MikeC4

Hey Guys,
First, I want to thank all those who responded to my questions and for all the great advice on how to install a Brake booster, how to flare a 3/16" inch brake line, and how to porperly bench bleed a Master Cylindar.

For anyone else tackling this type of project, I took some pics for posterity, and would like to share them with you. The Brake booster in the following pics is a new GM OEM booster which was a real joy to replace...NOT!!

Since I stripped my 12mmX1.0 flare nut and the MC inlet, first thing was to cut off old bubble flare so I could replace this nut. I could only find this flare nut a a local Chevy parts place. I used a mini-hack to cut off the old flare so that I could get as close to the flare as possible. I had to later file the cutoff to ensure I had a straight cut on the brake line. Not to difficult a task. I used the board as leverage and to firmly hold the brake line as I was sawing it off:

Time for this job: about 30 minutes (inludes file time)


Then I had to wait about 4 days for my ISO Bubble Flare tool to come in mail. No local Austin shops carry the ISO metric flare kit. I bought 3 feet of 3/16" brake tube to practice on. When making a flare, it is recommended to put small amount of brake fluid on tip of brake line for a "cleaner" flare. This helps reduce the friction between the flare fitting and brake line as you are turning the crank!! My flare came out better than I had expected. Best to have 2 people on this job, 1 to hold the flare clamp, and the other to turn the crank. Bubble flares require much more rotational torque than SAE Doubke flares. Do not forget to put on the new flare nut before you flare your brake line!!!!!

Time for this job: about 30 minutes


And here is a picture of the new bubble flare and the new flare nut (the one on the left). Do your best to get your flare correct the first time, as there is not enough straight pipe left to do another flare if you mess up the first.:



And here is my MC bench bleed setup. Make sure your snug down the 2 plastic fittings with an open end wrench, or you will suck air between the plastic threads and MC. Ask me how I know! After you fill the resevoir with new brake fluid and are ready to bleed, use short 1/4" to 1/2" strokes because the rings are still dry. Do these short strokes about 20 times. Then increase to maybe an inch, but no more than this. Keep pumping until no more air bubbles are seen coming from the feedback hoses. I would guess I pumped it about 100 times....probably overkill, but I wanted to be sure that all the air was bled from the MC.

Time for this job: about 20 minutes


And here is a pic with everything buttoned back up, and no leaks!!! I highly recommend that before you bolt the new MC to the Brake booster that you hand tighten the 2 flare nuts onto the MC first. I found that it was actually easier to just hold the MC in freely in my right hand and start the flare nuts with my left. This way turned out easier than slightly bolting the MC to the brake booster. I wasn't about to strip another flare nut! Make sure you can hand tighten each flare nut about 4 or 5 turns to ensure that you are not cross threading. With fine threads on these flare nuts, it is difficult to visually see if the nut is being threaded correctly or not.

Time for this job: about 30 minutes


That's it. another 45 minutes to bleed the entire brake system and I'm back on the road!!

Thanks again for all the great advice that got me through this project