Brake hose clip, it's always the little crap!

[zachmac]

Just finished up refurbishing the front brakes on my newly acquired 80 FI spider. Pretty much back to the barely adequate 1980 factory design. At least it no longer dives to the right ditch!

I did rotors, reman. calipers and pads as well as hoses. All went fairly smooth, but of course something had to go wrong In this case it was the rusty little clips that hold the brake hose to the body where the hard lines connect. After who knows how many years / on / off cycles they both disinigrated on removal. I know Vicks and others list them but I was hoping to just run down to the local Advance Auto and grab them. They indeed had some that looked close but no amount of pushing, pounding or otherwise destroying my knuckles will make them fit. I confrimed this on one of the old hoses as well on the bench.

So, does anyone know where to get ones that work without a few days mail delay from past experience, NAPA?, Auto Zone, etc? Any thing I can say to them regarding size that will get me the right part?

[mbouse]

those little horse shoe looking things? just about anywhere handles them. and yeah.... grab what is on the shelf, no special size needed. like panty hose, one size fits all

[zachmac]

Yeah the horse shoe thingys and apparently it ain't that simple. As I stated in my original post, I got a set off the shelf from Advance Auto that looked to be a good replacement and no amount of prying, pushing, hammering and cussing will force them onto the lines. As I also stated, I couldn't get them to go on the lines I had removed sitting on the workbench either, so it isn't a question of not having the lines on the car seated or anything.

I also know from years of many cars that they are NOT all the same size. Try getting a Fiat hose clip to go on a 1961 Caddy convertible hose for example. I know those were twice this size. Guess I'll have to wait for a couple from Vicks or Bruce.

[mbouse]

not to be a smart a$$, but what curse words are you using?

those clips should work just fine. they're what i use....over the counter from Auto Zone.

[zachmac]

The reason they don't send Donleys to college is because no one likes a smart ass.!

Guess I'll try Auto Zone (versus Advance). I just spoke with a friend at church who runs an auto repair shop and has for over 30 years and he agrees that they are NOT all the same size.

[joelbert2k]

You could always try a file or Dremal tool to enlarge the opening on the clip.