Brake line question
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,874
Likes: 263
From: Arlington Va Current ride 04 vert, previous vettes: 69 vert, 77 resto mod
i forget what they call them but in essence they are box end wrenches with a slot cut in them to fit over the fitting....an open end that has two parallel sides will slip one that has 4 of the 6 sides would work better and use antisieze when reassembling
Pro
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 683
Likes: 4
Originally Posted by bobs77vet
i forget what they call them but in essence they are box end wrenches with a slot cut in them to fit over the fitting....an open end that has two parallel sides will slip one that has 4 of the 6 sides would work better and use antisieze when reassembling
Good Luck
Steve
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,832
Likes: 38
From: Cedar,BC
Chances are,you will end up using a pair of vice grips,if you are gentle and have the space and the rust isn't too severe,you can break the nut loose without damaging it.In some cases a bit of heat from the torch may help free things up,apply sparingly!However,you may get lucky with the line wrenches,don't even bother trying a standard wrench,you will round off the fitting for sure.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,407
Likes: 2
From: Carmichael CA
I just removed my front brake lines about 8 hours ago. You should never attempt to use just an open end wrench with a pipe fitting unless it's an emergency or you just don't have the money for the wrenches...though it might be more embarrassing to strip your nuts than to knock on all your neighbors doors asking to borrow a line wrench.
Attempt to remove them in this order:
1. Line Wrench.
2. Vise Grip.
3. Pipe Cutter.
4. Hack Saw.
5. Acetylene Torch with cutting tip.
6. Blast Furnace (just drive it to CA).
OK...5 and 6 are jokes...and 4 shouldn't be needed either since you can just cut the pipe off and replace your flexible hose...if that's the nut that's giving you trouble. And, if you have to use tool 3 then you will be replacing whatever it is stuck in, so go ahead and twist away with tool 2 until it's a sick twisted piece of metal.
Be very careful if the lines are filled with brake fluid since the fluid is flamable AND most important to us vette owners it will eat paint and leave a stain.
Attempt to remove them in this order:
1. Line Wrench.
2. Vise Grip.
3. Pipe Cutter.
4. Hack Saw.
5. Acetylene Torch with cutting tip.
6. Blast Furnace (just drive it to CA).
OK...5 and 6 are jokes...and 4 shouldn't be needed either since you can just cut the pipe off and replace your flexible hose...if that's the nut that's giving you trouble. And, if you have to use tool 3 then you will be replacing whatever it is stuck in, so go ahead and twist away with tool 2 until it's a sick twisted piece of metal.
Be very careful if the lines are filled with brake fluid since the fluid is flamable AND most important to us vette owners it will eat paint and leave a stain.
