Braided brake hose ....question
Discussion
Just buy the hose and end fittings off Demon Tweeks or similar and make them up yourself. Not tricky and no special tools required. If you do it tourself you're guaranteed to get the best route for the hose and the correct length. I've replaced ALL the lines in the tuscan with Goodridge Colorflex. Basically, it's still the same braided hose but in a coloured plastic sheath. Big advantage (apart from trhe colour) is it stops the hose chafing - if you have normal braided hose and it rubs on anything it'll soon rub through. Just use some shrink wrap at the hose ends over the fittings if you're using colorflex since you have to cut the coloured sleeve back by a cm or so.
If not sure how to make the hoses up and you're ever near Fife, drop me a mail and I can show you. Not tricky at all really, and once you've done one, you'll wonder why you ever bought pre-made hoses.
Willie
PS is that once of Colin's Vipers in the photo in your profile, or a real one?
If not sure how to make the hoses up and you're ever near Fife, drop me a mail and I can show you. Not tricky at all really, and once you've done one, you'll wonder why you ever bought pre-made hoses.
Willie
PS is that once of Colin's Vipers in the photo in your profile, or a real one?
Providing you have the end fitting - it should be in 2 parts that screw together plus a brass olive. So yes, I can (and do) put fittings on the end of brake hoses, but it really is a simply DIY excercise.
Make sure the end of the hose is 'good', in other words the plastic inner hose has a clean cut end, and also the braided outer is a clean cut. If they're not clean cut, the best way I've found is to wrap the hose in masking tape then cut through with a junior hacksaw.
Look at the female (or male - the principle's the same) fitting, and you'll see it's 2 parts that screw together. One has a 'tube' that should be a neat fit up inside the inner of the hose, and is threaded for the male (or female) connection. For my explination, we'll call this the 'tube bit'. The other part screws into this part, and the hole at the end is the same diameter (roughtly) as the hose. We'll call this the 'nut bit'.
Slide the 'nut bit' up the hose. Now, using a really small screwdriver or similar (the crappy wee ones out of xmas crackers or on cheapo toolkits are just fine), slide it up inbetween the hose inner and the brading. Work around the end of the hose inner (between the inner and the brading) and progressively spread out the brading from the inner. What you're trying to achieve is a sort of cone shape in the brading (like a wee skirt), maybe 3-5mm up the hose, with 1-2mm clearance at the end of the hose. This should allow you to press the brass olive on to the end of the inner hose, but inside the braided outer. Make sense? You just need to make sure you've flared the brading out enough for the olive to fit inside the brading and over the inner.
Now, the olive will typically have a wee ridge inside so just pressing it on the end of the inner isn't usually enough to get it fully home - you'll have to tap it on with a wee hammer or similar. If you're unsure, then measure the olive up alongside the hose inner and work out how far down it has to be tapped to be fully home.
Now you can put the 'tube bit' of the fitting inside the hose inner (so inside the olive too). You can then slide the 'nut bit' back down the hose and screw it into the 'tube bit'. Tighten with a couple of spanners (one on each bit) and your father's brother's named Robert!
If you wanted to make it real neat, then slide a bit of heat-shrink tube up the hose as the very first think to do, than you can slide it back down over the end of the fitting when it's all finished and shrink it down.
The end fittings are all totally 100% reusable EXCEPT FOR THE BRASS OLIVES. However, you can buy spare olives (I just use Demon Tweeks) so if it's your first attempt maybe buy a few spares and experiment a few times.
It really is a simple process...but of course, usual caveats apply...these are brakes so any screw-ups can be fatal. Don't take my word about 'how to do it', seek out an expert and get it professionally done yadda yadda yadda. Me not liable etc. However, I've experience of a 'professionally made' hose come apart [on a Porsche], so with a little care, you should do no worse that some 'professionals'. Given that many of the lower volume hose kits are made exactly the same way as described above, it just needs an oik not to press the olive home far enough on the inner, or not to tighen the halves up enough. Personally, I trust my brakes to me.
WB
Make sure the end of the hose is 'good', in other words the plastic inner hose has a clean cut end, and also the braided outer is a clean cut. If they're not clean cut, the best way I've found is to wrap the hose in masking tape then cut through with a junior hacksaw.
Look at the female (or male - the principle's the same) fitting, and you'll see it's 2 parts that screw together. One has a 'tube' that should be a neat fit up inside the inner of the hose, and is threaded for the male (or female) connection. For my explination, we'll call this the 'tube bit'. The other part screws into this part, and the hole at the end is the same diameter (roughtly) as the hose. We'll call this the 'nut bit'.
