Give Me Some Brake Answers

"Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition" (realasabass) 04/17/2016 at 22:21 • Filed to: None

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I have been in the process of getting my Valiant back on the road for my daily driver. I have been going through the brakes and have already replaced: shoes, cylinders, hardware kit, and I have gotten a good set of factory drums machined. While I was in the process I noticed that all the flexible lines were cracked all the way through the lining, so no big deal I will replace them. Every single fitting is frozen from the hard lines to the flexible lines. This car is a 72 and a survivor that has never been restored, just fixed when needed. These are all probably the original flex lines, all the drums were, to the car. I know I am going to have to cut them off and re-flare the ends. My question is should I just replace all the hard line at this point? Should I go to stainless lines instead of steel? Keep in mind this is a slant six four door, but will gladly spend a little more money for better durability.

bob and john > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 04/17/2016 at 22:24

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might as well

Urambo Tauro > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 04/17/2016 at 22:29

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Not stainless. NiCopp.

XJDano > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 04/17/2016 at 22:31

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My dads hard lines on a 90's tbird rusted out.

bfisch1629 > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 04/17/2016 at 22:38

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While you’re in there - it’s going to be worth it for the long haul. If you live in a dry climate without road salt then steel should be OK but if you live in the rust belt, get something that won’t rust or corrode as easily.

crowmolly > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 04/17/2016 at 22:40

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Can you get NiCopp lines?

Stainless sounds nice, and looks nice, but it can be a big PITA to work with- especially if you need to re-flare something that’s “off”.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 04/17/2016 at 22:40

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i believe one shouldn’t skimp on critical systems.

my $.02

Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > Urambo Tauro 04/17/2016 at 22:42

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I have never heard of Nickel Copper before. I’m glad I asked the question.

Urambo Tauro > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 04/17/2016 at 22:46

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The problem with stainless is that it’s harder than steel, which makes it more difficult to flare, and more difficult to seal.

NiCopp, on the other hand is much softer, and if you’ve ever worked with steel lines before, you’ll find this stuff a dream to work with. I still like to use a bending tool, but if you’re careful, you can bend it by hand. I would rather buy a 25ft roll and do the bending myself than use pre-formed steel lines (if you could even get those for your car).

My local parts store carries NiCopp for about $2 a foot. Not bad, but with some Google-fu you can find it for even less.

orcim > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 04/18/2016 at 02:50

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I live in the Hawaiian islands. I’ve lost 2 hard lines to corrosion while driving (it really sucks to lose brakes at highway speeds, trust me.) After some point, steel isn’t what it was when it was manufactured and all it takes is one pin point weakness to screw you up.

For your car, the steel last lasted what, 40 years? I think it’s a good idea to replace those lines but only because I’ve had lines fail on two different older cars. If the steel lasted 40, think the car is good for another 40? Go steel unless you’re doing a cherry restoration - the expense isn’t worth it. (imo)

Old-Busted-Hotness > Urambo Tauro 04/18/2016 at 07:53

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Replacing hard lines is a giant pain in the ass, using NiCopp makes it less so. Easy to work, easy to flare, will outlast the car. It’s worth the extra price just knowing you’ll never have to do it again.