Bulk Brake line and Fuel line

[Rick D]

Ok so I just priced out new brake lines and fuels from a couple of different suppliers and all I can say is WOW. Over $300.00 for OEM lines. Anyone know where I can buy bulk lines and fittings?? I looked on Summit and Jegs and they have some but would like to buy from site suppoters.

[ErikLS2]

I just bought some 5052-0 aluminum stuff from http://www.aircraftspruce.com/ but of course it's straight so you'll have fabricate it all yourself. Sounds like you're looking for a bolt on deal.

[CarlC]

Try your local metal supply house. A Parker store may have it as well.

[Rick D]

I just bought some 5052-0 aluminum stuff from http://www.aircraftspruce.com/ but of course it's straight so you'll have fabricate it all yourself. Sounds like you're looking for a bolt on deal.

Thanks for the link and no I want to fab them myself, it takes more time than the pre bent stuff but I can make it fit much better.


Try your local metal supply house. A Parker store may have it as well.

Thamks Carl, but whats a Parker store is that anything like a McMaster Car store??

[SickSpeedMonte]

Parker specializes in plumbing and is very reputable.

[absintheisfun]

I went to napa auto parts and bought a 25 ft coil of brake line. With that and a few unions and other fittings it was about 50 bucks.

[rohrt]

From my perspectiver that's cheap.

The amount of time I spent on bending and flaring my own and fighting leaks from poor flares. I don't think I would ever try and do my own again. I was using SS.

[absintheisfun]

I got the line flare tool from eastwood. It is mad expensive but makes a perfect, and i do mean PERFECT flare every time.

[wmhjr]

From my perspectiver that's cheap.

The amount of time I spent on bending and flaring my own and fighting leaks from poor flares. I don't think I would ever try and do my own again. I was using SS.

That's because it was stainless. My current build uses all stainless and I did it all myself. It was a major PITA, though I did not and do not have any leaks.

That being said, I used all the best ,correct, thin wall, annealed, seamless stainless tubing. And I bought the mastercool hydruaulic flare tool set, which is the absolute best (other than a purely commercial multi=thousand dollar setup). I will not use stainless again. I absolutely will be doing many many more brake lines. Just not with Stainless.

[parsonsj]

I had no problems with flare fitting leaking. I used .030-.035 wall stainless tube for my brakes, fuel (though through the years I replaced my fuel lines with aluminum), and power steering*.

Those of you with flare problems: did you use AN single flares? Or SAE double flares?


*One of the power steering fittings did seep a bit, but I fixed that with some valve lapping compound and some elbow grease.

[CFster]

Cunifer. Its the only way to go.

[wmhjr]

I had no problems with flare fitting leaking. I used .030-.035 wall stainless tube for my brakes, fuel (though through the years I replaced my fuel lines with aluminum), and power steering*.

Those of you with flare problems: did you use AN single flares? Or SAE double flares?


I had no problems with stainless flares leaking either, so long as I put some elbow grease in them. I used double flares as is proper assuming you're not using -AN type fittings.

[rohrt]

I bought my SS roles from Inline tube. I tried 3 different flare tools including a Rigid brand, dress all the ends of the SS, clamped the flare holder in a vise and they would still push out. The ones I could get flared the inside did not look very uniform, thus the leaks, even after talking to Inline and being instrucked to tighten then loosen then tighten again several times to attempt to seal them. I'm sure the hydraulic flare tool is great are great.

Mild steel are a piece of cake in comparison to SS. In the end I wanted more of a factory look and the SS lines stick out like a sore thumb when you don't have much chrome under the hood.

I purchased a mild steel line kit for the breaks including the proportional valve and that delay valve that they came with, again all from Inline tube. I was able to get them all in place and snaped in the original clips in a couple of hours vs the couple of days bending my own. It was so nice I can't even tell you, plus it was all factory looking like I wanted. One line had to go between the motor mounts and that is what took the longest.

I thought I could save some money doing my own but I ended up spending more then If I had just bought a kit in the first place.

[CarlC]

Conical seals work well for sealing flares. I have a nuisance leak on an AN10 that will only seal with one, and it's an aluminum-aluminum same manufacturer joint. I use them on AN6 fuel lines as well but I'll try the jp-lapping method next time.

Could you just chuck the fitting in a drill and reduce the elbow grease?

[wmhjr]

Conical seals work well for sealing flares. I have a nuisance leak on an AN10 that will only seal with one, and it's an aluminum-aluminum same manufacturer joint. I use them on AN6 fuel lines as well but I'll try the jp-lapping method next time.

Could you just chuck the fitting in a drill and reduce the elbow grease?

NO! Not with stainless. It really doesn't like anything that produces heat.

I got some conical seals also but ended up not using them. My problem with stainless wasn't really leaks - I did pretty well in that regard. It was just in the bending and flaring to begin with. Short lines with multiple complex bends are a friggin nightmare with stainless.

[parsonsj]

Could you just chuck the fitting in a drill and reduce the elbow grease?I never thought of trying that. The fittings (even as small as 6AN like my ps line) are too big to fit in any ordinary drill press. I used a steel fitting, put a coat of valve-lapping compound on the sealing area, then screwed the tube on to help keep it aligned, but not so tight I couldn't turn the fitting. Then I just did a back and forth circular motion by hand with one hand on the fitting and one on the tube. After a minute or two, I cleaned it up, and repeated. I did this 3 or 4 times. Total time of about 10 minutes. Seepage gone.

[wmhjr]

Guys, the lapping John is doing would be no problem with stainless and is a pretty good idea. I would never ever try doing it at anything other than small "hand motion" kind of lapping with stainless. I'm pretty certain you'd heat it and work harden it, significantly weakening the joint as well as potentially galling up the mating surface. Stainless just doesn't like that kind of work.