Guest animated_life Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Has anyone purchased a set of these custom bent brake lines to replace the ones on our Zs? I ran a search and found a little info, but no comments or opinions. I need to replace all my hard lines because they're all bent up and in poor condition. I have tried to make my own, but I am apparently horrible at making a good double flare...they all leak. I was considering going with classictube.com, unless anyone knows of a better place? Any info or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 I always end up making my own but I would be interested in hearing how the premade lines fit. Let us know if you go this route. Also, if you decide to try again on making your own, get a good double flair tool (it will cost a little more) and practice, practice. Good luck, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest animated_life Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 The cost seems a little high to me ($199) for our cars, but it might be worth it to avoid the frustration of putting a lot of work into making lines and then having them not seal properly. I'm going to call classictube.com today and see what all comes with the kit. Hopefully the kit comes with all the fittings, blocks, etc that you would expect it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 I go to kragen or equivalent, and buy preflared lines with 3/16 fittings, which are exactly the same as 4.7mm brake lines the Z has. Around here I've seen them come in 4 and 6 foot long sections. $7 line bending tool from napa, and voila. problem solved. you might wind up with a little bit extra line left over during the bend, but be creative and use it instead of cutting and flaring it out. IMO, that's an easier way to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Do you chamfer the tube when you make your own flares? Mine weren't working at all until someone told me to chamfer the end of the tube before flaring. I use a drill bit like a 1/4" or 5/16" bit to take the corner off the tube. Works like a charm now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Do you chamfer the tube when you make your own flares? Mine weren't working at all until someone told me to chamfer the end of the tube before flaring. I use a drill bit like a 1/4" or 5/16" bit to take the corner off the tube. Works like a charm now. For chamering I used a small 6 fluted countersink tool on a battery operated drill. I then used a small file to prep the outer edge of the tube as well. Then I used one tube flaring tool to create the bell and another to finish it. It was a lot of work to get it to not leak. When I did the brake lines for my new brakes I threw all this stuff away and converted to AN. It didn't leak a drop and was much easier to do. You need a new flaring tool and different hardware for connections. Braided lines ar e a lot cheaper this way too. If you're looking at repacing everything you may want to do this. And if you use or are thinking of using Tilton pedals (or similar) they alread are setup for AN ends. Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest animated_life Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 That's definitely a good possibility. Do you remember about how much you spent on the whole brake line setup with the AN fittings? (and where you purchased yours) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Gad Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Any drawback to doing A/N brake lines throughout the car? I am really liking the sound of this option thus far. It will make the line lock and brake portioning valves a piece of cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preith Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 For chamering I used a small 6 fluted countersink tool on a battery operated drill. I then used a small file to prep the outer edge of the tube as well. Then I used one tube flaring tool to create the bell and another to finish it. It was a lot of work to get it to not leak. When I did the brake lines for my new brakes I threw all this stuff away and converted to AN. It didn't leak a drop and was much easier to do. You need a new flaring tool and different hardware for connections. Braided lines ar e a lot cheaper this way too. If you're looking at repacing everything you may want to do this. And if you use or are thinking of using Tilton pedals (or similar) they alread are setup for AN ends. Cary Technically Titlon master cylinders come with both the AN and standard flare adapter fittings. I had considered AN fittings, but already had most of the components with flare, and wasn't quite sure how to convert hard line to AN? Also, I had a few different flaring kits, and the dies were different. I found one design was much better than the other and didn't have near as many problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 That's definitely a good possibility. Do you remember about how much you spent on the whole brake line setup with the AN fittings? (and where you purchased yours) For cost that's a little hard to say as I had a lot of bits and pieces already. Speedway Motors has AN line kits for hotrods. I was converting over to Tilton masters and wilwood calipers and took the opportunity to convert all of it to AN. I ran a small section of braded