Flexible Brake Pipes

[Josh]

Hello, I'm ready to get my brake pipes fitted and have already stumbled at the first hurdle. The book just says to 'fit the flexible brake pipes'. I didn't start with a donor car and have sourced donor parts from all over the place so the book isn't being very helpful here!

Do I just need to buy a standard set of Sierra flexi brake pipes, or is there another kit that would work, or do I need to get custom pipes made up?

Thanks, Josh

[voucht]

Hi Josh,
The OEM "rubber" brake lines from the Sierra will be too short, I'm 99% sure of that.

Almost everybody fits "racing" flexi brake lines which are made from stainless steel braided Teflon hose. They look much nicer on the Roadster than the OEM ones. They are thinner and lighter. They are also much more resistant to pressure thanks to the stainless steel braid, and don't swell under heavy braking as the OEM "rubber" ones have tendency to do. So definitely recommended for sport/fast road driving.

I supply these kind of brake lines, please check my website (address in my signature) if you are interested and send me PM if you need more info or to order.

My brake lines come with 100% stainless steel fittings, and ss lock nuts for the bulkhead fittings. They are fabricated on order, so 100% custom. 26 colours of PVC cover on the hose are available, so you can make them match perfectly with the colour of your car, but you can also choose to keep the natural colour of the stainless steel braid (clear PVC cover), that is the choice I've made.

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag133/voucht/IMG_0029_zps1bd1d3bc.jpg (http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/voucht/media/IMG_0029_zps1bd1d3bc.jpg.html)

I've already supplied a big dozen of kit car builders, most of them being Haynes roadster builders from this forum, and they looked quite happy with the product :)

If I can be of any help, do not hesitate to contact me.

Cheers.

[K4KEV]

Hi Josh ....I have no doubt that you will have seen my build thread and I can hand on heart say that this is the bloke you need to use for brake lines, and very competitive prices ....give him a go bud and you will not be dissapointed.

[alga]

Or you can buy the braided hose and Euroquip fittings on Rally Design or other places and build your own. The cost is about 60 pounds, plus shipping. But then you don't get the nice things such as the vynil top cover and the angled fitting for the rear hose to go around the upright. And Euroquip fittings are galvanised, not stainless.

[Stot]

Or you can buy the braided hose and Euroquip fittings on Rally Design or other places and build your own. The cost is about 60 pounds, plus shipping. But then you don't get the nice things such as the vynil top cover and the angled fitting for the rear hose to go around the upright. And Euroquip fittings are galvanised, not stainless.

I'm sure I've read that self build brake lines are no good for IVA.

Cheers
Stot

[jps]

Sylvians brake lines do look seriously good - and his website is excellent - the diagrams etc are a great resource for thinking about routing piping, etc...

[Josh]

Thanks for the help everyone - Sylvain you have email! :D

[voucht]

Thank you for the very nice comments on the brake lines my friends!

Josh's brake lines are on their way :)

[Josh]

Suggestions please for reliable sources of the following...(no donor car available).

Brake proportioning valve for a rear discs roadster
M10x1 brake T piece
M10x1 brake pressure switch

Thanks

[voucht]

Hi Josh,

Brake proportioning valve for a rear discs roadster : the one from the Sierra donor is enough. If you want an adjustable one (knob), Rally Design sells the Wilwood one. It's a shame, because I could have send you one with the brake lines at a good price as we supply them too.
M10x1 brake T piece. members from the UK will tell you the cheapest supplier in your country I'm sure. I know Rally Design sells these parts too. Same than for the BPV, I could have supplied you one too.
M10x1 brake pressure switch : as a lot of us, I use the one from the VW Beetle, it is very cheap, easy to find, and fits perfectly. You can find it on ebay I'm sure.

Hope this will help :)

[Stot]

I have a proportioning valve from a Fiat Uno (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310588485437). Its M10x1 and It has a rising piston on it so can be adjusted if needed by making a mount that stops the piston rising at a set point.

You are not allowed regular knob adjustable ones for IVA.

Cheers
Stot

[alga]

Brake pressure switch part number: 113 945 515h.

[Josh]

Thanks for the suggestions, I shall look into it...

