Brake pipes.

[Mudgey]

Hello guys, i have a few questions about brake pipes:

I have seen a car builder use a shiney almost polished alu looking brake pipe, can you get anything other than copper, ie. aluminium or stainless steel.
What are the costs and pro's and cons of using something other than copper lines.

My other question is how the hell do you straighten brake pipe thats come off of a coil?? I absolutely hate the look of brake pipes that arent actually straight!!

Many thanks!

 

[Mike Drew]

Hello guys, i have a few questions about brake pipes:

I have seen a car builder use a shiney almost polished alu looking brake pipe, can you get anything other than copper, ie. aluminium or stainless steel.
What are the costs and pro's and cons of using something other than copper lines.

My other question is how the hell do you straighten brake pipe thats come off of a coil?? I absolutely hate the look of brake pipes that arent actually straight!!

Many thanks!

Automobiles are normally manufactured with ordinary steel brake lines. Copper lines aren't used anywhere in the civilized world, but they do seem to be in common use among UK home-builders (a friend in England had hard lines made for his car by a travelling specialist, and they were copper, first time I'd ever seen that anywhere).

In the USA, high-end aftermarket hard brake lines are almost exclusively made of polished stainless steel. The advantage of stainless steel is that it's relatively immortal. The disadvantage is that it is somewhat more difficult to work with, and brittle; standard steel lines will flare easily but stainless steel can work-harden and crack when you try to flare it.

I don't know how to straighten hard lines once they've been rolled up. It's like un-ringing a bell. Pantera vendors sell ready-made stainless steel hard line kits; they start off with long lengths of perfectly straight tube (six feet long I think), bend them appropriately, and then if they are to be shipped, then gently fold them to fit them into a manageable box. They have to then be carefully un-folded at the other end, and as a result they're never 100% straight again. :sad:

 

[40 Bud]

The copper you are refering to is not your everyday standard copper. It is to easily made brittle from bending and will crack. The UK uses a special alloy known as kunifer. It is not subject to cracking and doesn't rust or corrode. Kunifer is a copper nickle alloy, is approved by DOT and has been used by Aston Martin, Audi, Porsche etc.

 

[Mudgey]

Ah right, i didnt know this, i thort it was jus plain old copper.
Howcome america does not use this stuff?

Does anyone know where i can get hold of lengths of stainless brake pipe in the UK?

Regards

 

[Graeme Stebbing]

Hi jimbeam, I was told that the Kunifer copper nickle alloy is the right stuff to use that came from a professional race car builder, these sites are in the uk
Alloys Overview: Cole & Swallow (Precision Engineering Solutions) Tubes & Metals
and
Holden | Brakes & Suspension | Brake Pipe & Fittings | Kunifer Brake Pipe 3/16 in
and this might help to straighten it.

http://www.hotrodhotline.com/md/html/flaring_brake_lines.php

Regards
Lambo

 

[Ian Anderson]

double post deleted

 

[Ian Anderson]

Jimmy

Take a length of your pipe required and straighten it as you can by hand

then lay it on a hard floor and roll it back and forwardwhich should remove most / all remaining "bends"

Ian