Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Steve W." wrote in message
...
Jim Wilkins wrote:
A 3/16" (0.191") brake line on my Honda rusted through from the
outside and the dealer wants $1200 to take the front and rear apart
enough to thread a one-piece new one in.
What should I watch for when I splice in a repair section with
double-lap flare fittings? Advice on the Net is contradictory and
not too helpful.
TIA
-JSW
Many imports have bubble flares instead of the double flares common
on domestics.
Go get a length of Nicopp or Cunifer (same alloy different
companies) It's great stuff, bends easy, flares easy, doesn't rot.
It's more money than steel but less than stainless which is a PIA to
work with.
Not hard to run the line yourself with this stuff.
OR you could go with the precut sections of steel and just couple
them with the correct parts.
--
Steve W.
I want to know my options before I ask the inspection shop what they
will accept, and have several good examples to show them I can do it.
They trusted me to replace bad ball joints and brake rotors myself and
helped with the Ford's intermittent electrical problem.
It looks like coupling in a new section is possible if I can make good
flares in the vehicle's tubing. So far I've made decent practice ones
on replacement line with the cuts squared and chamfered in the lathe,
to isolate the potential problems. I have a mini tubing cutter that
cuts cleanly and will fit the tight space but I don't want to wear it
dull. Double flaring is turning out to be tricky and error-prone like
welding.
Here's an example of mixed reviews on the next step up in tooling:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=113006
The vehicle line is straight for several feet in front of the
rust-out, so I could cut out a test section and try different tools
and techniques like annealing on it.
-jsw
Cunifer is legal in every state AFIK. It is being used on a lot of the
high dollar imports and I've been using it in NY for years, it's in the
inspection regs as legal.
Factory line is soft steel tube, I've never had to do anything other
than the steps below.
To do a good flare isn't hard IF you follow a few steps.
1 CLEAN the outside of the line. Dirt/rust/crud is not helping. Neither
does the coating that some after market line has.
2 cut the tubing square as possible.
3 chamfer it inside and out to eliminate any burrs and clean up the weld
seam.
4 REMEMBER TO INSTALL ANY FITTINGS BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO FLARE THE
LINE!!!!!!!
5 Set up the tool and it's adapter properly.
6 LUBE the line and forming tip.
I've made good flares with just about every flare tool I've ever used.
From the cheap chinese ones to my mastercool unit. Some are easier than
others but if you do the steps they work.
This is the one in my tool box
http://www.mastercool.com/pages/flaring_tools.html
It's basically a hydraulic version of the tool you have.
--
Steve W.