Meanwhile, my shinny new flexi brake lines arrived today, thanks Sylvain for the help! They are extremely high quality and worth every penny imo :)

http://i.imgur.com/gfZjTygl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8urIA6xl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jZxxKAyl.jpg

[voucht]

Thank you Josh.
If you're happy, I'm happy!
They look pretty cool in blue too :)

[Stot]

Thanks for the suggestions, I shall look into it...

Meanwhile, my shinny new flexi brake lines arrived today, thanks Sylvain for the help! They are extremely high quality and worth every penny imo :)

http://i.imgur.com/jZxxKAyl.jpg

It looks like your caliper is on the wrong side here, the bleed nipple should be on top no?

Cheers
Stot

[Josh]

Well spotted, the bleed nipple should ideally be on top. However with the calipers swapped around there are issues running the handbrake cable.

I decided to fit them this way round and live with the fact that I'll have to take the calipers off to bleed them. It's not a big job, wheels off and then two bolts per caliper that hold them to the caliper carriers.

Josh

[beardydave]

I have a proportioning valve from a Fiat Uno (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310588485437). Its M10x1 and It has a rising piston on it so can be adjusted if needed by making a mount that stops the piston rising at a set point.

You are not allowed regular knob adjustable ones for IVA.

Cheers
Stot

I thought you were, but that the adjustment has to be disabled. No info as to how, so its possibly down to testers discretion.

What about bias bars on the pedal? With no remote adjuster cable?

I had been thinking of getting an obp pedal box, but these all come with bias bars for two cylinders. I am not averse to making a fixed bias for the iva test though if necessary.


Also, regarding bias calculations, a few years ago I wrote an excel spreadsheet for our formula student team to calculate the brakes needed. Anyone interested?

We'll need a few accurate details on static weight distribution from a finished car as inputs, and ideally the COM height, but I doubt anyone has put a car on a tilt table to measure that.

[Stot]

I thought you were, but that the adjustment has to be disabled. No info as to how, so its possibly down to testers discretion.

This may have been at one point but the manual says,


Note 4: Hydraulic valves that only operate automatically and react to vehicle loading or braking forces are permitted (Load Sensing and Gravity valves) Manually adjusted valves (other than to permit presetting the automatic function of a valve) are not permitted to be fitted even if they are rendered un-adjustable.


I was going to fit one too til I was pointed to that. :o

Cheers
Stot

[jps]

you could use bias bar on a dual cylinder set up, as it's not an adjustable valve. I think they expect to see the bias bar made un-adjustable though.....

[jps]

It looks like your caliper is on the wrong side here, the bleed nipple should be on top no?

Cheers
Stot

Josh (incase you are still on here at all!) just bumping this up as i was just sizing up the route of my rear disc flexi brake lines last weekend. Did you go with this routing in the end? I would have thought it looks a bit tight, but it may be the picture?

I was planning to go onto the rear chassis rail - just pictured in the bottom right of your photo...

[voucht]

Josh (incase you are still on here at all!) just bumping this up as i was just sizing up the route of my rear disc flexi brake lines last weekend. Did you go with this routing in the end? I would have thought it looks a bit tight, but it may be the picture?

I was planning to go onto the rear chassis rail - just pictured in the bottom right of your photo...

Hi John,
I always thought the best place for the rear flexi line brackets is under RS7/RS7a tubes. And as spotted by Stot, the caliper on the pictures is up side down, so RS7/RS7a still seems to be a good place.
Hope that will help :)

[jps]

Hi John,
I always thought the best place for the rear flexi line brackets is under RS7/RS7a tubes. And as spotted by Stot, the caliper on the pictures is up side down, so RS7/RS7a still seems to be a good place.
Hope that will help :)
Thanks Sylvain - i've gone with the same calipers position as in Josh's pic (despite the complication it'll add to bleeding them), as it is the only way I can find to allow a workable run for the handbrake cable, but i'll have a look at how it might run up to RS7/7a.

But here's some pics of a route across to RS14 which i'd mocked up (using the front flexis I have) which I thought might be a reasonable solution?

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/upload/Rear brake line1.jpg

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/upload/Rear brake line2.jpg

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/upload/Rear brake line3.jpg