Slide the 'nut bit' up the hose. Now, using a really small screwdriver or similar (the crappy wee ones out of xmas crackers or on cheapo toolkits are just fine), slide it up inbetween the hose inner and the brading. Work around the end of the hose inner (between the inner and the brading) and progressively spread out the brading from the inner. What you're trying to achieve is a sort of cone shape in the brading (like a wee skirt), maybe 3-5mm up the hose, with 1-2mm clearance at the end of the hose. This should allow you to press the brass olive on to the end of the inner hose, but inside the braided outer. Make sense? You just need to make sure you've flared the brading out enough for the olive to fit inside the brading and over the inner.
Now, the olive will typically have a wee ridge inside so just pressing it on the end of the inner isn't usually enough to get it fully home - you'll have to tap it on with a wee hammer or similar. If you're unsure, then measure the olive up alongside the hose inner and work out how far down it has to be tapped to be fully home.
Now you can put the 'tube bit' of the fitting inside the hose inner (so inside the olive too). You can then slide the 'nut bit' back down the hose and screw it into the 'tube bit'. Tighten with a couple of spanners (one on each bit) and your father's brother's named Robert!
If you wanted to make it real neat, then slide a bit of heat-shrink tube up the hose as the very first think to do, than you can slide it back down over the end of the fitting when it's all finished and shrink it down.
The end fittings are all totally 100% reusable EXCEPT FOR THE BRASS OLIVES. However, you can buy spare olives (I just use Demon Tweeks) so if it's your first attempt maybe buy a few spares and experiment a few times.
It really is a simple process...but of course, usual caveats apply...these are brakes so any screw-ups can be fatal. Don't take my word about 'how to do it', seek out an expert and get it professionally done yadda yadda yadda. Me not liable etc. However, I've experience of a 'professionally made' hose come apart [on a Porsche], so with a little care, you should do no worse that some 'professionals'. Given that many of the lower volume hose kits are made exactly the same way as described above, it just needs an oik not to press the olive home far enough on the inner, or not to tighen the halves up enough. Personally, I trust my brakes to me.
WB
I've seen cars with that cr@ppy aftermarket braid that is just held on by a hose clip that have been complete death traps, the braid stops you from seeing that the hose is correctly fitted and what state it is in. On one occasion a fuel line had been cut off at 45 degrees so that the clamp only secured one half of it, the hose was a moderately tight fit on the spigot so fuel only seeped out (and was then carried down inside the braid to evaporate all over the place) rather than immediately turn into a flame thrower. It would probably have been better if it had leaked more as somebody would at least have noticed the fact that it was a blooming death trap. Incidentally this was a show car that spent a lot of its life with the bonnet up, nobody noticed the fact that the fuel line was hanging off. The strong smell of petrol was put down to the Holley carb.
Just say no to tacky aftermarket braid and consign it to the same bin as the 'race look' stick-on carbon fiber, stick-on aero style filler caps and so on. It's very hard to screw up a plain old hose held on with a plain old jubilee clip. Braided hose in theory gives you more protection against damage, but makes it impossible to detect perished or poorly fitted hoses. I reckon this is a bigger risk, and personally I would suggest you stay away from braided hose for a road car unless you have a particular reason for using it. If you do go for braided hose, use the proper pre-assembled fittings as WB described, check and double check that it has been assembled correctly, and don't ever trust anyone else to do it properly.
Just say no to tacky aftermarket braid and consign it to the same bin as the 'race look' stick-on carbon fiber, stick-on aero style filler caps and so on. It's very hard to screw up a plain old hose held on with a plain old jubilee clip. Braided hose in theory gives you more protection against damage, but makes it impossible to detect perished or poorly fitted hoses. I reckon this is a bigger risk, and personally I would suggest you stay away from braided hose for a road car unless you have a particular reason for using it. If you do go for braided hose, use the proper pre-assembled fittings as WB described, check and double check that it has been assembled correctly, and don't ever trust anyone else to do it properly.
If you lads e-mail me I can send a photo of the problem.
All I have is the new brass olive and 1 female nut (bought in the states)
This fits my 90 deg fitting
I already have a goodrich hose with the correct Banjo at one end but need to replace
the other end with this new female nut to give me the correct threads into the elbow
I already had difficulty obtaning a 1/2-20 Banjo and bolt for the Master cylinder
Sent off to ThinkAuto,Goodrich and BSR with no luck on these parts.
Managed to obtain the 1/2 Banjo bolt form a tractor!
Seems Wilwood made an unusual outlet size. 7/16 or 9/16 easy but 1/2" a problem
R
All I have is the new brass olive and 1 female nut (bought in the states)
This fits my 90 deg fitting
I already have a goodrich hose with the correct Banjo at one end but need to replace
the other end with this new female nut to give me the correct threads into the elbow
I already had difficulty obtaning a 1/2-20 Banjo and bolt for the Master cylinder
Sent off to ThinkAuto,Goodrich and BSR with no luck on these parts.
Managed to obtain the 1/2 Banjo bolt form a tractor!
Seems Wilwood made an unusual outlet size. 7/16 or 9/16 easy but 1/2" a problem
R
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