I changed my front to rear line while the car was on jack stands. I don’t recall anything particularly difficult about changing the line out. I do recall the pre bent line coming folded in half with an gentle bend. Getting the line straightened out seemed the hardest part. Soak fittings with PB Blaster for a few days before starting.
Thanks Dennis. That's good news. I'll order the parts this weekend and be spraying the fittings and clamp bolts each day until the parts arrive. I have a rusted mess at the main line to flex line fitting and bracket so I think I'll just replace the bracket with the lines. The bracket and connections above the pumpkin look surprisingly clean after 51 years.
I found this video showing the straightening of the shipping bend.
As stated that isn't a hard swap, I did it on ramps and stands, ramps up front and stands in back to get as much clearance as possible.
The hard line is the one that goes from the drivers side at the proportioning valve down under the engine and across to the other side for the pass front, that one is done at the factory before the engine is installed, you have to work it back n forth a little at a time with some minor bending but it will go eventually and it will tick you off, take a break, have some lunch and pick it up again. The "around the steering box" part is especially fun.
Fortunately, I don't plan to replace that line this time. I'm going to do the rear system now. I just replaced the original front wheel cylinders, front flex lines and master cylinder. The front lines look okay and bleed well so I will stay with the originals for now. The front to back line is shot so when I do that flex line, I will replace the front to back and the axle lines too.
Do those welded clips on the axle bend open enough to switch lines or might they snap off?
Right now, I'm shopping for lines. The products available are confusing. Some offer the same axle lines for Camaro and Firebird??? Some places offer only one front to rear line for drums and some have two for power vs manual (Which makes sense because the master cylinder is further forward with the booster.). Some have lines in stock and some drop ship with long and unknown delivery dates. Some offer the frame/fitting bracket I need in stock and some don't and others offer them but they are backordered. Some charge high oversize shipping and some don't. Even the prices are all over the place. Plus, I don't know where the 1st Gen vendors get their lines from. Yes, I have always over done planning on projects to near the point of analysis paralysis.
I would like to get Inline Tube for everything but the axle lines in their catalog appear to be unavailable in their database. I'll call them tomorrow.
I've checked into buying brake lines from vendors periodically over the years and it I always got stuck on the fact that they charged as much for shipping as they did for the part itself. It stopped me every time. A couple of years ago when I did the brake system up grade I went to the auto parts store and bought a couple of pieces of straight brake line close to the length I needed and bent up my own. I have a pro portioning valve installed under the driver's seat area like the stock front disc brake cars had so it's a two piece line. Much easier to feed into and out of where it has to go. You could just install a coupler at the point where they meet instead of a valve. Just suggesting another option for you. Total cost was under $20. The housing clips should pry open enough for R&R without breaking. No promises.
Robert, I have seen and considered using the two part front to back for disc applications in catalogs and found discussions about using a coupler in place of the valve. I think I'll still try to keep it in a stock look. Looks like the shipping from Inline Tube is much more reasonable than the big oversize charges other vendors quote. I don't have the exact charge yet but the difference between the final amount and price of the items I ordered is not bad.
Seems like the last time I looked it was about $65 for the line and about $70 to ship. At the time if I could've just walked in and bought it for $65 and walked out I probably would have but now you're talking $130 plus and I can do it myself for $20. Hmmm. No brainier on my end. But as you know, I'm so far removed from stock anything it's not even a consideration for me. I applaude the effort though.
If anything, I thought Inline Tubes shipping was pretty reasonable considering how large the boxes can be.
Agreed. I believe the shipping of that big line plus three other items is going to be about $25 for my order. Considering that I was recently charged $15 for shipping a part the size, weight, and shape of a half of a wood pencil by one of the other parts vendors, Inline looks very reasonable.
First, thanks to all here who offered their advice both in this thread and PMs for my brake hydraulics project.
My new question: What is the best process to adjust the rear brakes with Safe-T- Trac? The front is obvious by spinning the wheels and clicking the star wheel adjuster. After my test drive, I now want to tighten the pedal a bit more with a good drum adjustment. In the past I usually got it semi-adjusted when I did new pads and let the self adjusters do the rest over time. This time, I'd like to do it right.
I did mine a few months ago and followed the service manual. Adjust them until you feel a light drag, use the adjustment window in the back or the brake drum (pull off and on) until you have slight interference. From that point adjust the star wheel back 26 notches. Its a fail safe, even if you adjust them too tight, the backing off 26 notches will still set them in the ball park were you can to final adjustments driving the car backwards and applying the brakes. Make sure all your hardware is in good shape or new and lube all moving parts. After you're done drive the bird and lightly apply the brakes initially, stop and drive in reverse and apply brakes firmly a few times. This will set the brakes and your pedal should be good.
Thanks. Sounds good. I saw that 26 notches (one revolution) in the Service Manual and it seemed a lot to back off after making light contact. Otherwise, your procedure is about how I've done it in the past. Rather than trying to spin the rears, I had used the drum on and off method in the past too.