Help with brake lines

[aevansgatech]

Finally finished up the front brakes last night! Feels good to complete what was a daunting task

I ended up getting the front lines out after a week of the PBlaster treatment, cut my own Ni-Cu alloy lines, bubble flared the ends, bent and installed in one night. Things went smoothly with the right tools and it cost me $80 total (still have enough line to do the rears at some point.)

Whew!

[RRoller123]

Just a thought: Check those small locking clips on the backside of the support bracket where the hose passes through? (upper right in your pic). One of mine was slightly distorted from installation of new lines, and it came loose and I found it was missing after a drive. There was a small clicking sound coming from that side, which was the line rattling in the bracket hole. Eventually it would have worn through and the brakes would have failed. The vendors carry the clips, I got my replacements from AR.

Pete

[TX82FIAT]

The pistons removal is really your call. How many miles are on the brakes and has the car sat for a while. If I suspect the piston is pitted or worn off, I'll replace it. Also a good idea on brakes that have sat for some time to get a good coat of silicone grease on seals as well as the piston to ensure trouble free operatiopn for years to come. Your already in there!

[aevansgatech]

Thanks Pete and TX,

I did lose one of the clips along the way, so I've ordered a replacement and will put that in before driving at all. Thanks for the note Pete

I'll also try to get the pistons out since I have a better understanding now

[Homegrown]

For those who are searching info on brake job on their Spiders, I thought I would share a couple of hard lessons.

When removing the outer hose to the caliper at the front passenger corner, I held the flare nut attached to the metal line stationary and 'unscrewed' the outer rubber hose line. I replaced with new flexible rubber line (and new caliper), but retained all the original metal lines. That corner leaked under pressure while bleeding at the flare nut. Darnit.

This time I unscrewed the hose, but was turning the metal flare line too much and broke near the flare nut. D'Oh. So I need a whole new metal line. On a whim, I asked Napa if they could make up a new bubble flare and they offered pre-made metric 10 (mm?) line that screwed into the flexible line nicely. So I routed the new metal line to the master cylinder. However, the new Napa-sourced flare nut wasn't going into the master cylinder very well. I shrugged it off because I had issues with 1 of the original flare nuts at the master too, I just kept working on it. OK, wrong size. Probably cross threaded the master cylinder in the process...

Therefore, the flare nuts sold at Fiat places are for the ends attached to the flexible hose and caliper. You can see whether the original flare nut at the master cylinder is salvageable, but be prepared to find a new one. The two end flare nuts on my 1971 spider are different. Hopefully, someone benefits from this lesson.

[SteinOnkel]

There are M10X1.25 and M10X1.00 brake lines. You can force this, ruining both threads

Not sure what the Fiat ones use, but VWs are almost always M10X1.00

Because a lot of the local car parts stores don't stock metric brake lines, I always have a complete assembled set for a VW Bug flying around the workshop. Can be had for $30 on ebay and it has saved me many headaches.

Also, if you think the joint is tight enough, tighten it some more. And when you think "Surely, this is about to strip" give it another 1/2 turn. Then it'll actually seal.