Brake Lines - Stainless Steel vs Tin/Lead Plated Steel

[dougfather]

I won't be driving the GP in the winter. But anyway, I like stainless for corosion protection, BUT I have read some problems people have had with using stainlesss, mainly with leaks around the fittings. That's why I want to use the galvanized line.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Anyhow, PA is not like NY as they only use sand and not salt on their roads because of their stricter inspections that do not allow a lot of rust, IIRC.

PA does use salt. I know first hand what the salt does, especially old GM Trucks.

Well, it was something I remember my dad telling me when I was 13, so I guess it was not too accurate...or maybe they changed since then, I dunno... I have lived in Florida for 20 years so happily I have never had to deal with salt rot. I just have to contend with GM's poor build quality rot and condensation rust.( My Cutlass rusted out the roof first-go figure!)

 

[dougfather]

But anyway

Has anyone run into any leaking problems with stainless steel lines? Any tricks to prevent them from leaking?

 

[john]

yes i've used stainless lines, they are not worth the hassel,the only way to get them to stop leaking is luck or throw them in the garage and use steel lines,THE RIGHT STUFF make nice prebend lines.

 

[Dens71TA]

Stainless steel lines get a bad rap for leaking but it has more to do with people not installing them correctly. The stainless steel lines don't have an anti-rust coating to act as a lubricant when the flare nut is tightened down like regular steel lines. This causes the line to twist and leak and then the installer to OVER tighten the flare nut making the problem worse. You need to pull the flare nut back and apply some antisieze or light oil underneather before installing the line.

I installed stainless steel lines on my '71 Trans Am and didn't have a single leak. Numerous friends have installed stainless steel lines on their cars and its the same deal, no leaks. If they are installed properly you won't have a problem.

I say go for the stainless steel lines. They'll always look new. The coated steel lines will eventually get a dull gray finish even if you keep the car out of the weather.

 

[dougfather]

So I called Fine Lines yesterday. I asked for brake lines for an 84 Pontiac Grand Prix. The guy said they did not have them. So, I asked about a Monte Carlo. His reposne: "Many people think a G-Body is a G-Body. There are differences in routing as well as fittings in some cases". He recomended Inline Tube (http://www.inlinetube.com/). I noticed they had different part numbers for each make of G-Body. Even the MC had 2 part numbers, one for 81-83 and the 0ther for 84-88.

 

[Derision]

So I called Fine Lines yesterday. I asked for brake lines for an 84 Pontiac Grand Prix. The guy said they did not have them. So, I asked about a Monte Carlo. His reposne: "Many people think a G-Body is a G-Body. There are differences in routing as well as fittings in some cases". He recomended Inline Tube (http://www.inlinetube.com/). I noticed they had different part numbers for each make of G-Body. Even the MC had 2 part numbers, one for 81-83 and the 0ther for 84-88.

I've never heard that before.

Even if there is a difference in the initial routing... if you're replacing the entire brake line, I would think you could just route the new ones wherever you wanted... so you'd just remove the GP lines and route new Monte Carlo lines, and that should be the end of that.

Er... right...?