NiCopp brake line?

None here in NY. Only time it was questioned was on a nice roadster when the owner polished the lines (made them look like polished copper). Just showed the inspector what it was and it was OK. I use it a lot, it doesn't rot like steel.

Cool, good to know the word's out. They're selling it at Advance now and from the reports of it being easier to bend and flare I'm happy to give it a try, esp. since the size I use most is 3/16 and that is also the hardest to work with.

What tube nuts do you use with it? (Coated? Stainless?) and where do you purchase them? Part of my issue with brake lines is that they may still be solid-ish and not in immediate need of replacement, but if I need to replace a component e.g. a hose or a wheel cylinder, I won't be able to remove the line without destroying it because of the surface rust between the tube and the tube nut locking the two together and forcing the line to twist when removing. Non-corroding line only fixes half the problem. The tube nuts at Advance (where they do sell rolls of NiCopp) look like the same ones I've been using with regular steel lines.

Thanks,

nate

Usually once I have everything assembled I cover the fittings with grease. Seems to work... but then again usually after I replace them I don't have to bother with them again.

Did a quick search, the fittings come in NiCopp too

I've used stainless, brass plated and tin plated steel. Stainless didn't rust but it still galled a bit. Best thing so far has been to use brass plated steel, light coat of pipe dope, then wipe it down and give it a good coat of clear lacquer. That didn't show rust for the 5 years I had the vehicle.

Well my vehicle told me today that replacing at least one of the hard lines was required immediately, not "at some point in the near future." So I just used what I could get locally, which was the NiCopp line and regular old presumably zinc plated fittings. I did appreciate the ease of flaring the NiCopp compared to steel, I like this stuff!

I had already sent a message to AGS re: compatibility, and got a response in only a few hours, their rep says

So, apparently stainless gets a thumbs up from AGS, and I'd disagree with his last statement - if my cousin's little son has anything to say about it, he'll want this vehicle in another 15 years or so, which is how long the original tube nuts lasted :) Seeing as it's the vehicle that gets driven when the weather is *really* bad (Jeep Cherokee) it will see its share of road salt I'm sure. Off to the Jeg's catalog... (there's still one hose to replace, and I may have to replace the hard line attached to it... but the vehicle is back together now and stopping again, so I can defer that until it's convenient, or at least warmer and drier!)

nate

Yep, BUT you have to special order them most of the time. And the price was worse than stainless when I looked last....

Just about everything better than junk has to be special ordered these days.

But like I wrote before, I just glob grease over the new fittings and I use anti seize on the threads and they've all looked fine years later. Although I've never had to undo any of my previous work years later. I guess I'll find out when I upgrade the front drums to disc on the '73. I'll see how well it held up since I replaced the front lines back in the 90s.

Where did you see NiCopp tube nuts? The ones AGS sells for use with NiCopp line are coated steel, and I can't find a source for even them separately. Jeg's sells the shallow ones but not the deep ones, which are what you usually need for drum brake wheel cylinders.

nate

My local NAPA also can get them. But I opted for the ones I had on hand. As I replace the fittings I use I order both plated steel and stainless.

Maybe I'm web search challenged, but all I see on that site are steel tube nuts...?

In any case, I probably only need to replace two maybe three hard lines so I'll just get a small stainless assortment and be done with it. I expect that's probably overkill and will last as long as the rest of the vehicle.

nate

Jeggs

just the first search match... never looked at the price until now... that just aint right.

I'm pretty sure those are "NiCopp brand" coated steel, not actual Copper-Nickel-Iron alloy. And short; I need long ones. And yes, 'spensive, at least compared to the generic zinc plated stuff that I can actually buy locally.

As I (think that I?) posted earlier though it became real academic earlier as I ended up going ahead and fabbing the rear axle lines with what I could actually buy locally as it was an actual necessity to get my vehicle back on the road. And looking at the weather report, not any too soon, as we're apparently supposed to get a hard freeze tonight and the roads are still wet from last night's snow melting off... I expect lots of crashilarity in the morning.

nate

On 1-15-18, I asked AGS the following through the contact form on their website:

Hello AGS,

Are stainless steel fittings compatible with the NiCopp brake lines (talking about 3/8-24 SAE fittings on 3/16" lines) ?

Thanks,

Bob W Omaha, NE

_______________________________________________________________________

On 1-17-18 I received the following reply:

Yes. They are compatible.

Christian Byar Senior Product Manager AGS Company Automotive Solutions