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Get a handful of the soft cone washers
Clean and clean and clean. examine all flares and make sure there's no scratches or marks
Re-flare/burnish anything that remotely looks wonky
put a touch of grease between the fitting and the backside of the flare to let it slide
One of the things I regretted most was installing stainless lines. The ones that sealed sealed fine... the ones that didn't were a major PIA and leaked fluid all over freshly painted trailing arms and frame sections...
I just purchased 2 new steel lines for the TA since I know I will have to loosen those ones back off over the winter for some work and I know they weren't happy sealing last time so I'm not even going to try
Thanks Gents. This surprised me. I ordered some Grainger 3/16 copper flare gaskets. I am hoping that will do the trick combined with the above recommendations
My original steel lines only lasted 31 years. In Wisconsin. Land of snow and ice, and salt.
I think you are brave indeed going with stainless. Once sealed, if they don't crack. Should outlast you!
If you get them sealed and if they don't crack.
yes, I think you are brave.
There is really no reason to go with stainless steel.......the sealing problems are not worth it, and its overkill anyways. How many miles / years do you intend to drive this car on Sundays to the car show? Seriously. I get trying to make things better,....but some things, like this, are NOT improvements,....they are the opposite. Maybe the conical seals work....I know they do on jet engine stainless fuel lines.
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I went with stainless gas lines and stainless brake lines, no leaks right from the get go, none for the last 20 years, all the lines look brand new along with the clips and bolts on my powder coated gloss black frame
There is really no reason to go with stainless steel.......the sealing problems are not worth it, and its overkill anyways. How many miles / years do you intend to drive this car on Sundays to the car show? Seriously. I get trying to make things better,....but some things, like this, are NOT improvements,....they are the opposite. Maybe the conical seals work....I know they do on jet engine stainless fuel lines.
If I had not bought them already, I would have changed for regular. However, the idiosyncrasies of restoring a 'vette overseas dictate that I stick with this plan for now. Just the shipping of these lines was $250. #sux
I replaced my fuel and brake lines in stainless steel. To get them to seat, I used Teflon paste on the threads and worked the fitting in and out, each time going a little tighter. Use a good quality flair nut or a line wrench. If you can't get a seal, use the inserts mentioned above. Good luck. Jerry
I replaced my fuel and brake lines in stainless steel. To get them to seat, I used Teflon paste on the threads and worked the fitting in and out, each time going a little tighter. Use a good quality flair nut or a line wrench. If you can't get a seal, use the inserts mentioned above. Good luck. Jerry
Exactly my plan - will let you know.
Parenthetically, I am toying with the idea of using some valve lapping compound.
Parenthetically, I am toying with the idea of using some valve lapping compound.
Just go with steel and avoid all the issues. When you use those gaskets you're introducing another sealing surface into the joint that's un necessary. I had so much trouble with the SS lines on the rear trailing arms I put the steel ones back on. Good for another 20 years right up to when I sold it.
I completely replaced all my brake lines- made some custom pieces for the Wilwood calipers/proportioning valve and to go around the Van Steel coilovers.
I used Nicop- really easy to bend/ form - won't crack- rust- and will outlive you. Not one leak-
Since you are looking at shipping - Nicop comes in coils and will save a bunch on shipping
Sometimes old myths die hard. We owned a 2005 Maserati for 6 years. Never ever a problem. We currently own an '18 Granturismo MC - runs perfectly, no problems ever with either of them. Maintenance can be really expensive, but I do the $600 oil changes myself for $125 in oil/filter. Things have changed a lot since the globalization of the auto sector.
Dorian, since you're going forward with SS (I too, would have recommended 'regular' steel), here are a couple of things that may help.
As suggested, use a good line wrench and some soft copper flare washers. Tighten them a bit, then back them off a bit, and tighten them right up. After you've driven the car for a bit, tighten them up just a little more.
Make certain everything is perfectly aligned. This is very important. Get every line perfectly aligned with the block or fitting before you ever start to button them up. Don't think that you can get even a slightly misaligned line to 'button up' as you tighten it - this is one place you'll find SS lines are a pain.
Never rely on tape or 'goop' to try and keep the lines from leaking. Brake (or fuel) lines do NOT seal at the threads - they seal at the conical fittings. If you have to resort to tape or goop, to stop a leak, you haven't really stopped a leak.
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Brake line leak avoidance.
