Hello all. My 'vette is a '79. It's not a show car, nor is it a race car - it's just a driver, probably a low 3 on the 1-5 rating scale (for now). The car has power brakes, power steering a/c, TH-350 automatic, and 350 small block.

Anyway, I've recently replaced the hard lines from the master cylinder to the "junction block" on the frame, the hard line that runs from the junction block to the left front wheel, the left front flex line (braided stainless steel), both rear flex lines (also braided stainless), and the rear "caliper" hard lines. I'm having a LOT of trouble with the right front flex line, however.

My original intent was to replace all 4 flex lines. Because the car is old and these components haven't been upgraded, I succeeded in rounding off the flare nut on the left front hard line where it goes through a bracket to connect to the flex line. I was able to get a replacement piece and install both the hard and flex lines for this wheel.

I cannot seem to "unstick" the passenger side hard line from the flex line and am very close to rounding the fitting off here as well. I can order a replacement hard line for this side, but I can't see ANY WAY of snaking the line around the front of the car without destroying it in the process. So, I want to replace this section of hard line with a piece of braided steel flex line.

Is there any downside to doing this? It seems to me a brand new flex line would be preferable to the 25 year old rusted original. How would I know what fittings to use, or what size line should I use? I was planning on just ordering a length of line, perhaps with the end that attaches to the "junction block" pre-installed, then installing the fitting at the wheel end myself. I can install all new clamps in place of the original (now rusted) clamps easily enough.

I appreciate any assistance the forum can offer. Thank you in advance!

Ben

find out who makes the flex line and contact them. Tell them what you plan on doing with it. brakes are nothing to fool around with . you need to be sure the flex line will handle the pressure and movement over time will not cause damage to this line.

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Patience young Jedi, like mentioned above, you don't want to mess up with your brakes. I would never attempt to do flex line replacements for the hard line, unless I would be replacing the whole line with it. Get new SS lines too.

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Hi Ben
It's common for the flare nut that attaches to the flex line
to rust on to the hard line on any car.Unhook the caliper,
let the fluid drain out, and carefuly heat the flare nut with
an oxy-acetelyene torch untill it is cherry red-it will loosen up every time! Put a drop of oil on it as it cools and it will
stay freed up. Don't mess with your brakes! Do it right the
first time and move on to the next project-I don't think that
ever ends but I enjoy it! Happy motoring!
Steve

Ben:

I just finished replacing or rebuilding EVERYTHING on my 75's brake system except the proportioning valve--that I just cleaned up.

Anyway, it looks like a daunting task, but it is very "doable." It was actually much harder to remove the front left to right hard line than to replace it with the new one.

Assuming we have basically the same layout, then undo all the brackets and pull like hell. One of the brackets on the right side is a little difficult to get to. If the line doesn't budge at least a little, then you missed a bracket. Be careful not to rip out the transmission cooler lines along the way.

BTW, I gave up trying to be gentle with the flex-to-hard line connections after rounding out the rear lines. So I found a well clamped vice grip will do nicely on the small nut and a line wrench on the flex line. But you WILL be replacing the hard line with this method.

Snaking in the new line was shockingly easy. I always figured it was easier to destroy than create...and I have a lot of experience in the former I capped off each end with some masking tape prior to snaking the line so that it didn't get clogged along the way.

A parting comment to all. I found you can spend $200 to have your master cylinder rebuilt, $200 for a new one, $95 for a rebuild at the Corvette shops, or $35 for a rebuild kit. I opted for the rebuild kit...didn't turn out so well. Took it to Autozone for comparison on what I did wrong. Found the problem and promptly bought their rebuild for a whopping $14. Oh yeah, with a life time warranty as well .

Good luck and email/post with questions.

R,
David

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75 T-Top

Here is what I found to be easiest. I did round off a couple fittings, but because I was using a standard wrench. After that I went and bought a set of tube wrenches. Most of the fittings broke loose with no rounding. The ones that I rounded, even with the tube wrench, well what I did was loosen all the line clamps and then took a pair of metal cutting shears and cut the old lines at the distribution blocks. Then I removed the distribution blocks and held the fitting and turned the block to remove the fitting. Then I just put the dist. blocks back on the car. After that I just installed the new stainless lines.

Oh, and I agree tape up the new lines and snake them in, it was actually easier then I thought it was going to be. I did have to looen the transmission crossmember and lower it some to get the drivers side line into position as this line runs above it and the bends make it hard to get it into the correct position.

Also, you have to remember these lines have factory bends, but they are not going to be exact fit. I had to use a little persuasion to and tweeking to get the fit I wanted, but they are very close. I found my lines to be slightly longer so it required some a little tweek here and there.

Also, do not used braided line to replace a hard line. The Hard lines are DOT approved and meet certain safety standards. If the OEM's thought softlines were the way to go then you would see more of it on cars. Softlines tend to swell and reduces effective brake pressures, so using the minimal amount of soft line ensures proper brake system pressure. Does that make sense. If not call up some of the brake line manufacturers and they will tell you.

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