Finalized the ABS Brakes (part 2)
“You will build this car three times before you build it once”
– my builder friends (circa 2020)
A few months back, I ‘finalized’ the ABS brake setup – or so I thought… When I started bleeding the brakes, the HCU started leaking… I somehow forgot that the HCU uses bubble flare instead of double flare! So I had to redo both front lines, fortunately NiCopp brake line is so easy to work with those <36″ lines are simple. The rear lines – my son and I undid the unions at driver side rear and had to drill out all the rivets and drop the lines.
Another adder was to change the feed lines to 1/4″ lines (instead of the 3/16’ths) I ordered a couple 60″ lengths from Autozone – it was steel, and kinked terribly. I had to order another roll of 1/4 NiCopp and a 1/4 tubing straightener, oh – and a 1/4 tubing bender… geesh!
Parts needed:
- 1/4 NiCopp brake line – the Stop Shop has quality stuff, and decent prices!
- 1/4 Tubing Bender – I tried a cheap $14 model (shown below) which may work for some, but I hated it. I ended up getting the Ridgid 36122 404 Tube Bender and it works great!
- 1/4 Tubing Straightener – the ergo one from the Stop Shop worked fantastically!
- Lastly, the trusty Eastwood Flaring tool is all business on the flares!
All of this work was gracefully assisted by the Eastwood Professional Brake Line Tubing Flaring Tool which does all the 45-Degree Single, Double, and Bubble Brake Flares – seriously this is WORTH EVERY PENNY!
We initially used the ABN Brake Bleeding Kit that I got on Amazon, but we always saw bubbles. We determined that the air compressor activated tool wouldn’t have a solid seal around the bleed valve which induced air. My son got to ‘sit’ in the car and pump the brakes to build up pressure.
I used the speed-bleeder to initially suck the air out of the lines, which helped in feeding the brake fluid. Then once I saw fluid, stopped and let my son pump the brake pedal till it was a solid stream of fluid – then seal it off. Then when I pulled the speed-bleeder off the valve, I could pull the trigger to clear out the suction line. We did all 6 bleed ports, 2 on each rear brake and 1 on each front brake. Now the pedal is holding great pressure!
Overall, SUPER STOKED that the brakes are working!!
