replacing front brake lines???

[Allforspeed]

2 quick questions:

1. i'm trying to replace the front brake lines on my 89 GT with stainless earls ones and i cant get them off? are they reverse thread? everytime i lean on the part where the steel line goes into the back of the bracket underneath the fender and joins with the rubber part of the line i just end up rounding the bolt all to heck??? is it just stuck? do i have to remove something first? i see some C clips on there but it doesn't look like i need to remove them to get the brake lines off??

2. i just drained all the brake fluid out of my brake system and now after researching on here i see that your not supposed to do this because you cant bleed the master cylinder on the car???wtf?? is this true, do i now have to remove my master cylinder??

 

[bubba-dough]

The brake line you are trying to get off is a mutha if it hasn't ever been off. Watch for busted knuckles...ouch...You need a back-up wrench on the one side and just some old fashion brute force on the other side. You will probably round the head too but if you are replacing the line no big deal. Sometimes we have had to use a big set of vise grips clamped really tight to bust it loose.

 

[Allforspeed]

cool bro, thanks for the tip, the part i'm afraid of rounding tho is the head on the hard line. when you replace this bad boy did you have to remove the little C clips that are on the lines? they look impossible to remove, but it looks like they are just there to keep the line atached to the little bracket in the fenderwell??? these have certainly never been off, thats why i figured change em out rather than find out they're bad at 100mph

also is it ok to let the master cylinder run dry? will i still be able to bleed the system with the MC on the car?

any suggestions?

btw: your car looks bad a$$!!! like what my car wants to be when it grows up what times has it run??

 

[bubba-dough]

Yeah the c clip pulls out. I think it has a "handle" on it it pull out. It too is a mutha the first time. We had to take the c clip out on my buddies to give us some movement. Then he had one side of the brake line and I had the other side and we went opposite directions to bust it loose. On my car I left the c clip in. I am not too sure about the mc question. I have busted brake lines and just refilled and bled the brakes and it was fine. On my buddies sn95 swap we had to change the mc anyway so the mc was bench bled. You could always just try filling her up and bleeding them. Also make sure you push the pistons on your brake calipers back into the caliper before you hook your lines up. This will eliminate air in the caliper.

Thanks It just recently got done. She isn't broke in yet. When I get some miles on it, I am getting dyno #'s and track times.

 

[Allforspeed]

did you have to use a flare wrench or did you just use open end wrenches??

thanks for your time!

 

[NosPony]

When you go to bleed the brakes get a vacuum pump for brakes. They are worth a million dollars. Only 20 bucks at harbor freight. I put all new lines in my 89 coupe and blead them by myself with the pump.

 

[Fencestang]

Definately use a line (flare nut) wrench, as for the c-clips leave them on until you get the fitting loose, otherwise you can kink the hard line when you try to remove the fitting. also soak the threads with WD-40 or penetrating oil like Liquid Wrench and such. Also, the master cylinder is ideally bench bled, but can be done on the car with the vacuum bleeder or a bench bleeder kit found at Napa or the like, it should have a couple of plastic fittings and rubber hose.

 

[tunedin302]

You can still bleed the brakes after running the MC dry. It will just take a LONG time to get the air through the system if you do it by hand (or foot I guess). Also, you need an 11mm flare wrench for the hard line in the fender well. Since you rounded it off, sounds like its time for a small set of vice grips. Make sure you grip on the head only and don't touch the threads as your new SS lines may require a deeper thread engagement to fit. Definately use another wrench on the flex line side (I believe 3/4" or 11/16" will do it). As for the C-clip ... just get a flat head screwdriver and put it between the c-clip and the fitting on the flex line and then turn it. This will pop the c-clip out no prob. For reinstalling, I use a large set of adjustable pliers, putting on side on the stainless fitting and the other on the c-clip, while gently closing the pliers. This will put it back into place with little effort. Good luck.