78 GP Brake Lines

[naminator]

In typical fashion for me, my ADHD kicked in and I went down a rabbit hole of brake line replacement option research. Locally, I am looking at about $60-$70 for cheap flare/bend tools and an eye watering $5 per foot of Nic-cop brake tubing. So I turned to Amazon/Ebay to see if I could do one better either price wise or quality wise. The tools didn't really change in price, however the lines where an incredibly reasonable at 1/5th the price on Amazon, until I saw reviews stating they are lying that the line is niccop and is actually soft steel coated with copper/nickel/galvanization that flaked off an caused rust issues very quickly. However I found "certified" nickel copper lines for about double the price, for a total of $60 for a 25 foot roll, for a total of around $140 for the 25 feet and tools etc.

I was planning on replacing some fuel lines and potentially more brake lines than the most immediate one, but that is down the road. So I continue my search for quality niccop tubing, since I would rather not completely cheap out on vital safety bits, and found I could get the entire brake line replacement set, in steel, on Ebay for around $230 for the set. Not a bad deal, but I don't know if I wanted to fully rip out the lines and replace them, so I hesitated on that. Then I found a kit called "TrueBend Lines" which is apparently a a copper/steel line with an outer corrosion coating, solid brass fittings and it is only around $120. It also comes with significantly more tubing than I need, double flair ends, hand bendable and installed in new vehicles. Unfortunately I can't find a ton of info on it, so again, the hesitation.

Has anybody used this stuff? https://www.ebay.ca/itm/35255733548...d=link&campid=5335822911&toolid=20001&mkevt=1 is a link to it, but I want to be clear I haven't bought it or know much about it. Instead of spending multiple more hours researching only to find yet another option, I was hoping someone could comment on this. It appears the lines come as just long, straight options, with sizes that are correct for OEM lines on a G-Body, which would explain a higher quality product for a lower price since it could just be a bunch of properly sized lines that you bend yourself, which would simplify shipping, logistics and manufacturing processes.

 

[pagrunt]

I went all pre-bent stainless to including braided hoses but figured next time I have to a complete line change it'll be copper-nickle with brass or stainless fittings. This is one of those jobs that cost is kinda a second thought as good quality lines & hardware is a must. Even the tools, which may not get much use after the project should also be of good quality to bend/shape & flair. I'd bite the bullet & get the real copper nickle and cause cheaping out could lead to a bad failure & cost more than the good parts would of.

 

[naminator]

I went all pre-bent stainless to including braided hoses but figured next time I have to a complete line change it'll be copper-nickle with brass or stainless fittings. This is one of those jobs that cost is kinda a second thought as good quality lines & hardware is a must. Even the tools, which may not get much use after the project should also be of good quality to bend/shape & flair. I'd bite the bullet & get the real copper nickle and cause cheaping out could lead to a bad failure & cost more than the good parts would of.

Yeah cost is less my concern. My concern is my ability. I am worried that doing the flair/bending work won't be something I can accomplish, which is why I was looking at pre-bent, but with that, I am concerned I don't get the right size/shape of lines or lower quality, so I looked for high quality, pre-flaired lines for the job.

 

[JAMCAR223]

Right Stuff & Inline Tube have steel or stainless pre-bent lines. You will have to tweak them a little, but it's far less work than trying to bend new ones to your ADHD satisfaction. Especially if you're questioning your line bending/flaring abilities.

 

[565bbchevy]

I did all of the brake lines on my Regal with some Ebay Ni-cop coils of tubing and bought the fittings at my local autoparts store,
Just buy from a reputable vendor.
The tubing was easy to work with and flares easily and since I replaced all of them with the body still on the frame, these being bendable worked out well over something rigid like stainless.
For lines with multiple bends I zipped tied each bend to the factory line as I followed the contours and for the MC lines I used a piece of pipe to match the ID of the factory ones and just coiled it around to match.