With brakes its best to stick with the design that the manufacturer designed and tested - generally that will be metal lines from the brake master cylinder to near the wheels, then a rubber hose to the brakes. Metal lines are better (IMHO) than copper unless they were original equipment. Copper lines without proper flaring are prone to breaking and becoming brittle if there is any movement in the line. They also corrode internally a bit faster than steel lines.
Rubber hoses are no good over extended distances - they expand and reduce brake effect. Hydraulic hoses would cost a lot more than a decent metal pipe kit anyway.
When you have a brake system that is misbehaving and you don't know how old the lines are, replace them all. Don't waste time worrying about which particular line is causing todays problem.
Finally it seems that the disc brakes of my 72 SB (late ATE type) need some serious repair. Among other things they should have all the brake pads of the same type, right?..........they don't Besides this, when I remove the brake pads and press the pedal, the cilinders that press against the pads does not return so I cannot even put back the pads, which is bad, right? I guess I have to change the brake lines. But which ones? I have all the lines of copper except the one that turns with the wheels which is made of rubber. Is this the one responsible? Anyway, the nuts connecting the copper to the rubber lines are too soft and I round them trying to unscrew them, so probably I have to change the complete lines now, so finally the big question after all this story is: may I buy a complete set of brake lines and use rubber lines where I have now copper lines?
thanks a lot Ant
Maybe the metal of the lines isn't copper, I guess it is since I saw that type in a catalog.
It is apparent that you are new to brake work. A few rules you should follow;
1- Never take both sides apart at the same time. (you can use the one side as a reference when reassembling the other.)
2- Talk to a close friend that has preformed the job at hand before you try to do it yourself.
3- Get at least one "GOOD" book that "EXPLAINS" the job to you that "YOU CAN UNDERSTAND".
By that I mean, You need a repair manual that as a beginner you can understand. Most repair manuals are written for people like me. I have been doing auto work for "YEARS" and as most systems are the same, I can muddle my way throw most of them.
We were all new at this once.
The problem you have "If I understand it right" is that you pressed the brake peddle "AFTER" you removed the disc pads from the brake assembly. By doing this you completely extended (pushed out) the pistons. While the rear drum brakes have springs to help pull the shoes away from the drums, the front disc brakes do not. All you need to do is to use a "C-clamp" to help push the disc brake piston back into it's bore.
As for the brake pads themselves, you should have two pair from both sides that match. The inner pads and the outer pads should match
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