Brake lines

[GroverB]

Is there a supplier that carries pre bent or pre configured steel brake lines? Not worth a crap at tube bending.

Bruce
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Bruce Crail
71 Bay window

Life is a bitch if you marry a couple!!

[SGKent]

need a special tool to bend them without kinking them.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[VDubTech]

[Tcash]

The only one listed on their site is for a Super Beatle.
Might give them a call an see if they can bend a set up for you?
http://www.classictube.com/catalogsearch/advanced/...Line%20Kit

https://www.germansupply.com/home/customer/home.php?cat=397


Good luck
Tcash

[GroverB]

Thanks all. Have a hand held tube bender but still limited ability to do it right:) Wii check site Tom mentioned and also local brake shop to see if they would bend them for me.

Found 12 more holes in rear deck lid while stripping. Folks must have been fanatics on privacy curtains for bay window.

Bruce
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Bruce Crail
71 Bay window

Life is a bitch if you marry a couple!!

[Tcash]

They don't need to be Pretty, they just need to be Stress free.


If you buy the thick wall brake lines. You do not have to worry about them kinking.
http://store.fedhillusa.com/

https://youtu.be/OeFLD5blen8?t=67



Good luck
Tcash

[SGKent]

[Wasted youth]

First, thank you for using the correct form of the word brake.

I replaced all the steel brake lines on my 1952 Dodge B3PW Power Wagon truck a few years ago. Sears sells a nice tubing bender that is specific to this task, with degreed measurements. Equally important is a quality flaring jig. Both tools will set you back close to $90 unless on sale.

But that task is only effective if you understand how linear loss happens when tubing is bent. YouTube has some interesting videos about electrical conduit bending which helps explain how tubing is properly measured and bent.

I watched Long Beach Naval Shipyard pipefitters forego any measuring at all. They simply taped brazing rods together and hand bent those around other plumbing. When they were satisfied with the layout, they cut the tape in a few places and carefully walked the sections of bent up rods over to the layout area and started fabricating all the piping based on the wire models. That was done in sections, fitted in place around the machinery and all welded together.

You could do that, too.

But the tricky part is after having finally bent up your tube (without re-bending a mis-calculated curve!) is getting your flaring tool to make a nice, leak-free seat. There is a certain learning curve to this, and I would suggest practice.

Rigid makes a nice 'thumb' tubing cutter that fits in the palm of your hand, because you will not be using a saw, of course. You will need that end cut to be as perpendicular as possible so that you flare die does not collapse the flare unevenly.

[GroverB]

Again thanks for the input. Wasted Youth brought up a good point about practice
and the right tools. As I mentioned I have a nice bender but not one I have mastered. At 66 and a lot of years behind a desk I had forgotten a lot of the mechanical shit I used to know as a kid. Rebuilt a 283 in 1966. Worked on abut everything I have ever owned until last few years and the technology got the best of me for most things. Started brake rebuild on the 71 bay a few days ago and when I got the rear drum off it all came back as to how much I hated changing brake shoes on drum based vehicles and I did a lot a million years ago. Worked my way thru college as a grease monkey and we did it all.Hell even picked cotton by hand which damn few of you can ever say so not afraid of any hard work just age restricted. Long story short is I guess at my age I have more than a little trepidation toward ruining good steel lines trying to bend them and not have them leak. Yes I have flared a lot of copper but damn little stainless or steel brake lines. Between about 10-12 of you on this site I have been able to ask a lot and get good answers. Hell I just stripped the outside of 3/4 the bus, did all the wiring and now continuing to learn or relearn my way around the mechanical side of the Air cooled vehicles of my past including one Corvair that I could never ever keep cool-about 50 miles and it overheated and died. Sold it!! So without any further bullshit from me at 1130 in the middle of bumshit Iowa I will just say I will go for it and let you all know how it turns out. Gotta get some tube from Eastwood or somewhere and another bender before I start. Saw a couple on line I like a lot better than mine. Pictures in a couple of weeks. Like I said in an earlier post -it is my dream to restore it to what I want and what comes will come as long as no retirement money is spent-mama said so-only my SS.

So sorry for the long rambling post but some of you guys are just friggin great with advice and it is really appreciated. Busdaddy, SGKent, TCash Telford Dorr, Aeromech to name a few.
Bruce
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Bruce Crail
71 Bay window

Life is a bitch if you marry a couple!!

[Wasted youth]

Maybe a cheap alternative to wasting brake line is to screw around with some swamp cooler tubing... quarter inch aluminum or copper tubing that you can get at the hardware store.

A silversmith apprentice starts with pewter. I wasted some expensive brake line from Napa on that project and my Monday morning Quarterback made that suggestion one late evening in the quiet concern of cash receipts accounting.

Whatever you do, i bet it will come out fine in the end.

[Tcash]

[Mellow Yellow 74]

CIP1 and others sell pre-cut and pre-flared lines (http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC%2D211%2D698%2D001%2DF) but you need to bend them yourself.

There are different types of bending tools but it would be difficult to go too far wrong with this type: http://t.harborfreight.com/1-8-eighth-inch-to-1-4-quarter-inch-tube-bender-94571.html

Just double check your tool is the correct size for the outside diameter of the tube and use the original lines as a guide. The new lines will probably be different lengths than the original but it doesn't matter that much if you have a little more or less length in the bends.
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1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)

[lil-jinx]

ISO flare, isn't that just a double flare with out the extra step of rolling the end in.I have done it that way without issues.I also make a bubble flare[ISO]when joining rubber hose to metal tube.make a good seal for the clamp.
When buying brake line get the stuff with the green coating on it,[don't know what it,s called]it bend and flares better then the plain tube.I have never used stainless tube and probably never will.
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620186
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1974 Bay Westfalia. she likes to be called Ethel.
1968 Dune Buggy
1974 parts bus
A smart man learns from his mistakes,a very smart man learns from other's mistakes.

[curtp07]

I bought this kit several years ago and it worked great:

http://www.germansupply.com/home/customer/product.php?productid=17066&cat=413&page=1

A tubing bender and I did the entire bus in little time.
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Subaru

[Tcash]

The one with the degrees marked on it make it easier to transfer the radius from the original to the new brake line.
http://www.harborfreight.com/tubing-bender-3755.html
The Inline TLB07 for small radius.
http://www.inlinetube.com/#!tools/c1r4p

Does anyone know what size brake lines are used?
Tcash