rags Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 What are my options for cleaning up the metal brake lines and fuel lines so they don't look like crap? Really not looking to replace them and paint doesn't seem like it would be a wise move since the brake fluid would take it off pretty easily. What have you done? Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Sorry off topic a bit. But, I have switched from metal brake lines back to rubber due to a recent fire. I had a friend doing some welding on my suspension and a spark flew up and landed on the rough surface of the braided stainless brakeline. The line burst into flames and was pretty hard to extinguish and brake fluid drained out all over everything. Switched back to rubber as a knee-jerk reaction to try to avoid that happening again. Soooo, I sure wouldn't try to polish them with anything that gets hot. Can't you just lower your car a little more so nobody sees them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rags Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Keith, I'm talking about the metal hard lines under the hood. Right now I have the motor out and all of the hard lines out, just had the engine compartment painted. Not too worried about anything catching fire right now as the lines are currently on the floor in the garage Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Scotch brite pad and Acetone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandergriff84 Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I took all of my lines out and bought a kit off Ebay that supplys you with all the lines you need to replace them. Its a universal kit so it comes with some extra lines that you don't endup using. It was fairly inexpensive and easy to do. What I did is took the old lines out and measured the overall length of each line to figure out which ones to use for each line then I used the old line as a template to bend the new lines to. It takes a little grunt work and some strategy but it came out great and everything works great. I spent maybe a day max on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78Z/250GTO Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I used electrical heat shrink tubes after cleaning the lines inside and out .Real easy since its all on the garage floor and can be manipulated any way needed..long pieces of various colors can be obtained in any auto parts store or Harbor Freight store. slipping them on can be a pain,bit the results looks great. I also took the oppurtinity to replace the dot3 with silicion fluid, its less caustic to finishes and doesn'ttend to absorb moisture like dot3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rags Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share Posted December 23, 2012 I went the powder coating route. I'll let you all know how it turns out Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dershum Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I took all of my lines out and bought a kit off Ebay that supplys you with all the lines you need to replace them. Its a universal kit so it comes with some extra lines that you don't endup using. It was fairly inexpensive and easy to do. What I did is took the old lines out and measured the overall length of each line to figure out which ones to use for each line then I used the old line as a template to bend the new lines to. It takes a little grunt work and some strategy but it came out great and everything works great. I spent maybe a day max on it. Were the lines just straight lines with pre-flared ends on them, or were they bent already? I've got to replace all of mine, and I'm trying to decide what the best way to go is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgeezer Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Were the lines just straight lines with pre-flared ends on them, or were they bent already? I've got to replace all of mine, and I'm trying to decide what the best way to go is. If you are replacing all your hard brake lines, consider purchasing a 25' role of cunifer from Fedhill. Very easy to bend, polishes up to a nice copper sheen and has beend standard on Volvos and Mercedes for a number of years. Or, there are a number of ebay stores that offer a similar product: about 20 straight lines of various lengths with pre flared ends in SAE, but with brass sae to metric adapters. Price is about $45.00 shipped. Brand is EZ Bend, I think. If yoiu try this route, please post your results. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dershum Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 If you are replacing all your hard brake lines, consider purchasing a 25' role of cunifer from Fedhill. Very easy to bend, polishes up to a nice copper sheen and has beend standard on Volvos and Mercedes for a number of years. Or, there are a number of ebay stores that offer a similar product: about 20 straight lines of various lengths with pre flared ends in SAE, but with brass sae to metric adapters. Price is about $45.00 shipped. Brand is EZ Bend, I think. If yoiu try this route, please post your results. G So kind of like the ones that Black Dragon has in their catalog then, which is what I kind of thought they were. I was going to go the buy-a-roll, flare, and bend myself route, but since I've never flared brake lines, and I've seen enough horror stories about straightening brake line from a roll, I figure I'd like to avoid as many potential points I can royally screw it up as possible Once I get to the point I'm making brake lines, I'll be sure to post up how it goes. Gotta finish metal work on the body and get underbody coating and interior coatings done, then I'll be looking at stuff like brake lines. So sometime in the next geologic eon most likely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Sorry about replying to an off topic post, but... The kit on ebay is preflared, and cut to different lengths. It comes with unions to connect two of them for the longer bits like the line that feeds the rear brakes. The lines are CuNiFer and bend by hand very easily, I did get a tube bender for the trickier bits, but I ended up using a pipe plier, much more precise and sharper bends, I even redid the hardline that feeds the calipers (mounted on the struts) with some of the leftovers. If you are just replacing stock lines everything is the correct thread so you shouldn't need to reflare any lines. If you are adding new tech or inline pieces I recommend the ridgid double brake flaring tool or the eastwood tool. I snapped the first two kits I used of the cheap generic kind, but the ridgid one pops out perfect flares each time and is much kinder to your hands, I did not have the money to drop on an eastwood flare tool. Once again I don't think you will need it for replacing stock lines unless you kink a few pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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