my dad is telling me to not do my own brake lines and take it to a shop to do it.....

I am 50 years older than you and I am still learning by making mistakes. The last job I did had several leaks at the residual valves which have pipe thread fittings. I had used silicone fluid and the leaks did not do any damage. Silicone makes clean up of mistakes a lot easier. But it is more expensive.

 

yes do it, watch some videos, just make sure you do the flares good, its not too bad and quite fun, just take your time the 1st time around

 

As its been said they do have adapters to fit the line to your M/C if you dont want to cut and reflare to change the flare nut.

As far as the line that is stuck you can spray it with some penetrating fluid and use a hand held propane torch to heat it up and remove the line. just a warning though the blast will ignite and flame up so dont spray a lot on it. or you could cut the line flush with the nut and put a 6 point socket on it and hold the union with a good line wrench.

 

My Dad told me not to perform the 4" chop on my 1950 Mercury by myself....."Spend the money and let someone else do it" he stated.
HumBug...I am an entrepreneur dammit! My chop turned out very well for the 1st time ever. Be sure and use the proper tools and plan your work then work your plan! Have Fun

 

You could heat that union up with a torch and get it apart but I'd bet you would find that the seats in it are worn out.

Just replace it while you're doing the brake lines and you'll bemuch happier. It souldn't cost more than $15.00

Shawn

 

t man you're right, (Gotta respect your dad even when he is wrong.)

 

The piece that doesn't fit in your picture needs a larger fitting or an adapter. That is a favourite of Ford to do. You need to go to a good autoparts place and get the larger fitting and the cut the original fitting off and reflair the line after putting the new fitting on. Just be sure to look into the hole in the master and see if there is an angled seat for the flair nut to seat into, some masters may have a hole with pipe thread in them and are supposed to have a br*** fitting that adapts it to flair fitting. Early Fords with single pot masters are like that but you look like you have a later disc master it should have the flair fitting seats in there.

 

I hate those shows.........and the armchair mechanics who watch them. Do your research on the hamb and then do it right. There's a lot of talented people on here that could put those TV parts slingers to shame.

your doing a good job, you can buy adapters fittings for the master to brake lines. I would also replace all the line (front and rear) just to be safe. They don't have to be pretty just work, so keep them away from heat and place to rub through. Over time you can play with double flairing.

 

Look at some of the absolute craftsmen on this site I would guess that a great many of these people are self taught.Everyone of them attempted everything a first time.Life is a great big learning curve and after you've done it the first time it will be easier the next time and it will be done exactly how you want it to be done .My advice to you would be take your time,do it carefully listen to can do people whose work you respect and advice that you trust and as you know from the work you 've already done there'sno greater satisfaction than a job well done that was done by you.Good luck and take care with it

 

People need to learn about threads as well before starting this sort of job. No point trying to force a threaded nut and brake pipe into an NPT threaded residual valve hole, as it'll never seal.

Some threads are parallel, and DO NOT need any thread tape on. Some are tapered and DO need thread tape.

But, I am always seeing parallel pipe fittings with tape on, which means somebody does not understand what they are doing, which can be very dangerous.

 

^ This says it well. Don't hurry, you want leak-proof mating surfaces at your flares. Practice gives you good touch. Just did a line on my car, came out perfect.

 

I used nothing more than a cresent wrench to hold the union, with a vice-grips to break the nuts loose. Not pretty, but less ugly than rounding off the corners. Save ALL the stock clips to secure the new lines, maybe fab a couple more clips from .030" soft aluminum, drill for screws. Lookin' GOOD!!!

- Tim

 

Maybe that's why Ford was the last one to offer hydraulic brakes

 

Whatever your dad says... don't take it personally.

What you don't see is the personal attempts and failures that led up to him saying things like that. Parents naturally want to protect their kids from everything- unfortunately, that's just not possible. Ultimately we have to live and learn from our own mistakes, our own experiences, and the at***ude that you bring to it forms our own life philosophies that we, in turn, will p*** on to our kids.

My suggestion - attempt it yourself, but take the time to learn how to do it right. Brake lines are not rocket science but like anything - there's a wrong and a right way to do it. And trying to cut corners or not doing your homework can lead to brake failure, which is a bad thing for you.

 

guys i honestly appreciate everything you are all saying, definatley giving me hope and that feeling that i can do this again! today is my first sunday off work in OVER a year. i was planning on going to church and do some other things i havent done in a while, but if i have time i might go over there today and see what else i can finish up.


i did have a question though about my rear brake lines. i noticed that across the rear axel is the rear brake lines, and in the middle they are met by a little cross fitting. then that goes up, and then it goes into a hose....... that hose then goes into another steel line all the way to the union piece in that photo i posted earlier with the rusted fitting that i cant knock lose.

my question is: if i replaced the rear lines, do i NEED that hose thats up there? or can i run another line, have that line go into a cross fitting and goes to the brake line connecting the two rear brakes. i hope this makes sense, my terminology is way off i bet, but that hose through me off in the rear.

 

The hose would be there for suspension travel.

 

Lemme guess, you used those ****py Aluminum Wilwood or Speedway Residuals? They always leak, buy the good br*** ones from ECI, used a little antiseize on the threads. If you search you can find several discussions on this.

 

You Can Do It!

 

Dad did the lines in mine (I was 12). I'm pretty sure he had never done lines ( on a whole car anyway). Grandpa wasn't around to tell him to take it to a shop. It's a good thing because I'm pretty sure he didn't know **** about hot rods.

