I have completed all the brake and clutch lines in the engine bay, bending up all new lines (from 3/16" brake line purchased from a local brake shop). Making brake lines is actually quite easy as long as you take time in getting the bends and angles right and practicing making the flares a few times before trying on your nicely bent lines. Making lines can take a long time but can save you a lot of money by avoiding paying a professional mobile guy to do it. All the lines in the engine bay you see here took over this weekend approx 5-6 hours to do but there was a LOT of checking, double checking and one mistake in which I had to scrap the line and start again.
Once the lines are bent, the ends have to be double flared (also known as an invert flare). There is a lot of info on how do it on the internet so I won't repeat it all here. Simply do a search on YouTube for something like "how to flare a 3/16 brake line" or "double flare brake line" and you will get loads of info. The double flaring kits can be purchasing relatively cheaply - in my case about AUD60.
I will make a few helpful pointers for the task :
Done properly, the double flare should end up looking close to this. You can see how the line has been flared out in diameter, then the lip has been compressed back into the tube, forming the double/invert flare.
I went to a lot of effort making the lines look neat and professional, although half of the lines probably will be hidden by various engine and engine bay parts. It's worth noting here that the reason for the brake line coming out of the lower brake master cylinder port and making a bit of a convoluted path to the lower firewall was due to a very small clearance issues with the intake manifold. The clutch line that ends next to the brake booster bracket will screw into a rubber hose, and I will weld a small tab (with 5/8" or 16mm hole) to the firewall to mount the rubber hose.
Instead of trying to make one huge one-piece brake line leading from the master cylinder to the rear subframe, this brake line will stop just after the subframe "wings" and then join (with a female-female joiner) to another long piece that runs the length of the floorpan. I'll be using some nylon P-clips to hold the lines in place in a few spots too.
You can see here how the line for the front brake is routed around the subframe tower. I won't know how long to make the vertical part until I fit the brake assembly and weld another tab (for mounting the flexible brake hose) onto the subframe.
One issue I faced was that I welded teh brace bar between the two subframe towers quite far back (very close to the firewall), so the rear brake line, fuel lines and especially the thick (positive) battery cable would be very hard to fit between that brace and the firewall. To resolve this issue, I simply notched out a small amount (8mm) of the bar and welded in a piece of plate - this was done of both left and right sides. The rear brake line now clears the bar by ~5mm.
Once the lines are bent, the ends have to be double flared (also known as an invert flare). There is a lot of info on how do it on the internet so I won't repeat it all here. Simply do a search on YouTube for something like "how to flare a 3/16 brake line" or "double flare brake line" and you will get loads of info. The double flaring kits can be purchasing relatively cheaply - in my case about AUD60.
I will make a few helpful pointers for the task :
- Double check the direction of the bend before actually bending and try and visualise what the bend will look like once fitted. A permanent marker is your best friend here to mark the inside or outside of the bend.
- If the bend is something apart from the standard 45 of 90 degrees, bend it less that what you need first, then bend more once it's been test fitted. I made up a few (small length) bends of various angles to help me determine what angle would be.
- Measure how far the line goes into the nut or fitting and account for this when measuring required lengths.
- Slide the brake line nut on the line BEFORE flaring the end of the line.
- When clamping the line in the flaring tool "block", make sure those bolts/wing nuts are quite tight, otherwise the line will be pushed through the block when compressing the line, and you'll end up with a rather average flare and have to redo it.
- For something like this build, there is a combination of metric (M10 & M12) and Imperial (3/8") nuts used. Make sure you use the correct nut on the right fitting. A 3/8" male fitting will fit in an M10 female thread, but it will be slightly loose when screwing it it and won't tighten or seal properly.
- If possible, purchase and use a brake line spanner to tighten the nuts. It's quite easy to round off the nuts if using a standard open end spanner.
Done properly, the double flare should end up looking close to this. You can see how the line has been flared out in diameter, then the lip has been compressed back into the tube, forming the double/invert flare.
I went to a lot of effort making the lines look neat and professional, although half of the lines probably will be hidden by various engine and engine bay parts. It's worth noting here that the reason for the brake line coming out of the lower brake master cylinder port and making a bit of a convoluted path to the lower firewall was due to a very small clearance issues with the intake manifold. The clutch line that ends next to the brake booster bracket will screw into a rubber hose, and I will weld a small tab (with 5/8" or 16mm hole) to the firewall to mount the rubber hose.
Instead of trying to make one huge one-piece brake line leading from the master cylinder to the rear subframe, this brake line will stop just after the subframe "wings" and then join (with a female-female joiner) to another long piece that runs the length of the floorpan. I'll be using some nylon P-clips to hold the lines in place in a few spots too.
You can see here how the line for the front brake is routed around the subframe tower. I won't know how long to make the vertical part until I fit the brake assembly and weld another tab (for mounting the flexible brake hose) onto the subframe.
One issue I faced was that I welded teh brace bar between the two subframe towers quite far back (very close to the firewall), so the rear brake line, fuel lines and especially the thick (positive) battery cable would be very hard to fit between that brace and the firewall. To resolve this issue, I simply notched out a small amount (8mm) of the bar and welded in a piece of plate - this was done of both left and right sides. The rear brake line now clears the bar by ~5mm.
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