Potato, you can send me an email or get a hold of me on restorationmini. I'm not over here that often, so I'll probably miss it.

For public information, you should consider what different lines you want. NiCopp lines are really nice, but easily double the price. I like mine, but they aren't for everyone. They are easy to bend and won't corrode with road salt/other chemicals we apply to our roads in the winter. Then you have steel lines and stainless lines. Stainless is nice but it's hard to work with. No my favorite, and not something I would recommend a novice try to take on. It's hard to bend and easy to screw up, but the corrosion characteristics are nice. If you want a great compromise, you should get PVF coated steel. Poly-vinyl Flourine coating is applied to steel lines which gives it a great wear and corrosion resistance. You probably won't have to replace them again in your lifetime unless you live in some REALLY harsh environments.

Fuel lines should be considered based on type of metal and size needed to supply your engine. I needed to go big on mine so they would feed the fuel injection. I also needed to run a return line that my car never had. Look at the difference between steel and aluminum for your application. Consider what kind of terminations you'll be using. Flared? Fittings? AN? Do your homework here on what you want to use.

I went with NiCopp brake lines and Aluminum fuel line. It's not for everyone but it fits my project perfectly.

With my 1965 Mini Cooper S finally back from the body / paint shop, I have run 3/16" brake tubing purchased in a coil from Inline Tube here in Michigan.

Looked at using stainless steel brake tubing but too difficult to cut and form and seal.  

Purchased a flaring tool from Eastwood and does double and bubble flairs.

What size fuel pipe , front to rear and under car, should be used?  Would like to use Petroflex but only comes in 1/4" I.D.

The fittings from the fuel tanks, electric SU fuel pump and the crossover fuel pipe between the tanks are 5/16" O.D.  The 
crossover fuel pipe between the twin carbs is 1/4" O.D.

Jim



 

By THOR'S HAMMER - I need to chat with you.  Amazing documentation here.  Can I hit you up offline with your hotmail email addy?  Or I will hit you up over at Resto Mini.  Thanks again for all the info.

Hey Potato, not sure if you saw it on RestorationMini.com or not, but that's where I'm posting all of my restoration stuff.

 

Anyway, I just did my brake lines and fuel lines. I also bought a kit exactly like that from that company. My kit was for a different year, but that's just a matter of a different combo of fittings and tube lengths. The one thing I will say is that, while mine was supposed to be a direct fit with all the pieces I needed.... it wasn't. The pipes are all labeled and give a very vague description of where they are supposed to go, but mine weren't right. nd I had some duplicates of things that weren't supposed to have a duplicate. haha. To be fair, the kit DID have everything I needed, but I had to cut some fittings off, cut tube to size, and then re-flare. I had some left overs that I'm keeping for anything I may run into down the road.

 

My comprehensive opinion of the kit? I paid less for the kit than I would have for all the pipe and new fittings I needed and I have extras... so... go for it.

Here's my kit

Some left over fittings to show the difference between old and new fittings


I would invest in a moderately prices flaring tool that does a bubble or double flare. If you need it (and I think you will) you will be glad you have it. I sure was.

Also, consider how you want to run them. I had to build mine from scratch without the benefit of having my old lines right beside me to make exact copies. If you want to do an exact copy, then be careful removing the old ones. The benefit of doing it my way was that I could get creative and clean it all up. Which I did.

 

I also have a wilwood proportioning valve, but not the one you've pictured. I have one that only does one line. I'm going to plumb it in line with the rear so that I can turn them up or down to ensure the right (safe) mix. I don't have it installed yet because of the move.

 

 

I also made my fuel lines recently. I won't bore you with all the details, but I did a lot of fitting and adjusting to get these right because I wanted the to terminate as close to the fuel injection as possible. If you want a full write-up and discussion on what I was doing, go to my thread on Restoration Mini.

//restorationmini.com/forum/index.php?topic=473.375

Fuel lines start on page 18 I think.

 

 

Get a good quality flaring tool and pipe bender and Bob is you uncle.

