After you get started and have some fun you will want to do the fuel,PCV,dist vac,and plug wire looms.
BAD advice. Teflon tape has no place in brake lines. All fitting connections in a brake system, whether flares or pipe thread or crush washers, need to be tight metal to metal.
On a pipe thread the male to female threads are doing the sealing with pipe dope and or teflon tape as an added measure. On brake lines the barrel does no sealing its just a clamp for the flare pushing it into the fitting which creates the seal.
If you have a flaring tool and can make GOOD flares, do yourself a favor and use the copper/nickel brake line. It comes in 25 & 100 foot rolls (bought mine at NAPA). The 25' roll should be enough for a hot rod. Also it is easy to straighten out from the Roll, flares and bends real nice, and is also quite rust resistant.....you will really like it. You can also use brass fittings and they are only about $1.00 each. Be sure to put them on the tube BEFORE bending or flaring the tube!
Horrible Freight sell a set of brake line pliers, they make the short bends that tube benders wont. I did not know the tool existed until a friend showed me one. Tony
why not do it the way the pros&the gov't does it &get back some of your tax $'s back at the surplus store.......
Yeah, that copper-nickle line is definately the way to go.I bought a 25 foot roll,and plumbed my T-Bucket,with about 3 feet left over.That line double flares very well and bends without kinking..It is a little more costly than plain steel tubing,but it is well worth the slight extra cost.
Planning is the most important. Is the driveline (suspension & steering) installed? Can you operate the suspension thru full travel (ups & down), the steering lock to lock(full left & right). Check to see how clearances change as the suspension and steering moves. You mentioned that you are going to use thru-frame fittings, sometimes an extra 1/2" -1" will make a lot of difference in how the lines and bends fit. Are you going to run a 3 line or 4 line system? What kind of brake light switch(hydraulic inline or a mechanical one) are you going to use? Is the exhaust system done yet? It is easier to route the 3/16" brake and 3/8" fuel line around the 2"- 2 1/2" exhaust system, rather than the other way around. Is the battery mounted yet? Where are you going to run the cables, any other wiring to route thru the chassis. Jack up the chassis and look at it from the bottom one time, this is the view you will have once the body is installed. I have seen plumbing where you could not reach some of the connections from the bottom. Buy the best tubing bender and flaring tool you can afford to, try to stay away from some of the imported ones, both Imperial-Eastman and Rigid make good ones, it you get a double flaring tool that use a double flare adapter, buy some extra ones. They seem to crack without warning and a lot of auto parts stores do not carry them. John
This is all good info. I will be using all of these tips except teflon tape. This is not my first brake job but, tips help everybody now and later. Thanks guys for the info.!
I have used this method with excellent results- I have bent and flared lines-but I prefer to buy pre-flared lengths and plan the joints in the system to reduce the number of flares I have to do-just cant get 'em as nice as the machine does. To make plain steel lines look good-rub them with fine steel wool and shoot them with rattle can clear coat-they stay nice looking forever.
An earlier poster said to run front brakes to rear outlet of the master cylinder, and rear brakes to the front of the master cylinder. What gives? I've always plumbed mine the intuitive way.
All very good tips! I also have trouble with my cheap flaring tool putting marks or gouges in the back side of the flare. I use a small fine tooth file to smooth them out then a drop of oil before assembly
Stainless steel is much easier to form than the standard steel lines - Did the Dart last Fall with a pre-formed kit. Sure made it easier to make adjustments, including 1 extra full 360 degree loop at the master cylinder. I could never of done that with regular hard steel ines.
we sell SUR&R lines copper/nickel supper stuff and there flairing tool is super, flairs in 15 sec and good very good
Doing my 32 frame right now with dual master, proportioning valve and residual vavles so lots of bends and different lengths of line. Best advice that others have said also, is to mark with a sharpy and start the bend on 0 degrees on whatever bender you use and then mark at the 90 degree so you can then measure the length of line it takes to do the bend. Also I used welding rod as a template before using my line and just bent my line to match the welding rod.
I read thru this thread before I bent up my trans. cooler lines. Lots of good info here!!! I now have 3 tips to add regarding the flare tool: I thought I could cheap out and use the double flare dies on my old single flare tool.The throat is too small on the single flare tool for the dies, so I had to buy a double flare tool. Photos and instructions always show the flare tool being clamped in a vise horizontally. I clamp the tubing in the flare tool when it is horizontal and then rotate it to vertical to do the flare. it is much easier to see what you are doing. I took the wing nuts off the flaring tool and replaced them with nuts. A ratchet and socket is much quicker than them damn wing nuts..
The Jalopy Journal
