stainless hoses

Topic: stainless hoses (Read 4654 times) previous topic - next topic

stainless hoses

February 03, 2005, 09:12:13 AM

ok who has stainless braded break hoses on their cougar/bird? and what did you use?

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #1 – February 03, 2005, 09:16:16 AM

From Coolcats tech....

Quote

If you're really wanting a harder pedal feel for not much more money, then you can also use street-legal stainless steel brake lines meant for a Mustang V8 (Russell is the common brand). They're about $35 each. Don't forget to get new brake (a.k.a. "banjo") bolts and washers to attach the lines to the calipers.

Hope this helps. :)

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #2 – February 03, 2005, 09:39:16 AM

I've got them on a couple cars. I just built them myself from parts from Goodridge or Earl's. I usually replace all the rubber brake hoses with braided on all my cars.
Even my old '62 Merc had them on there (the old rubber ones had disinitegrated)..covered in black coating to "hide" them ;).

Be mindful of using Mustang kits. The hardline fittings at the body on the fronts are "usually" different, so an adapter might be needed. At least this was the case on every 83-85 Tbird/Cougar I've done. Fox Mustang stuff is 7/16-24 INF and the Tbird stuff is 3/9-24 INF. There are adapters. Also, be careful about the rear hose... depending on the year, the Mustang one might be too short...

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #3 – February 03, 2005, 09:52:39 AM

Yeah, there is usually an adapter needed on the front lines. That's just an idiosyncracy we have to deal with. FWIW I've found that the steel adapters work much better and don't leak nearly as much as the brass adapters.

Chuck, I bought a Cobra brake kit (Russell brand) but did not install the rear flex line at all. On the '86 I still have the stock junction that sits on the breather cap on the passenger side axle tube. The car has not been up in the air for quite some time, and since I will be installing the CHE arms whenever the air warms up a bit, I'll be sure to take the Mustang line under there and compare.

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #4 – February 03, 2005, 10:03:31 AM

Eric, my cars have all had that same rear flex line. The Fox Mustang kits come with them attached (if it's a DOT kit). What I've done on mine is pick up a "T" fitting that either has 3- female 3/8-24 INF fittings or 2 of them and one male -3AN. I then ran new hardlines on the axle to the brakes, and then either used an adapter (3/8-24 INF male to -3AN male) on the center port to adapt to the flex line.

That Cobra kit (SN-95?) may not have the correct rear line as at some point they went to two separate flex lines. I've since rerouted mine on the Tbird as I've changed the rear line set-up and it now picks up on the driver side of the diff instead of the pass axle tube.

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #5 – February 03, 2005, 10:20:17 AM

yeah chuck, eric, the adaptor and the stuff that dosnt fit was what i was looking for. i plan on getting 13" rotors up front with sn95 spindels, and go'n with mark rear disks/calipers and sn95 axle shafts. i gotta find out whats going to work with that combo.

so i should get the sn95 braded hose kit DOT approved, and a 3way T fitting? and look for steel? also think i should bend some new lines for the axle? what was your reasoning behind that chuck?

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #6 – February 03, 2005, 10:36:49 AM

Yep Chuck, that's exactly what I did on the rear end as well. So in theory this single SN95 early Cobra line should just bolt up to the new hardlines that I ran. However, I really don't feel like changing this line and going through the trouble to bleed the brake system yet again, since it's braking so nicely now. That will have to wait for another year or two when it's time to flush out the fluid again.

For my car, with the full Cobra braking system, I did use adapters for the s/s lines, along with the SN95 spindles and hubs, and PBR Corvette calipers. Everything bolted up just fine. The banjo bolts and bleeders are metric though, so be aware of that...you may end up getting them at the GM dealer. Out back I have a Turbo Coupe rear with SN95 axle shafts, and the 11.65" Cobra rear kit. The new hardlines were already run by me about 10-12 years ago, so everything bolted right up from the stock TC braking system. As stated before, I did reuse the stock rear brake junction block and left it on the passenger side axle tube, just like stock. If you're running dual exhaust over the axle, this junction will hit the pipe on the passenger side and make for a hell of a racket. But for my situation, running side exhaust solved that problem. You may have to get "creative" otherwise.

Eh, I forgot, that's just for 1983-86 cars. The 1987-88 had the brake junction on the driver's side. You should have more clearance over there.

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #7 – February 03, 2005, 10:52:07 AM

Quote from: Manson

so i should get the sn95 braded hose kit DOT approved, and a 3way T fitting? and look for steel? also think i should bend some new lines for the axle? what was your reasoning behind that chuck?

Start with a kit for a 94-95 Cobra. They should come with new banjo bolts too.

You may not need the T-fing on yours. Which side is the rear flex hose on?

Why did I run new lines on the rear? First the stock "T" fitting uses different sized fittings (imagine) and second, most of the time they are in need of replacing anyway. Fittings get rusty/corroded and get rounded off etc. Just easier to deal with. Most of the time the T fitting will be in brass..not big deal. I never had any leaks.

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #8 – February 03, 2005, 11:21:21 AM

mine is on the drivers side of the pumpkin, think ill replace everything to, the lines look kinda coroded and crimped a bit. also, that fitting seems to have a slow leak so ill do that to. hopefully ill be showing off all this stuff at CJ 05

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #9 – July 18, 2005, 01:59:32 PM

Does anybody know if an adapter is needed on the front for 87-88 cars?

Re: stainless hoses

Reply #10 – July 24, 2005, 04:30:17 PM

Can you use -4 AN teflon braided hose to make brake lines, or is that too big? I have a whole bunch of that stuff (bought about 10 feet of it last year) and a couple of the steel fittings laying around. Wouldn't mind making my own braided front lines if I can use the stuff since it would probably be a good bit cheaper. How do you adapt to the banjo bolt though?

stainless hoses

Reply #11 – March 13, 2006, 08:03:28 PM

Ok, sorry, I didn't follow all that. I got a 13" Cobra brake kit from a company called Dave's Mustang Parts and it came with braided lines made for a fox mustang. Does anyone know exactly what adapters I need to put these lines on the stock hard lines of my 88 TC? If possible, a link to where I could buy them would be best, otherwise just specs would be helpful! Thanks!

stainless hoses

Reply #12 – March 13, 2006, 08:44:39 PM

-4 AN is too big. Brake lines should be -3. You don't want to use "reusable" fittings for brakes...crimped only.

booksix - The Fox Mustang stuff is 7/16-24 INF at the hardline, the Tbird stuff is 3/8-24 INF. You need adapers that are 3/8-24 INF female and 7/16-24INF male to adapt to your Mustang lines.
You can usually find them at parts houses....I've grabbed them at AZ and NAPA before.

stainless hoses

Reply #13 – March 13, 2006, 09:04:10 PM

Thanks, I'll check it out, but one thing I know is my 88 TC has different fittings on each side of the car...? But if I understand you right, they should both be the same?

stainless hoses

Reply #14 – March 13, 2006, 09:05:10 PM

The fittings are different? AFAIK they should be the same. Does either match the Mustang lines?