Brakes
 

Im new to making brake lines so any advice will be greatly welcomed :o

Ive done a few running repairs making the odd brake line over the years on daily drivers but just dusted off my flaring kit and read the instructions. It illustrated a female flare, a male single flare and a male double flare, when and why do you use different types of male flare?

Also my hydraulic brake light switch from a vw caddy seems to be flat on the end of the male thread, what kind of fitting do i use when i install this switch. I assumed it would just fit in the t piece.

I probably know enough to have got my way through this job but i thought i would ask on here as people who have lots of experience will probably make lots of usefull suggestions and make my life alot simpler this wk end when i start on them :D

Simple Mark,male flare into union's ie: brake hoses cylinders etc,male and female to join pipes. Just like pro-creation the male fits in the female......
If the contact surface inside a join/union is raised it needs a female/double flare.

Thanks, it was just the double flare thing thet confused me mainly i always just thought male, female and that was it and hadnt heard of a double flare.

Do you have any advice about the brake light switch? if it has a flat bottom on the thread will it seal when screwed into a tee piece?

If it's a metric one, it's usually a taper thread, so a bit of PTFE tape should seal it ok (That's what Car Builder Solutions say anyway!)

Cheers

Adrian

Yeah now you mention it when you screw it in by hand it only goes in halfway then becomes tight almost as if the thread is tapered :rolleyes:

Thanks for the tip :)

If it's tapered as Adrian says a bit of PTFE tape,if not a small copper washer on it.

Try some Boss white jointing compound on the tapered threads Mark, works very well, couple of quid from Plumb Centre.

And don't forget to put the fitting on the pipe before flaring the end, then again everybody does that once....;) and don't over tighten them.

Also, when you are flaring a female end push a male first then you make it into a female end. If you get stuck then give me a shout. I've also got the trumpets when you need them.

Regards....Andy

Thanks for the replies people i know exactly what im doing now :)

I will come and get those trumpets from you next weekend if thats ok with you Andy?

I would also like to have another look in your engine bay when i see you next so i can see where you have routed things now that im getting a little further on wth my build.

Thanks

No problem Mark, are you going straight in with the Zetec with the build or with the CVH for the IVA test (easier route)?

AndyH

Going with CVH for Iva because i want an age related plate and the fact it had only done 65k with fsh and ran perfect :)

I am gonna run it on bike carbs/megajolt though because i dont like the look of that hybrid ignition system and that tiny pierburg carb it came with as standard. Hopefully be on the road for next summer and if it does give up i can get a zetec straight in like yours :D if it doesnt give up it will probably be a winter project/xmas present to myself to get the zetec in i and will already have carbs and megajolt and a bit of experience tinkering with them.