&*^%$#* brake line...

[Dave G]

Well of course, my first rusted out Festiva brake line is the one that runs up over the gas tank. Any sage advice before I tear into it? I'm NOT taking the tank out, I'll tell you that right now :-)

[jglutz]

Where is the bad section?
If your not aapt to makiking duplicate lines...best to cut the bad section out and put a new section in...or...only replace what you need to.
Make sure you flush the lines...best with the cylinder disconnected/removed.

[Dave G]

Where is the bad section?

It's right after the straight connector where it goes up to pass over the gas tank. I've gotten that unscrewed OK (and twisted the rusty section apart in the process) but I don't think there is enough room to get a flaring tool up there... (And I don't know how far up the rusty part goes yet either). I'm thinking I'll cut it on the other side before the flex hose and run a patch section up over the tank. I hate brake line work - it's all coming back to me now :x

The good thing is that this has forced me to look at the rear brakes, and I've discovered that the "juddering" I've been feeling *appears* to be caused by a warped rear drum; a heck of a lot cheaper & easier to fix than a warped front rotor.

[SIBladerunner]

You might as well just buy more line than you need and just put wherever it is easiest. I mean you can pretty much put a new line anywhere. Do the easiest thing. You can just modify it and cut the old line up to the tank and leave the rest of it up there. It's not like you're tearing up the mud fields in the car so it can go wherever you can mount it.

[warlocke]

i just ran brake line in my truck. i had to put a few extra bends in the line to take up 3" to much line. so i got about 4" of line sticking outside the frame rail. while its not smart, the truck wont be going mudding. maybe a pasture in hunting season but that field is clear of anything strong enough to remove a line. so where you can run it, just make sure it wont move and it should be good.

[25Horseplay]

^^Did you ever think about cutting the line shorter? :shock:

[jglutz]

Dave...seems like you know what your looking at and what's required....the truth....brake lines are never as easy as they apprear...prepare to do it twice and the stress will lessen and the results will be better.

[WmWatt]

I was able to shove the new line up over the tank. Somone else wrote here that he did the same. I found it helped to remove the trap door to the tank in the floor and poke the line into place with my fingers. TIP: hold the brass fitting in place by wrapping it with tape so it doesn't sid back down the line as it's being shoved over the tank.

[SIBladerunner]

Glad to know you got it fixed, some people just give up and take it in to a shop

[Dave G]

I'm going to go in front of the tank; just got home with a 48" line & a bending tool, and a new old drum from Safety Guy's stash. Managed to unscrew the old line from the flex hose without breaking anything, so apparently the gods are smiling on me today :-)

[Pu241]

Do you have the appropriate flare tool?
Go slow and careful my friend!

[Dave G]

I got a pre-flared line with ends already on it. Done, bled, seems to be fine! Now on to replacing the drum :-)

[Pu241]

Oh, never seen pre-flared ones!
That's slick!

How did you manage to warp a drum or is it just out of round?
Might want to repack the bearings before putting "new" drum on.
Bearing form "old" drum are probably OK too, so might want to hold on to them!

[Dave G]

Oh, never seen pre-flared ones!
That's slick!

How did you manage to warp a drum or is it just out of round?
Might want to repack the bearings before putting "new" drum on.
Bearing form "old" drum are probably OK too, so might want to hold on to them!

You know how the rim of the drum has a groove in it for the brake backing plate? On this one drum about 1/3 that rim had been cracked off - bad casting maybe, plus somebody dropped it on the ground? Well anyway, my theory is that the missing "meat" made it weaker in that area, and it just bent out of round over time. I dunno. The new one seems a lot better so far (after one trip around the block), and ought to get better as the rust inside wears off :-)

I replaced the outer bearing in the "new" one with the newer bearing from the "old" one. The inner looked/felt fine.

[Pu241]

OK!
So your on line!
Going up to Sharron, PA this weekend?