line from the masters to hard line to make them easy to change and deal with any flex in the firewall. I'd have to say less than $200 including the flaring tool. You need a different flaring tool (37 degree flare) for the AN fittings. They use a compression sleeve and a nut to mount that compresses against the backside of the flared section on the tube. Another alternative is if you have a Parker hydraulic store in your town is to use their fittings. My local dealer quit stocking AN-3 because they didn't want people doing what I'm doing. The majority of the cost will be in the few metric to AN fittings that you need if you use stock masters and calipers. If you use aftermarket calipers that have pipe threads the fittings are less than $3 a piece. When I first did double flares I had a lot of leaks I had to chase down. My experience with AN fittings so far has been no leaks at all. It's all I use on my race cars. And if I had a street rod I'd do the same. Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 I completely replumbed the ROD using AN fittings. For a race car I strongly recommend this change. It makes working on and modifying the brake system much easier. I also completely plumbed Amir's SR20DET 260Z the same way. You do need a special single flare tool and the right kind (with tapered rollers) is expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest animated_life Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 For less than $200, that's pretty good. I started by trying to make my own lines and flaring them myself with unacceptable results. I have leaks at all 4 corners. I'm still considering going the pre-bent route as well, but the kit I've found uses the OE junction blocks...which I'm not sure that I still have. I might have one, but I think it's pretty rusted up. If I decide to go the pre-bent route, anyone know a good source for these OE junction blocks? I was thinking maybe a parts yard, but that'll give me a part that's probably just as rusted out as the one I think I already have. Does Nissan still sell these parts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 I'm lucky enough to have a auto parts store nearby that has a high $$$ flaring setup. I bought the lines, bent them myself, marked where I wanted the end to be, took them back and let them do the double flares. All were perfect with no leaks, and it made the metric/standard changeover easy. Check around, maybe somebody in your area does this. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 This is very interesting... I ran new lines on mine on the front half using the metric lines you can buy at Napa or Oreilys. I used pipe cutter to cut the lines, cleaned them.. then used a flaring tool to make my flares.. (single flare) They bolt up perfectly and no leaks. Also... if you are familar with the oil and gas industry several companies make pipe-pipe connectors... Swagelok is the one i use. A couple of those bad boys mad connecting to the old line an easy task. I also used these fitting to connect my 3/8" SS line to my 5/16" Z fuel line. Parker and some other companies make similar fittings. I like swagelok for their "double ferrel" design. This also makes removal and installation of line a snap. The trick to flaring tubing is go slow... don't screw it down as fast as you can... slow and steady. Also for SS I use a little lube, WD-40 modil one penetration lube.. something of the sort.. spray it on the tube and the flaring tip, this will keep the SS from cracking when you flare it. -Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest animated_life Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 anyone know where I can get the two "junction blocks" that i need for the 260Z brake system? these are the last pieces that I need and I'm having a horrible time trying to locate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 junction blocks? Are you talking about the proportioning valves, or the T -block splitters? I'd just get rid of hte prop valves, and T blocks you can pull off a 280zx at a JY and put in your pocket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 When I replaced my front calipers a couple weeks ago, I had a tremendously hard time getting one of the hard lines off and ended up breaking it. There's a custom pipe and hose place very close to my house (they specialize in braided hose), I brought the line to them, and he made me a new one for $10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 I am restoring my Z and those lines have to go sooner or later. I got a question from reading the thread : what is "AN" system? Is it some kind of unconventional break system, and how does it differ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 AN stands for Army/Navy and is an old military standard for hose and fittings used on ships and aircraft. The hoses and fittings are identified by a dash number (-4, -6, etc.) which corresponds to the outside diameter of a spec metal tube measured in 16ths of an inch. A -8 braided hose or fitting corresponds to the spec 1/2" metal tube. All fittings use a 37 degree single flare. This standard gained acceptance in the auto racing community in the late 1950s when huge lots of AN hose and fittings hit the surplus market as a result of downsizing in the military. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.