DIY fuel and brake lines

[Norbie]

I did a quick search but didn't find much on the topic. Has anyone here made their own fuel/brake hard lines? I'm considering this and would appreciate any hints or suggestions, including "don't even bother" if appropriate.

In my case I had to remove the three fuel lines and one brake line running along the floorpan of my Supra, because they were routed along the transmission tunnel which was recently hacked up and re-shaped. So now I need four new lines which follow a different path, some with threaded connections (brake line and pressurised fuel line) and some with plain flared ends with hoses pushed over (fuel return and breather lines). Is it feasible/practical to do this yourself after purchasing the appropriate tools, or am I better off forking out the $$$ to have a pro do it (remembering the car is by no means mobile)? And if going DIY what tools would I need to do the job properly?

Any input appreciated.

[wilbo666]

Somewhat the same, I have rebent a hard clutch line and turbo oil lines a significant amount to fit another car / turbo without drama.

I believe that the tube itself is quite cheap.

You'll need a bender which may cost an amount.

As for fittings, you can hack your old lines up for the fittings, either buy the flaring tool (should be pretty reasonable) or get someone else to do the flaring.

I'd suggest getting costs for the pipe bender, pipe and flaring tool and see how that compares to a price for one of the mobile people

Another thing to think about is if you have the motivation and patience to make the lines, might make the mobile guy a reasonable option if it isn't something that you think you will enjoy

Cheers
Wilbo

[merc-blue]

Get your self a bender and double flare tool, fittings are worth very little
The tube is very cheap,
I have done quite a few and its not a hard job just time consuming to get them spot on.

[EldarO]

id sugest leaving the front brake obviously to the experts, but seeing as your not doing that, its all good.

while i was at kennards hire the other month getting the trailer for my halfcut, i noticed a range of hydraulic pipe benders they had, and im pretty sure they even had some tools for the smaller stuff.

sure beats that $22 bender avaliable at supacheap...

Elmo.

[Norbie]

I already have a pipe bender I picked up at Supercheap, and as you would expect it was super cheap but looks a bit crappy. Hopefully it's good enough to do the job though. They had flaring tools as well but they looked too crappy so I'm going to investigate the price of decent ones at a proper tool shop. I guess I should pick up a pipe-cutting tool as well, using a hacksaw could be a bit of a pain when you're dealing with 3 metres of tube bent into strange shapes.

Buying the tools doesn't worry me though, I guess what I need to know is can I acheive a satisfactory result with no prior experience and no-one to show me how it's done?

I've already priced the tube (dead cheap) and the fittings can be recycled from my old lines so that's not a problem.

[tooch]

Have a read of this, should give you some tips
http://www.hoppers.com.au/street4.htm

[Viper]

The flairing tool will make all the difference. We have 2-3 different ones here at work.
DO NOT USE the hand held ones. They are ever so cheap and flimsy, and 95% of the time, the flair is shithouse. The best ones are the bench/vice mounted.
They do however cost a mint.

If you dont want to buy one, make up all the lines and goto a brake place and get them to do all the flair work.

[DoctorDubb]

Im looking into it myself as im just about to do my clutch line for my ra28.
http://forums.toymods.org.au/index.p...t=0#msg_679162
There is concern about copper being a weaker (though more easier alternative) thats more likely to break and isnt ADR approved.
Another post that actually states that copper line for fuel line will deterate and suggests either alloy or steel pipe
http://forums.toymods.org.au/index.p...t=0#msg_109296
'Bundy tube' seems to be the nickname of the steel line.
Some people bend with a socket or buy a cheap bending tool.
Double flaring seems to be the best way of going but the tool is awlfully expensive for just one job so just take the completed pipe to get double flared for a few $$ at your local brake place.

And where did you get it priced from norbie? as i got quoted $12 a metre from local repco

[wilbo666]

I guess what I need to know is can I acheive a satisfactory result with no prior experience and no-one to show me how it's done?

For sure is my opinion!

Might take a bit of patience is all

Cheers
Wilbo

[ra_28]

I bend up brake line and oil suctions for work its not that hard. The worst part is marking the bend in the right place. I would suggest using a quality flaring tool wich allows you to double flare and make sure you give yourself enough tube sticking out of the flaring boss so is gets a good mushroom for when you go and roll the second flare.