 

It's really not that big of a deal. As long as you can keep the dirt/air out and the fluid in, you've got nothing to worry about...sersiously...not a big deal. I put power disc/brake lines and hydraulic clutch lines on my 55 chevy truck when I was like 18 or 19 with no problems what so ever, of course I had my dad's support. Come on dad, get out there with your son and help him if you're so worried about it!

One other thing, be sure to use a good tubing bender and flare tool. You definitely DO NOT want kinks in lines from trying to bend them by hand. Not to say that you can't make small adjustments by hand, but anything more than that, just use the tubing bender.

 

40+ years my dad has been telling me, "If you can read you can do anything." Also, "Even if you don't know what you are doing, do it neatly." We always laugh about that last one, but it matters. It taught me to take my time, plan ahead, and research what I was doing before just guessing. I'm thankful every day that my dad is always the kind to say, "Sure we can fix that" and take me along to see how it was done.

Read online or get a few books, learn why brakes are done the way they are, and then practice making some flares. I bought a roll of brake line when I got my flare kit and spent some time just making flares until they all came out right. Flare, cut off the 3" of line, repeat. For the ones that don't work take a moment and figure out why they didn't work. That way you will know what you did wrong and how not to do it again.

I think the idea to take it to have it checked over by a professional when done would be good from the diplomacy standpoint.

Now my son and I are off to the parts store. . .

 

He is right the hose HAS to be there for suspension travel just as it has to be on each front wheel.

I hate that "you can bend it with your hands and don't need a bender" tubing as it usually promotes sloppy work.
Your brakes will work find with the tubing run all over the place as long as it doesn't vibrate or rub but it does have the appearance of a quick and nasty job rather than one someone put some time and thought into. I think that is what is raising your dad's major concern on it.

I don't want to rain on your parade but take a good look at the way your lines go all over the place and then look at some of the builds on here or even at the way the factory runs brake lines on cars and you will see what I am talking about. But you can get it working and stopping and then get a good tube bender and double flair tool and practice a bit and build better lines one at a time later.

 

If you are living under his roof and are on his insurance then listern to your old man...

 

... did he ask ya to sell it yet ? .. make him happy
.. then try it and see how ya do ...
some supposed "pros" are rookies too
i know cuz working in the auto parts field lots of "pros" did not know diddily
a shorter rear hose is a bad idea on a lowered car ask me how i know this...
you still have to get the tires out

 

Don't feel bad, back in the day the only " ADVISE " i got from the old man was negative comments. Guess he figured if he couldn't do something how the hell could I ? Well many years later he's my biggest backer, just wish that was there when I needed it. Brake line is cheap and as long as you have good pedal when your done you should be fine. Get him involved and have him pump the brake pedal when you bleed the system. Keep at it , we all had to learn somewhere and good luck with the brake project.

 

only issue i see is buying the expensive flaring tools to do it. i have always made my own brake lines. getting the fittings and bending them properly is always the challenge but flaring is not hard but you do need really quality flaring tools. eastwood use to sell them and i bought a really nice bending tool from Sears that cost an arm and aleg but it is sweet it has a retractable arm and goes a full 180*

 

Back in the 90s after I had moved out and far away, I told Dad on the phone of some plans I had for my car (stick transmission, cam) and he told me "you can't 5speed that car."

He had his chance to cam and mess with a supercharger on his Golden Hawk back in the day.

I ended up finishing the car, driving it over a 1000mi and leaving it with him for a month. That took care of most of the doubt.

On the other hand, a lot of car stuff is just confidence. I flushed the cooling sys. on my F-in-L's truck last weekend. I know damn well he can do it; he's just not as comfortable with newer stuff with sensors, stupid coolant manifolds and other things that didn't exist on his cars years ago. And he can school me on the older cars he still owns. Basically, you're going to have to forge ahead and have Dad help you if you want him to have the confidence you do. You're gonna be a leader if you want to.

 

actually he did tell me to sell it! when my 292 gave out and i had it towed to my sisters house across town, he said 'jason just sell it, maybe you can get 500 for it', i remember that i was heated.


i should probably update you all on this and tell you i have my lines complete and finished and i will bleed them as soon as i can put together my rear brakes.

i have the p***enger side completley taken together and the driver side still in tact, and i have a diagram on how to put them together printed out next to me. i tried for hours this morning to put it back together, but after trying to pull the springs into place and it slipping out of the grip of the pliers, causing my hand to painfully hit the side of my car many times to wear now its numb... i called it a day.

i think i need help on that one. i have all new hardware for the rear brakes. once they're put together ill test the lines out and check for leaks. did it all without my dads help.

told him i finished the lines up and i was all excited and he rolled his eyes.. not very encouraging

 

Your dad is right! Too many loops in the brake line will cause the fluid to get dizzy. Once that happens the fluid doesn't know which way to go and you're screwed!


Just kidding! Make the lines neat - working with preflared stuff for a first timer is a very good idea. Unnecessary loops could give you headaches in terms of difficulty bleeding - eliminate those if possible - prebleed - and you'll be fine. Lots of pro's are hacks and lots are tops - unless you get in there and see what's involved in a job you wouldn't know which Pro you were dealing with anyways. Do your homework and you'll be better off - period! Sorry can't agree with your Pops on this one.


Edit: I just read your previous post. I have done many brake jobs with vice grips - hoping for the best - you can get it done that way, but do yourself a favor and pick up a brake spring tool. It'll make that job alot easier and safer too! Wear your safety gl***es anytime you are messing with springs - grinders - hammers - etc etc!!!

 

Sounds like your dad could be more helpful, unless he doesn't know what he's doing.