowman ( Class C Solutions) has been supplying us at work with this stuff for a while. You should have asked when you were in for the Christmas party yesterday. Bill

 

I tried using this coated line on a project, thinking it would save having to prime/paint, but found the line "slips" in the flaring tool unless the coating is removed in that area. The flare itself really should be cleaned of the coating to ensure a good connection.
Proved to be more of a pain, IMO.

 

Another vote for the copper/nickel line, super easy to bend and flare. Polish up nice too. Don't know how it would look on a old style hot rod. About the coated line you got, you may have to remove the coating at the flares. As said above.

 

I have used the green coated stuff to do my 49 Buick. No problems making the flares at all. Nothing leaked when I was done, and I didn't have any problem with the tubing slipping in the flaring tool. Maybe just a tool issue depending what flaring tool is being used.

 

The green coating is not plastic, and it does not need to be removed to flare.

If you are having trouble flaring it, you have an inferior, or degraded tool.

 

You're probably right. I did find the die-half pin holes on my over 40 year old Snap On Blue Point tool were worn about this time (not allowing a good grasp on the line) and was repaired with an oversize pin. I don't remember trying to flare any coated line after the repair, so it may work fine, but I'll stay with common plain steel tubing that always results in very nice flares.

 

Let's be sure we are talking about the same stuff. Not sure what y'all have in Cali or Alaska.
Around here we get "poly armor" by AGS. It's coating certainly is plastic. It's absolutely a pain in the ass to flair and Removing the coating to flair it removes the protection, but necessary. It bends nice, so nice you can loop it bare handed and not need to flair it.

 

We have green line that has passivated phosphate or zinc. No plastic.

 

I have never removed the armor coating and have made hundreds of flares with the stuff. No leaks. I do use a hydraulic flaring tool which is great. I do lube the adapters because they sometimes stick due to the coating. It bends the same as the plain steel line. The coating has nothing to do with malleability. The nickel/copper bends extremely easy and appears to be durable. I have used a bit of it with no complaints.

 

It would appear that there are TWO different green line types.

 

FMSI brand ?
That's what I find for pasivated brake line. They says it's a zinc "green coat".

I figured that you must be talking something different. Maybe there's more out there and it's already clear that one mans "green brake line" isn't the same as another's.

 

Bought a short length to run through the ford fitting from my sediment bowl to my fuel pump... wrong outside diameter, too big, carefully scraped the green off a scrap, too small... converted to a clear inline filter...

 

NiCop..............end of story!

 

I should have chosen my wording a bit different, I realize that the finish on the no-colored brake line is not "raw" , and that it does have a protective coating. I do not know if it is tin, or galvanized. Now that being said , the line I bought was green and I do not think the coating was plastic. I removed the coating with the wire wheel side of my grinder. I cut up the brake line and made a metal "T" vac. fitting by soldering 2 different sizes together. I then glass beaded it and then had it powder coated. This was so I could have a vac. source for the vac. modulator on the trans, and also have a source for a pcv valve... The reason I initially posed the question , is that I will be buying some brake line in the near future for my '29 roadster project. I have never seen the copper colored steel line. I may have to track some down, and see if I like it. I want to thank all of you for your answers and recommendations, it is appreciated.------Jim

 

Nicopp or CuNiFer are both good. I exclusively use Nicopp these days ("approximately 9.2% nickel, 1.4% iron, 0.8% manganese, and 88.6% copper"). Bending is forgiving, and it flares well, even with a manual tool. I am all hydraulic these days, as my hand is a bit messed up.

At just 1.4% Iron, you shouldn't have a rust issue, even in the wilds of Alaska.

 

Is the Nicopp readily available at most part stores , or is it something that has to be ordered?

 

Auto Zone here has it in stock. It’s twice the price of ordering it from Amazon though.


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well, I will go down to the local autozone ( we do have them here ) and buy a short piece and see what I think of it.

 

It doesn’t come in short pieces, at least not as far as I know. Comes in 25’ rolls. Read up a bit on nicop/cunifer line. It feels softer than steel and is easier to work with. Doesn’t rust, so I’m a convert.



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Around here You can get straight sections of nicop/ cunifer with pre flailed with fittings. 72" down to 12" in the normal increments.

 

This is what my AutoZone carries. Only bought pre-flared stuff, so never tried flaring it myself. Didn't seem any easier to bend than steel line though, then again I wasn't really paying attention to that while laying under the truck.

 

I bent up a couple of lines for my latest project this week and used these lines and they worked out great.

 

Jim,
Try Alaska Rubber and Rigging. I think they have a store in Anchorage. We get the copper coated lines at work all the time. Easy stuff to use.
Although when I did my coupe I used the green coated line, worked good and looks like it belongs there.
Ralph


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