brake pipe set

[Over Steer]

as the elan is going to have it's engine bay sparyed i've decided that im gonna change the copper brake lines.

Does anyone know if these will fit?

Lotus Elan Series 1 & 2 ?41.38

Custom made brake pipe sets made from copper tube with brass end fittings. IMPORTANT NOTE! CUSTOM BRAKE KITS ARE SUPPLIED IN EITHER COPPER OR COPPER-NICKEL PIPE. COPPER IS MORE MANAGEABLE AND EASIER TO SHAPE AND RETAIN. COPPER-NICKEL HAS 60% HIGHER BURST PRESSURE AND IS TUV APPROVED

alternatively is there a source for the tubing?

Cheers

[alaric]

Hi.

I had a set of these and found that some of the pipes were the wrong length for the +2; in particular around the rear hubs. I guessed they would have fit a baby elan. Also, I didn't think much of the form of the ends. I have since found a good quality tool - on loan from a freind - to produce the ends, and have used copper pipe which is much easier to form into shape. You need a good quality tool; my mates one give perfect and identical results each time.

I actually found that I needed several attempts to form pipes that I was happy with, especially near the rear end of the prop shaft; depends what clearances and bend radiuses you are comfortable with. The kit only gives you one shot at each of them.

So I think the kit is a waste of money. Given the cost of the pipe - very cheap - I could experiment until the results were spot on. My advice is to spend the 40 odd quid on a good quality tool then relax about the amount of pipe that you use.

You'll probably find that others have been very happy with the kit...

Sean.

[Over Steer]

i kind of thought that that was the best solution, any idea of what fitting i would need?

[nebogipfel]

And use copper/nickel pipe - much safer than pure copper

[mcclelland]

Hi,
Ive given up on the pipe kits and found it far better and easier to buy the 25 foot long rolls of copper nichol pipe then make your own. You can readily purchase the male and female ends in steel and do a good job. The tool needed to produce single and double flares for the pipe can be found on Ebay and start from about ?7. Good luck, regards George...

[Over Steer]

so is this what i need?

[alaric]

Hi

Re 'is this what I need', that looks like it's the sort of tool that may give you inconsistent results - can't really tell.

To achieve consistent flares you need one of the forged pipe clamping efforts - the pipe needs to be held in forged blocks that are about an inch long in order to avoid damaging the pipe and to maintain the alignment while you're actually making the flare. The one that I've been using is a substantial piece of kit - it's really heavy, made by Draper - I've tried to find one for myself but not managed to yet. The closest to it so far is ebay item 200067411408 or 200067394313 - however I can't vouch for these as I've not tried them. The one I have been using clamps into a vice and the flare is made by compressing with a lever and cam arrangement.

If I can borrow my pal's one again I'll take a pic and post - you'll see the difference.

The cheaper tools can be used; the instructions in the ones that I bought - yes that's right I ended up trying two of them before discovering that my freind had a real one - explained that with a bit of practice a good flare could be achieved. That wasn't much comfort when I'd made a really nice job of fitting a pipe and wanted a flare, and the result was too poor to use.

Using the right tool you can get 100% success.

Hope this helps.

Sean.

[Over Steer]

thanks for all the feedback guys, but i found a guy that will make exact copies of the old lines out of copper tubing in a day, and it will cost me less than a new flaring tool