[68FireBird]

Anyone able to post a picture of their brake lines on a 68 Firebird? I'm looking for one that shows how the lines come up over the differential from the wheel cylinders and meet at the t fitting. I'm installing the ones I ordered from Inline Tube and don't seem to be able to get them to line up right. I bent the old ones when taking them out so they are no longer a good reference. Thanks

[Hammered]

There's a picture of '68 line routing on my website here:

http://home.woh.rr.com/firebird67/Suspension.htm

[Derding]

I purchased a complete brake line kit for my 68 Firebird from Inline Tube this past spring. Everything fit fine except the rear passenger side line. Ended up reusing the old one on that side. It was a good 6 inches too long.

[Hammered]

Mine came from Classic Industries which I believe get's their tubing from Inline. I found everything to fit well except for the driver's front disc brake line. My car is a '67 but I bought the '68 axel lines because they have bends to clear the ubolts which '67 did not have.

[68FireBird]

I've got the rear lines installed now, thanks for the picture Hammered. They did seem a little long. I'll post some pictures tonight if I get a chance. The T Fitting does sit up a little higher than the stock lines, probably because of the length. There is not a provision on the new T Fitting to bolt it to the bracket on the rear housing either. Do you guys think that will be a problem?

[68FireBird]

Here is a pic of the rear lines installed. I spoke to Inline Tube, they felt that as long as the lines are attached to the axle tube the T fitting would not need to be attached to the bracket to keep things from moving around, they did offer to send me a different T Fitting with a hole to attach to the bracket, but did not seem real eager to do it.

[RAJ7395]

In my opinion, you need to call up the guy from In-Line Tube (Indian Name = Him-speak-a-heap-O-****) and have him send you the correct rear brake line. The purpose of the rubber hose is to act as a flexible joint between the body of the car and the rear differential housing. This type of design relies on the flexible rubber hose taking all the movement. If you do not rigidly attach the "T" to the top of the differential and the other end rigidly to the body, then you allow the metal tubes to be subjected to the flexing forces developed when the rear suspension travels thru its range of motion. Granted, you might be able to get away with this for a while but eventually the lines will work harden (from bending back and forth) and crack or the T fitting portion can come in contact with the surrounding components (exhaust) and rub thru the rubber hose.

I'm strongly suggesting that you restore the rear brake lines to the way the factory routed them for your safety. It's your car, your life, and your call.

Just my $.02.

PS These are In-Line tube stainless rear differential lines and I had to bent them quite a bit to get them to fit. As for the line, I bought mine from NAPA and made sure that it had the correct end. PY might sell the correct hose.

[68FireBird]

Raj,

Thanks for the input, I'm getting the correct fitting from inline tube with no questions asked. I talked to Mark there and he said they sent the wrong fitting and would make good. I'm using a braided rear hose, so I guess that is part of the problem. The rubber ones have the "t" already connected.

I installed the front to rear line last night. For a minute it seemed like I would never get it done, but after a break, things went smooth. The next challenge will be the lines that go to the front right, and routed in between the motor mounts. Any suggestions on that one are appreciated.

Mike

[RAJ7395]

Sorry for the late response. I rebuilt a 12 bolt for my 69 TA a while ago and bought an Earls stainless rear brake flex line for it. The T fitting was a seperate piece as you said and I remember have a similiar issue with it not having the corrrect mounting hole. Additionally, I had to tighten the hell out of the T fitting to stainless flex line connection to get it to stop leaking. Not fun at all!!

I'm relieved to hear that your getting the right fitting and I'm sorry if I sounded like a jerk in my previous post. You asked for honest feedback and went a little overboard.

As for routing the RH front brake line in between the motor mounts, I don't have much advise. I did a frame off on my car so I started with the bare subframe. I first inserted the rear lower A-Arm bolts into their holes (the threads point toward the rear of the car). I then slipped the lower engine mounting brackets loosely on the bolts and threaded on the lower A-Arm nuts. I then bolted on the top engine mount plate to the sub frame. (Note: It is hard/impossible to get to the free nuts that retain the upper engine mounting plates once the lower A-Arms are in place.) With the upper and lower engine mounts loosely installed on the subframe, I then torqued all the bolts. The purpose is to get the upper engine mounting bracket positioned correctly. Once the upper engine mount is torqued, you can then go back and remove the lower A-Arm Bolt and the lower engine mounting bracket. The next step was to install the lower A-arms, brake line, fuel lines, and finally reinstall the lower engine mounting brackets and torque down the bolts. You always want to torque the lower a-arm nuts down with the car sitting on flat level ground so you don't get any binding or preloading of your lower a-arm bushings.

In your case, your upper engine mounting bracket is already positioned correctly so you don't have to deal with removing the lower a-arms. I'm pretty sure the only way to install the RH brake line is to remove both lower engine mounts, install the line, and reinstall the lower engine mounts. Unfortunately, this is a big pain in the butt because you'll need to put the car on stands, lift the engine to relieve the load on the rear engine mounting brackets, get access to and remove the 2 lower engine mounting bracket to upper engine mounting bracket bolts then remove the lower a-arm
mounting nut and pry the rear engine mounting bracket off. Then you can install your new brake line and reverse the process to put everything back together. May I make a suggestion?? If you've ever thought about replacing your primary fuel line, now would be the perfect time as the fuel and brake lines run together thru the same little gap..

Good luck and let me know how things turn out.

[68FireBird]

Raj,

Thanks for the reply and suggestion on the fuel line. I actually did that one a few years ago because it was leaking. It was a pain too, but not as long as the RH brake line. I did not take your response other than your opinion and that is what I was looking for. I tried my hand at the RH line last night and go it routed without messing with the motor mounts. Problem is I managed to flip it around some way so that it is inverted and the bends in the lline are pointed the wrong way. So tomorrow I'm going to see if I can pull it back out of the right hand side and get it in the right way. Maybe it would be easier to just cut my losses and do as you suggested. One question, is an engine hoist going to be necessary, or could I do what I need with a jack and a couple of 2"x6" to pieces to keep the jack from messing anything up?

[68FireBird]

I have all the lines run, the proportioning valve installed and will be ready to bleed the system after I get back from our Thanksgiving trip to the in-laws. I did not need to mess with the motor mounts