Rusty Brake Pipes , piece of cake .

[silverfox]

So this was pointed out at my last MOT , specifically the one that runs under the Rad from 1 side to the other , no way of getting to this without major mechanical work ,
so after fitting Cooper Craft recently with braided hoses , i wondered if i could have a braided replacement , " HEL " said they could But after delivery proved they cant , Pirtek wanted £600 LMAO , Goodridge quoted 3 weeks but never got back too me , by this time i wondered if i was expecting to much ? ,
finally i found www.furoreproducts.co.uk , in southend , they made exact copies in braided stainless covered in PVC , i drove there with the " ends " just too be sure , done whilst i waited , simple as that , fitted back into the same clips perfectly .
mine is an S type , i changed the long one 1850mm point to point that runs from the brass X splitter to the nsf flexi and the short one 640mm from the same place to the os flexi , JUST FOR BALANCE , i spoke the a guy called Russell , so if this is also a problem to you ? , just cut ur old ones off lay the pieces in a line hammer them straight measure the point too point length ADD about about 50mm [ because they dont bend as tight as copper ] , cut the ends off and post them with the length u require . Russ

[J44EAG]

Russ,

Mt modern S-type has a pipe in distress. It comes out of the ABS module, dives down inside the engine bay, runs along the chassis leg where it is fixed to a clip. It then continues to a point roughly under the drivers feet. The clip has caused severe corrosion and the pipe needs to be changed. However it is almost totally inaccessible due to the side of the engine and the engine support mount being built so close to the chassis leg.

I wonder of I could cut the pipe soon after it exits the ABS block, substitute a braided flexi pipe using a connector, feed it along the chassis leg and the lead it to the point under the drivers feet before terminating onto a pipe that runs to the rear of the car. Would such a repair be legal and OK do you think?

It wouldn`t be a bodge. Just uses flexi pipe instead of a steel pipe at the particular location and saves the nause of inaccessibility.

Mike

[Martec]

Our old Porsche 944 had a solid pipe to the rear calipers, but also had small drum brakes inside the rear discs. To clean and repair these drum brakes you had to bend the steel or cunifer pipes, or drop the hydraulics and re-bleed the system, rediculous.

I replaced these with a long SS braided hose making the job so much easier, the MOT guy wasn't happy but accepted it first time, and never mentioned it after that. As long as it is supported well there shouldn't be a problem, but SOME MOT guys don't know there own regulations.

Brian

[oldtimer]

Hey Up Mike,
You have your S types mixed up but the principal of replacing solid with flexy sounds OK to me.
If it's good enough for the end bits, why not the rest. As Martec said providing its routed and clipped correctly what's the problem.

Brake hoses are subject to pretty stringent safety tests including end fitting pull off tests, so providing the supplier quality is complying with the necessary standards then fine. It would be nice to have some documentation of conformity and test procedure.

These items would be regarded as safety critical and should an accident result from their failure the insurers may have something to say.

I'm trying to remember the standard to which our (Unipart) brake hoses complied. Something like the, USA Federal Motor Vehicle Safety something - sorry can't remember exactly, except every hose had it printed along it's length. Of course before that it was a British Standard.
I guess most of these standards have been converted to EU standards by now, but if you read the two side by side they are usually direct read across and new top and tail embracing the new numbers.

Well, there you go folks, just another bit of useless information.

Oldtimer

[J44EAG]

Not useless info at all, Phil.

Whilst a decent flexi may indeed be sound in an engineering sense, I fully take your point about insurance aspects in the event of an accident. Perhaps best that I get either a new solid pipe put in or an acceptable insertion repair.

Yes, I have dived in on the MK2 BB. Seemed a good opportunity to discuss brake pipe issues as the technology has not progressed much over the years.

Although slightly going off thread again, I`m often asked to replace corroded or fatigued solid fuel pipes on boats by owners who are out of their depth with such repairs or mods. I make it easy on myself by replacing where possible with ISO7084 spec flexi pipe which is half hour fire certified and a lot lest awkward to install than a coil of solid pipe. Its lifespan is also somewhat longer.

M