My question is this...has anyone ran new brake/fuel lines and how hard was it? Any tips or experiences using some of the complete brake pipe kits out there.

well it's not hard but to do it nicely both subframes have to come out! The lines were all installed before the frames when built. You can fiddle and fanagle the pipes in but it's not easy and ends up looking ugly

I bought a Sykes-Picavant turret style flaring tool because it does all of the flare types you need on a mini and copper nickle brake line off a supplier on ebay to do all of the lines, it ended up less than buying a kit. Spitz mentioned making the lines straight they make tools that you run the coil through to straighten it. I bought a cheap one and it works fine.
These guys have the fittings and the tool but I bought my tool directly from the UK
http/www.fedhillusa.com/

I just wanted to point out other options.

The only reasonable advice to offer over the Internet is for you to use correct replacements of your original master cylinder and the original brake pressure control as fitted to the car, with replacement lines identical to the originals.

In the many thousands of posts I have made, my recent one is actually something that I should edit out, though it is merely a repeat of an idea printed in at least one mini book decades ago, and the part and modified part are readily available.

Keeping things simple sometimes requires a reminder. Considerations for what modifications are legal in various jurisdictions, or what personal liability might be in the event of a failure are, sadly, also important.

Mur - I honestly didnt even think about that.  Really good points.  If I understand you correctly, the adjustible proportioning valve above, that would simply replace my crummy PWDA valve...or would be used inline at the rear somewhere and work with the PWDA valve?

I don't remember where I bought my tool for bending. I have two, the cheap one is not much good. The other works great, it has about 3 sizes of pipe that can be bent with it. (IE, you can do the fuel lines also). Look for the one that has smooth radius and the item that pushes the brake line does not have sharp edges.

I usually replace both brake and fuel lines on these 50 year old cars. I am working on a museum car right now and just flushed out the fuel lines, what a bunch of crap in there. No wonder the car would not run. That is why I just replace them.

Jerry

Personally, I don't see how that Wilwood unit, as it is meant for both front and rear plumbing, is going to improve any part of your experience. You need to choose a spot for it, plumb to it and away from it.

An original early pressure limiting valve would be my choice. While Unrestored ones look awful, if they have been on a car for fifty years they had brake fluid inside and in my experience are far enough away from the ends of the system that there is no rust and the seal is fine. You can make them adjustable. Easily. You can also buy one from our host.

http/www.minimania.com/part/MS72/Austin-Mini-Brake-Adjustable-Proportioning-Valve


Wilwood also sell a simpler proportioning valve. Part 260-10922

Jerry - did you source your bending/crimper tool from a mini parts shop or something like autozone/jegs/northern, etc?

Found some more pics of that setup....not sure about the braided lines.  They look a bit 'stretched' in the pics.  But this is same setup I have now.

That is a very slick setup for the valve. I would do that instead of converting the rear. Then just put a regular "T" in the rear.

I have used that brand of brake piping many times. You can bend the pipe with your fingers for any but the really tight bends. tight bends require one of the tools mentioned above. they look good on the car, and will not rust.

Jerry

Willie - I was actually thinking about going with adjuster valve up front that should allow front/back adjustment - like this one:

Wilwood Proportioning Valve

Wilwood PV on Mk4

One of the older mini magazines has an article on converting the rear limiter valve into an adjustable valve. I will look thru my pile if you are interested.

Plus there are several good 'bending' tools (but pricey!) you can use for large and small radius bends.  Maybe Northern or Harbor Freight has some to consider?  But interested to hear from others.

That looks like a great kit you linked to...includes clutch lines and fuel line.

I too will be interested in this thread as I'll be installing new lines.  Getting them nice and straight after winding up is one thing.

I have a complete rebuild underway with my Mk4 and working with the initial stages with ground up build.  Plumbing is the first thing I need to consider.  The existing brake and fuel lines (no servo, single circuit+pesky brake limiter valve) are intact, but look old, dented and tired and will not clean up at all from all the years of undercoating, etc.

My question is this...has anyone ran new brake/fuel lines and how hard was it?  Any tips or experiences using some of the complete brake pipe kits out there.

Not going for looks here, but taking this area fairly seriously right now, etc.