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VW brake line repair
I would like to repair some of the brake lines in my 83 Rabbit GTI. The last 6" or so of the front lines got a bit twisted when I tried to remove the old rubber lines and install stainless last year. There is no physical damage, and they seem to work fine for autox and normal driving, but since I plan to take the car to the track, I want to make sure I won't have any problems, basically I need peace of mind.
I don't know much about the lines as far as what size the 2 options:
- replace the whole line, which would require purchasing, bending, flaring, and routing the lines through the engine bay - doesn't sound like fun to me.
- cutting off the twisted end and using a compression fitting.
So, would a compression fitting withstand the rigors of track driving? If so, where would I buy them and the tools needed?
Would it be easier to cut out just the section off the line that's bad, keeping the end that's already flared, and use 2 comp. fittings to splice in the the new piece
OR
cut off the whole end, do a comp. fitting and flare the end?
I also plan to remove the rear brake lines and put in stainless soon, is there a trick to avoid kinking the lines, as I'm assuming the rears will be just as rusted as the fronts were.
Thanks,
PJ
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83 Rabbit GTI - future ITB
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It seems like hard lines are not a part likely to be scavanged off of dead bunnies. There is a chance, of course, that fitting ends might be corroded and the entire part may be grungy but it probably won't be a wear item or subject to crash damage in a typical street accident. They should also be effectively free, minus the labor of snaking them out of the car. I would try that route first, I think.
Kirk
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I had to go through this last year when I did the suspension rebuild on my Golf. I went with replacing the lines using pieces from the auto parts store. The dealer won't stock them but I could check on getting a full unit from WorldPak for you. I learned a trick half way through the job that made bending the new lines much, much esier.... using the simple tool to do teh bending at each turn in the tubing... zip tie the lines as you go along. This keeps them out of the way while your working and also helps to keep the bends as factory straight as possible. It's really not that bad of a job.
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You guys can't get much salt down there http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif
When I built my car, the first two things I did was replace the fuel and brake lines from front to back. Bought a roll of line for brakes and fuel and a bunch of fittings and bent them up. The only tough spot was getting the fuel lines bent up through to the engine bay. The lines rot out quick up here, especially if its 15 years old!
Steve
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88 ITB Scirocco
www.geocities.com/highspeedconnectionracing
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Joe, if you could get an idea on price, that would be great. You can email me at: [email protected], or post it here.
Thanks,
PJ
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83 Rabbit GTI - future ITB
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PJ... Working on the price, will be at the auction tomorrow, but I'd like to invite you and Bill Miller and anybody else that wants to come to see our annual Supertech Meeting. This is held in conjunction with the Riesetoter PCA club and offers the club members a chance to put their cars up on a lift and do some hands on work. In the afternoon our director of engineering, Don Cox will be giving a seminar on suspension set up and development. It is Porsche oriented, but Don is well known in sports car circles through his work with the legendary Chapparal team in the early 60's, GM enginering in Detroit, as well as his tenure at Penske racing through the Trans Am, Can AM, NASCAR, and Indy programs. Don is an unbelievable resource and people usually take notes when he gives one of his presentations! Give me a call if you'd like directions...610-637-8598 cell Joe McCormick
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Someone else mentioned to me that NAPA might have lines with appropriate fittings, I'll check them out.
I went with my Dad to one of the Riesentoter meeting this past summer at Don Rosen, "Race cars at Rosen" I think it was called. He just purchased a 96 911 4S. Dougherty Automotive had a race prepped 911 there, unfortunately there was not the technical presentation I was expecting.
Where and when is the presentation, I know the area pretty well. Thanks for the invite!
Thanks,
PJ
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83 Rabbit GTI - future ITB
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Glad you saw our stuff at RaceCars at Rosen's... actually we had two cars there... Don Wiegands creme colored 911 and the #96 car, both of which we built. Unfortunately we were unable to bring the SuperCup car to that event. They'll all be at the SuperTech though as well as the Ruf RGT that we did a suspension on and the new 996 Turbo that we're doing a Unichip install on this coming week. Add to this my ITB car will be there as well. We'll have some other vendors on hand as well, along with Don's chassis drill. Riesentoter's track chair Ed Kovelich and Vice President Tom Zaffarano have told us that they believe that we'll have close to 220 members showing up! This doesn't include the Dougherty customers that we've invited! It's one of the "must attend" meetings of the year. We're easy to find.... from Rt. 202 take the Westtown Rd. exit, head West on Westtown Rd. (make a Right if you were on 202 South, a Left if you were coming up 202 North). Proceed past the Saturn dealer and Brandywine Mercedes to the traffic light. This is Nields St., our driveway is about 100 yds. down on the left, it'll be easy to spot because people start getting there around 8:00 am as the lkifts are open first come first served... call me if you have any other questions....Joe 610-637-8598
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New brake lines are readily available at most of the auto parts stores. Measure the length of the old brake line and buy new brake lines with the "European" flares. Use a brake line bender and you will get good results. Regards, Ryan.
