Quote Originally Posted by 68 SuperRam
Thanks for all the pointers - one last question - I have noticed on some cars - that the lines that come out of the distribution block to go to the brakes - coil around themselves a few times (in a circle) before they head on down to the frame rails - is this necessary - what is the purpose of this?
If you meant that the tubing is coiled where it exits the master cylinder, that is a strain relief since the body and frame are not rigidly mounted to one another (unless you've replaced your body mounts with rigid ones). The body and frame will move slightly relative to one another while driving due to vibration and handling forces/torques, so having strain reliefs in the hard lines distributes the movement over a longer length of tubing, reducing the amount of deflection per inch and decreasing the chance of cracking a hard line which will usually happen at the fittings.

Equal lengths of tubing in a brake system is not necessary as the flow requirements are so low, it would take hundreds of feet of tubing to make an apreciable difference due to frictional line losses.



Brake hoses that are "DOT compliant" have been designed and manufactured to meet or exceed the US Federal D.O.T. MVSS-106 specifications set for OE manufacturers. Racing hoses are not required to meet this specification and they typically fail the "whip test" if they are standard braided stainless/teflon hoses without specially designed hose/fittings or any sort of reinforcement at the fittings. You can run either type of hose, but for a street car I would recommend D.O.T. compliant hoses. Better to err on the side of safety IMHO.

Tobin
KORE3