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Rusted Rear Brake Lines

Z

ZeroHour

Mod/Salad Tosser
Moderator
Joined
Feb 7, 2005
Messages
2,275
Location
Eastern PA
Hi gang,

Put the car together for spring and made an entire 2 miles before brakes gave out. Made it home okay and have the car in the garage.

I have an 1998 with the 9" rear drums. The rear lines are rusted between the gas tank and the unibody rail on the passenger side, on the forward side of the rear wheel well. The leak occurred right where the fuel line and brake lines are all clustered together. It looks like road salt may have accumulated in between the lines lines and most like is the main cause of rust.

After reviewing this Ford born mess, I'm considering snipping the lines towards the front. From there I can add flares and re-route the lines and mount them to unibody rail. This will untangle the rear brake lines from the fuel system lines. Has anyone else worked on the rear lines? It looks like a cramped spot and any FYI's or heads-up details would be appreciated.

Also, are the factory lines bubble or double flared ends? I've done some searching but haven't gotten a very clear answer.

I'll try to get some pictures together. As the cars are 10+ years old, I'm sure more folks will be running into this issue.
 
My rear brake hardlines rusted through last year. A local shop splice in both rear lines 1/2 way under the car for about $150. Been great ever since.
 
I'm in the midst of this project myself. Got the left rear line run, still have the right rear to do. They are all double flares on my SVT. Might be different at your rear drums.
 
Ordered brake / line flaring tools from eastwood. I'll probably get under the car tomorrow and find some wire to plot the new line.
 
Brake Line tools are in, haven't had the change to get back under the car. Been one of those weeks.
 
Update:

So lines are in, I'm getting some pressure build up. Too much air in the lines to be 100% sure, but I believe all my flares are good. Need to bleed the lines.

Had a hard time trying to recreate the factory lines, gave up and routed them on the bottom of the unibody rail. I'm not completely happy with the way I ran them, but they're together. I need to find some body mount clips to hold the lines in place and it will be good to go. Really underestimated the amount of time this would take. However the flaring tool worked awesome, and I have no issues making the flares.
 
Brakes are bled, looks like the new lines are holding fine. Just need to install a bracket to hold the lines.
 
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