Cheers
Alex

[Norbie]

On a related note, can anyone see a problem with using rubber fuel line instead of bundy tube for the rear section of the lines? The problem with the MA61 is the three fuel lines pass through a narrow gap between the floorpan and the rear subframe, and there are lots of bends in the tube around that area which means it's impossible to remove the lines with the subframe in place without basically destroying them (which I did). Installing new lines will be equally difficult/impossible, so I can either (a) remove the rear subframe/suspension/diff etc or (b) run hard lines up to the subframe and rubber lines from there to the fuel tank. Obviously option (b) is FAR easier, can anyone think of a reason why it would be bad?

[EldarO]

On a related note, can anyone see a problem with using rubber fuel line instead of bundy tube for the rear section of the lines? The problem with the MA61 is the three fuel lines pass through a narrow gap between the floorpan and the rear subframe, and there are lots of bends in the tube around that area which means it's impossible to remove the lines with the subframe in place without basically destroying them (which I did). Installing new lines will be equally difficult/impossible, so I can either (a) remove the rear subframe/suspension/diff etc or (b) run hard lines up to the subframe and rubber lines from there to the fuel tank. Obviously option (b) is FAR easier, can anyone think of a reason why it would be bad?

whats new pussycat woahhhhhhhhh woahhhhhhhh woah woah woah ehehehe.

i cant think of a reason, we did this on a mates silvia (and 4AGE converted KE70), obviously not as hardcore as your car, but as long as theres some form of stopper on each side of the metal line (flare, lump of weld, lip etc) to stop it sliding off, it should be fine.

Elmo.

[Norbie]

In the case of the pressurised fuel line I'll be using threaded fittings on both ends, same as the original setup. In fact the original setup joined the fuel tank to the hard lines with short sections of rubber hose, so all I'm really doing is making the rubber bits longer. So now I think about it I'm not changing anything and there's nothing to worry about!

[chris davey]

I am about to do the flaring of my brake lines also. I am fitting a line locker so I had to chop the lines, get 2 fittings to suit the line and the line lock and now have to get them flared.

I was going to get mechanic to do it but my car is also immobile so I changed my mind. I already had pipe cutter and bender just needed the flaring tool. I picked one up from ebay for $40 for a double flare. Obviously not industrial quality but if it lasts me more than these 3 flares then it is money well spent

Glenfords wanted $130 for a single flaring tool and about $200 for a double flare IIRC.

I am also doing one other brake fitting as it was absolutely stripped. I don't know how they strip when you are using the correctly sized brake line spanners but it did.

[EVOSTi]

we bought a double flaring tool for use at work, cost around the $150 mark from memory. until we got that i was making do with a single flare but its not as good.

also i use copper tube for brakes and fuel, alot of people poo poo the idea but im yet to have problems, have had one section of copper brake line on the sprinter for about 5 years now so far so good.

[merc-blue]

We use anelled stainless which IMO is a safe bet and its still quite cheap

[Pube]

I have tried using a quality flare tool to carry out double flares on brake lines and power steeing lines. However as others have already said, they are totally useless!! The only way to get lines flared is with a more expensive bench mounted type unit The flares will always be spot on. The brake place I use rarely have charged me to flare a few brake lines.

[EVOSTi]

i have success with the hand flaring tool, cant complain.

[Crazyracer]

I've used a name brand, moderately priced double flaring tool ~$100 (that looked just like the cheap ones) with a fair amount of success.

I've also used some of the fancy expensive ones that clamp in a single action, but found they can be fiddly to set up the pipe to the correct height and also lose clamping force as they get a bit of use, causing the pipe to slip.

The benefit with the type with the wing-nut clamp type is that they can be held in the vice while you create the flares.

There are a few tricks to getting it right, mainly in the preparation of the end of the tube before commencing to do the flair, and setting the height of the tube carefully in the clamp.

I also found it much easier to work out how long the tube needed to be, put the flares on both ends with the tool in the bench vice, and then bend it afterwards.

Flares created in situ in the car always turn out crap.

[oldcorollas]

bending/cutting is easy.
for brakes, i would get them flared professionally by a good brake shop.
for fuel, i would just use an olive compression fitting to the hard pipe, with a (what do you call it?) properly shaped fitting for rubber hose on the other end...

at the back, only one fuel line is pressurised, so you could even go overboard with that and banjo it.. the other/s will be fine for standard fittings.