Prefabricated Brake Lines? and other ?'s

[JeepMods]

Man, the waggy is nearing for it's maiden voyage (On my street :p ) and it seems that the closer I get the harder it is to find the "cheap" prefabricated parts...
I only have about a weekends worth of work before she should be "back street driveable" :cool:.
The Tom Woods Driveshaft is on it's way... ($250) :( I tried getting my military discount (10%) but, I had no means of faxing a copy of my ID... (which we're not supposed to do) :confused: So, I told them I could send them an Email from my command seeing that those are MIL and command specific but, that was a no go... That 10% would've been sweet.
The frame bracket/support for the Ford NP205 needs will be finished today or tomorrow (Welded etc) and last but not least, I'm trying to hunt down these mythical brakes lines. The two that screw into the MC and combination valve... I haven't found anything remotely close, and even our Junkyards are empty of FSJ :eek: (Go figure). Anyway, I figured these would be an "easy to find part" at any of our local parts stores especially seeing that a lot of FSJ's were made through out the years... Well, Fat chance. I'm getting ready to call Chrysler to see what they have and Chances are, they'll over price it...
I can get the generic straight brake lines at any of these local parts stores and bend them accordingly but, I'm wondering if they need to have those spirals?.
Is there any specific reason(s) for the spirals?

As I was under my Waggy (82) I noticed that the front brake hoses looked like they were abused (stretched)... So as the thoughts of even more money being spent went prancing through my mind I started to ponder about how I could route my front lines to mock the rear. Has anybody done this?
I'd love to have the brake lines mounted to the top of the axle (Just like the rear). I'm thinking about making a block to feed the separate sides. OR if I could find a combination valve that only has 4 ports... two lines from the MC and one line per axle.

Just curious to see what you guys think.

Thanks: Rich

[JERSEY JOE]

There are a couple of options here. I just redid my J-20 lines. If you remove all the lines carefully and send them to Classic Tube in New York, they will remake them for you. Kinda pricey but exact duplicate of original. I have done this on previous projects. The last ones were done in stainless steel with the stainelss steel wire guard. This time I opted to buy rolls of tubing and bend and flare my own. I bought the gravel guard ( wire stuff on the outside of the line) from Classic Tube. I am happy with the results and they look as good as factory lines IMHO.

The fittings on the Combo valve are special and I had to hunt for them but I found them on line. Don't be afraid. But a bender and a double flare tool, practice and take your time. You will be happy with what you can do in an afternoon. The gravel guard really adds to the factory look and is cheap, like .20 a foot.

[Tatsadasayago]

There is a super clean 87 GW in the pick n pull I go to. I'll look at the lines and see if they are clean and usable.
This and the 89 are both clean as heck and so far I've not run into any rusted nuts/bolts on either.

:drivin:

[asphaltrockdweller]

YES!

Call Zack over at ZM Jeeps. I bought the very ones that you are looking for at a good price.
When they showed up they were beautiful stainless steel lines, good fittings, and ready to install.
The only thing I should have done differently, is to buy the complete set, and replace that combination valve as well. That is my next project now that I am driving the jeep.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc19/lightingdeziner/IMGP6752.jpg

[El_Diablo]

the spirals are to allow flex between the body and frame, very important with our jeeps where there is a lot of frame flex, just thought i should address that question since nobody had yet.....

[FSJ-Earl]

get in touch with Zack at ZM JEEPS. He has exact sets of prebent stainless steel brake lines. I have used these on several FSJs! Good stuff!

[JeepMods]

JERSEY JOE,
Thanks for the input... Those old lines couldn't be saved, lol. The old MC had these aluminum adapters and the fittings were seized to those as well as to the brake line (You know what happened next).
I went out and purchased a 3/16" x 72" brake line at advance Auto and bent that up for the front passenger side... I do have a flaring kit and I honestly thought about doing my set-up.

TATSADASATAGO,
Hey man, I appreciate it but, I might have to scavenge from some other vehicles... ;)

ASPHALTROCKDWELLER,
Nice pic, very clean! Are the fittings different from the Cast MC to the Aluminum MC? On the Aluminum MC the larger fitting is on the left (looking from the driverside fender).

EL_DIABLO,
Thanks man, but, I honestly don't see my Waggy flexing that much. Well, hopefully it doesn't flex that much... :eek: As I was working on the waggy the wind opened my gate and moments later an old man came into the backyard and introduced himself and he started talking about his old Waggy and how he ran her like a raped ape. lol. He went on to talk about various Jeeps he had owned as well as cars... He seemed really intelligent and not full of BS so I asked the guy what the spirals were for and he said "if anything, they're for added surface area to help cool the fluid"... He went into a little more detail and explained other stuff... I gotta admit, I stopped turning wrenches and my coffee got cold as I sat there listening to his stories.

I'm heading out to the "other" yards... hopefully they have something, if not, then I'll look around and see what I can score off of the other vehicles... worst case scenario is that I'll have to fab my own for a cheaper penny. ;)

EDIT:
Which port on the Aluminum MC is dedicated for the front brakes, is it the rear port? The reason I ask is due to the fact that I can't remember and two I have a few sets of lines that seem to work with the MC and Combintation valve... The thin line (3/16") fits into the rear port of the MC and the 1/4" line fits into the front port of the MC.
EDIT #2:
I found some pics (Small line (3/16") to the rear of the Aluminum MC as well as to the front top port of the combination valve)

[El_Diablo]

even on uneven roads, the spirals are needed, it will flex more than you could ever expect it to

they're not there for cooling the fluid, i'll promise you that, if they were the designers would've made a radiator capable of cooling the fluid by now

i suggest you talk to the guys at fine lines, i learned about them because they're right here in my town (no i dont work for them but i wish!!)

http://www.finelinesinc.com/

If you need a wag for them to fab off of let me know and i can drive down and they can bend it off of mine instead of you having to ship a set of lines

[JeepMods]

even on uneven roads, the spirals are needed, it will flex more than you could ever expect it to

I get it now... And I thought that the old man knew what he was talking about... lol. At least I got to hear some cool old timer hotrod stories. :thumbsup:
Going off of what you said, I did a little research and this is what I found... Just like you said, Those spirals do indeed add Flexability to the lines for when the body and frame flex. Apparently these spirals act like a cushion and in doing so it disperses the focal point so that the lines don't kink/bend/break in a specific area.

That's good stuff... I learned something new. Now that I know that, I can use my other line and just use it upside down (This way the fittings match). It's a "ghetto" fix but, it'll work. ;)

[El_Diablo]

yeah, sorry if i came across a little harsh, i have all the respect for old timers but some of it is just bs talk passed on, just like the backpressure theory....

im a run gun at the age of just barely 22 but ive definitely learned a lot in my short years!! brakes are deffinetly an interesting topic, the more i read the more i love the topic of brake theory

[Frankenstien]

I just did one on my M715 and it cost me like 6 bucks and wraps from the MC around to the front middle of the frame. Get you a cheap line bender and a small piece of like 2 1/2 diameter PVC to make the loops in a breeze.

[Frankenstien]

Although I will say the thing that took me the longest was finding a fitting from 1/4 inch line to 9/16 for the back of the hydroboost.

[JeepMods]

I used a set of extra lines from my CJ-7 parts pile... It's a temp until I bend up my own lines.