Joemac8

I plan on changing the brake fluid, rubber hoses and front and rear brake lines on my 67 coupe. I will then change the pads. The car sat idle the past four years. After fresh gas and battery the car starts but the brakes are very poor.

I have never done this type of work before so I have some very basic questions.

When I remove the rubber brake lines, won't the existing brake fluid leak all over? How can I prevent this?

Since I plan on flushing the system with alcohol and replacing the brake fluid, would I be better off draining the old fluid, then change the hoses and wheel brake line, then flush and finally put in the new fluid?

Lots of basic questions.

66jack

Beings your going to replace the fluid, go ahead and drain, flush with the alcohol like mentioned...then replace the rubber lines...check the pistons on the calipers before you put in new fluid...after setting for four years i imagine they would need to be rebuilt...or purchase some 'new rebuilt' ones from "napa', o'reilly's, or one of the corvette vendors...if the calipers are originals...keep them and pay the core charge...rhat is if you want...

ALSO...check the rubber fuel lines for cracking, the one going to fuel pump and the one from fuel tank to steel line...

rfn026

You should flush the system with denatured alcohol first. The best, and easiest, place to buy denatured alcohol is on Amazon.com.

Get about 4 to 6 feet of clear tubing from Home Depot to fit over the bleeder nipples. Put the other end into an empty water bottle. Keep bleeding until you get clear alcohol running out of the tubing.

Now you can disconnect the brake lines without have brake fluid all over the place.

This is going to be more of a job than you first thought. Have fun.

I like the Ford Heavy Duty Brake Fluid you can buy at your local Ford dealer of at Amazon.com. Here's more on brake fluid.

Richard Newton

Frankie the Fink

The first thing you need to know is that old DOT 3 fluid will eat a hole in your paint faster than you can ever wipe it off. Its nasty stuff.

If you're gonna do an alcohol flush of the system anyway then consider moving to DOT 5; it doesn't attract moisture like the old stuff and won't burn through your paint with a spill.

Fat Mike

How critical is it to perform the alcohol flush? If you run new brake fluid all the way through, won't this do essentially the same thing? Or, is the purpose of the alcohol to clean the lines?

I have flushed lines a number of times but have only used brake fluid.

Thanks!

davekp78

Good question. I never understood the alcohol flush obsession, either, unless you are changing to dot5.

Nowhere Man

When you wash your dishes do you use soap or just rinse them off in water

Fat Mike

I can vaguely remember washing dishes...

Certainly not trying to sound flippant, but when I change engine oil, I don't use a "detergent". For the first 50 years of my life, I never flushed brake fluid either but do so now. I'm always striving to learn more about the proper ways to perform maintenance.

Nowhere Man

its more important when switching types of fluid. you can buy the alcohol at lowes or home dept and even wal mart so there really is no need to mail order it.