I am doing a ground up resto on my 79 vert. I had planned on replacing all the metal brake lines for shinny new ones. The old ones look fine, but my thinking is after 25 years of old fluid and gunk, new ones would be a good idea. My need to buy list is getting longer, not shorter. Does brake fluid do anything negative over time that warrants replacing old lines. Hoses are a no brainier, they will be replaced. What do yall think? Craig in Houston
On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 01:02:57 GMT, "Craig" ran around screaming and yelling:
well you asked...:')... i think if you are going to do a ground up, then that includes the twenty five dollars worth of brakelines too...much easier to replace while in a restoration then when they break....just my take... J
Brake fluid accumulates moisture over time, which is what causes rust inside hard-lines, the master-cylinder and the wheel cylinders.
The flexible lines sometimes collapse inside and in effect become one-way valves. Step on the pedal, everything is fine. Release the pedal and the fluid can't get back. And the line looks fine from the outside.
I just replaced all the hydralics on the 63; MC, wheel cylinders, all four soft lines and the line to the res. It wasn't that big a deal, really.
Max
The entire brake system is an easy thing to replace, even with the body on. More importantly, changing the metal brake lines is cheap insurance.
-- Mel P.
77 Std FI Bug & 70 Ghia Cabrio. (being assembled)Its my understanding it can, but it CANNOT be mixed period with the other brake fluid.. so that means you would have to replace or clean it somehow everything the brakefluid would come in contact with.. Although DOT 5, the grade your describing is nice, I think its a little overkill on our cars.
Jeremie
1972 SBAfter doing some searching with google and reading about dot5, I think it is still way to experimental and this is why. The articles I read had good things to say about the fact that it did not absorb water, but the down side was a couple of things.
First, dot5 does not give the slickness that dot3 and 4 do, which interferes with the return action of the brake pistons leading to brake overheating and excessive pad wear.
Second is that it has a low vapor temp. About 20 - 30 degrees lower than the older fluids that are in use today. This can lead to soft brake pedal and even failure of the brakes, of course that would be in extreme driving conditions.
This is what I read and not what I know from my own experience.
My thoughts are to keep using the old standard fluid and wait till they get the new brake fluids more polished for normal everyday driving.
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