dustindu4

There has been some discussion in this thread here and I decided to start a new thread for it.

I'm looking to do it myself this year. Anybody else do it yourself?

I plan on buying two B&M solenoids and doing the wiring and plumbing from scratch. Blazing Saddles has mentioned that compression fittings are not track legal and you must used the double flared fittings. I know nothing about doing brake work myself. I am buying a service manual DVD to show me how to bleed the lines, etc.

I won't have any issues with the electrical wiring. I think I would just wire them in series and run the wire through the firewall to a switch.

I have no idea what hose fittings or other parts I need to buy. It would be cool if somebody picked up a Jegs or Summit catalog and made a parts list of all the stuff you need to do it yourself.

05STG1

Im interested. I thought the hard part was tracking down the proper size fittings?

05STG1

Thanks George, very much appreciated I guess its not that bad. I think I could gather the courage to try this.Think Ill give it a try in a month.
Good tips, hope those interested are paying attention

Dustin, you going to try this ?

Gunslinger

Sounds good. Let us know how it works out, but you'll want to wire the solenoid coils in parallel not series.

slammer223

Get a piece of brake tubing at your favorite parts store and with your handy double flaring set (probably available at the same parts store or any reputable tool dealer), do some practice flaring before you go after your car. It's not difficult, but there is a knack to getting the double flares correct. And as you well know, its not good to have brake fluid squirting out just when you've completed your first 12.7 pass!

Mongoose

This is not a no brainier with the double flare and George is definitely smarter than the above average bear. Personally I would go with Paul's Performance kit because all the parts are there. I feel he could at least supply the tubing pre bent as his price is $300. He did so on the Hot Rod magazine project. I would need a tubing bender with a small radii for sure. I wonder if Classictube.com could make up a line lock system? Might be worth looking into.
My 2 cents

Trojan2002

Do you like to..."Do-it-yourself"?

Sorry, I just had to throw that line out there...saw the movie again last night.

05STG1

Ahhh, ggod thing i viewed this again. Thanks for the edited pic George, it helps alot

05STG1

BTW..
Good tip, practice never hurts

slammer223

I don't think I ever said it was no brainer. That's why I recommended the practice on a spare piece of tubing. And you're right, the small radius bends aren't trivial either. A tubing bender is required to prevent kinks.
I know for a fact because the adjustable proportioning valve I put in my previous car was a true PITA.

nonsensez9

another newb question: supposing the solenoids were placed up by the master cylinder, how does that muck with the ABS and/or traction control?

dustindu4

George just used the flare nut that goes into the flex hose over again on the new output line from the line lock into the flex hose. I would have done that anyway I think. You use the same fitting on the same connection. I have no idea what size fittings or whatever that I need to interface with the solenoid. I'll probably just buy the solenoids and take them to pep boys and explain what I want to do and have them show me what fittings and brake line I need. People at car parts stores know what they're doing most of the time.

The paul's HP kit doesn't come with pre-bent tubes, you still have to bend them yourself. So essentially the paul's HP kit doesn't do anything for you except charge you for overpriced components.

How much does a bending/flare tool cost? This looks pretty easy.

I just don't know how to properly disconnect the brake system and bleed the lines when you hook it back up. I hope the ford service manual i just bought on ebay will help me with that.

Thanks for the pics and advice george.

dustindu4

the line comming out of the master cylinder to the ABS controller is 1/4" and the solenoid would bottleneck it according to George.

dustindu4

this might sound like a stupid question, but is a double flare a tube that is flared on both ends? You put the fittings over the tubes, then flare both ends right?

nonsensez9

a lot of tools are available for rent or borrow at some retail outlets / garages, especially those tools that you might use only once in a lifetime. check around.

slammer223

They used to tell us that the only stupid question is the one that isn't asked, so here goes my attempt to answer.....
You do of course have to put the fittings on the tube (put them on in the correct orientation also) before the flaring is done, and you will have to do both ends, but that's not what a double flare means.

A double flare refers to the process of making a flare that is basically folded over onto itself. The first step is a simple widening of the end of the tube. This is done with a cone shaped tool that is forced into the end of the tube. Then with tubing still held in the clamping fixture and with just the right amount exposed, the die in the flairing set is used to start a fold of the end of tube back towards the inside, then the flare is completed with the flare tool again used to final shape the flare. It ends up forming a double thickness of metal in the flared portion. You'll know you have it right when there is a uniform amount of tube that is folded over and the flare is concentric with the tube and uniformly shaped.

This is much harder to describe in words than actually showing or doing it. It's not a no brainer, but if I can do it, I know you can too.

Hope this helps.

HastaLaVista

Actually I think you just described it perfectly.

In the graphic below, the top pic is a double flare:

slammer223

And a picture is worth a thousand words, thanks for the assist!