Series 2a Brake lines

[Rocco1970]

G'day all.

I've been silently stalking the posts for the past couple weeks since I've joined and thought it may be time to ask my questions.

I've acquired a fairly solid 2a - seems the engine may be a 1963 and the chassis approx. 1968/9 and have stripped it right down to the chassis.

I'll be replacing/rebuilding the dumb irons, and the gearbox and rear cross members. I have 2 questions:


1) What is the recommended treatment for the inside and outside of the chassis? I was thinking i'd seal all the bolt holes etc and pour a rust converter or inhibitor into the chassis. For the exterior I was thinking lead oxide or tectyl, with the el cheapo black underbody spray from auto one over the top of that.

2) What is everyone using to replace their brake lines (front to rear)?

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Rocco

[Dgd69]

G'day all.

I've been silently stalking the posts for the past couple weeks since I've joined and thought it may be time to ask my questions.

I've acquired a fairly solid 2a - seems the engine may be a 1963 and the chassis approx. 1968/9 and have stripped it right down to the chassis.

I'll be replacing/rebuilding the dumb irons, and the gearbox and rear cross members. I have 2 questions:


1) What is the recommended treatment for the inside and outside of the chassis? I was thinking i'd seal all the bolt holes etc and pour a rust converter or inhibitor into the chassis. For the exterior I was thinking lead oxide or tectyl, with the el cheapo black underbody spray from auto one over the top of that.

2) What is everyone using to replace their brake lines (front to rear)?

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Rocco

Hi

I just recently made my own out of bundy tube and bought the fittings I have made before so already had the tools not hard to do just practice on a few first making bubble or double flares and bending the tube if you have samples of old ones even easier mine were completely gone

[Loading...]

I hit mine with Penetrol, get it from Bunnings, fairly cheap stuff. Apply using a degreaser gun and air compressor. Can also get it in pressure packs, but would need quite a few to hit underneath the car with. It's a penetrating fluid, so gets to most of the areas you cant see, also dries to a sort of glossy finish.

[JohnboyLandy]

For brake lines, I took the old ones to a brake place, Better Brakes here on the Gold Coast, and ask them to make new ones the same. They used some of the old fittings, but mostly new ones. Total cost was about $130.

Cheers,
John

[JDNSW]

Brake lines as John says - note that copper lines are a no-no.

Chassis - depends a bit on its condition. It is impossible to get at the inside of the box sections effectively, but I would make every effort to remove as much rubbish from inside as possible, and ensure all the holes are clear. Next do all necessary welding.

The ideal is to dip galvanise the chassis but this is only an option if you are stripping it right to the bare chassis. Otherwise, degrease it thoroughly and spray it inside and out with penetrol (if there is bare metal, etch prime it first, wire brush off loose rust, but you can't do this on the inside), followed by the finish paint of your choice. I would not be using a two pack type though. I use one of the hardware store 'metal paints' in black.

[LRJim]

KBS chassis coat I love it. It's a 3 part kit degreaser, etch primer/rust converter then paint. Costs about $120 for the whole chassis. It's self leveling so all the brush strokes disappear. I painted my fuel tanks, diffs everything that I wanted black. It's just not UV resistant so I rattle canned over the diffs with Matt black. I pressure washed the inside a few times, plenty of red sand in there. I still havnt treated the inside yet but I'm thinking penetrol, fish oil or KBS again but in a spray gun with a long nozzle.
Cheers Jim

[Rocco1970]

Thanks for all the replies.

Cheers

[Johnno1969]

Some things that might work for a chassis.....

High pressure spraying of very hot water and detergent in through every available aperture (useful if, like my IIA's, there had been oil poured through it in the past to prevent rust) and a jolly good flushing-out. Then, once it is all very, very dry, spraying Penetrol liberally inside it.

Then, the external treatment really depends upon the paints to be used.

As for brake lines, I bought several miles of solid line from Repco and cut, shaped and did the flanges at home.

John

[DonQuixote]

Brake lines as John says - note that copper lines are a no-no.

Chassis - depends a bit on its condition. It is impossible to get at the inside of the box sections effectively, but I would make every effort to remove as much rubbish from inside as possible, and ensure all the holes are clear. Next do all necessary welding.

The ideal is to dip galvanise the chassis but this is only an option if you are stripping it right to the bare chassis. Otherwise, degrease it thoroughly and spray it inside and out with penetrol (if there is bare metal, etch prime it first, wire brush off loose rust, but you can't do this on the inside), followed by the finish paint of your choice. I would not be using a two pack type though. I use one of the hardware store 'metal paints' in black.

JDNSW-
Can you please explain why copper brake lines are a no-no? This would be really helpful for me, and I just had copper ones put in. What is correct? Help! Thanks!
Mike

[gromit]

JDNSW-
Can you please explain why copper brake lines are a no-no? This would be really helpful for me, and I just had copper ones put in. What is correct? Help! Thanks!
Mike

I'm sure John will comment soon but in the meantime....

Pure copper brake pipes are not legal in Australia.
One reason is that if a length of pipe can vibrate the copper work hardens & can crack.

Copper alloy is OK (Kunifer).

Local requirements may allow copper so you'd have to check. I'm sure in the UK it used to be OK but I'd always used Kunifer, the main advantage there was corrosion resistance because of the rocksalt used to de-ice the roads.


Colin

[JDNSW]

Copper brake lines are illegal in all Australian states and territories because one of the properties of copper is that, subject to vibration, it will work harden and is very likely to crack.

For obvious reasons this is absolutely not what you want to have happen.

While I have never encountered it in brake lines, in my early days of motoring involvement, I remember that my father's motorbike (a "New Imperial" from the 1920s) and the family cars (Ford T, Reo, and Swift) all had copper fuel lines, with no flexible hoses (used a coiled section instead), and on a couple of occasions the fuel pipe cracked, one in the middle of the Hay Plains, necessitating building a fire to heat a makeshift soldering iron to make temporary repairs. On other occasions he removed sections of fuel pipe to anneal them as a preventative measure.

There are copper alloys that do not work harden, and brake tubing is available in these. This tubing is marked along its full length with the type of tube, and should be available from brake specialists.

[4bee]

Note. Good access for a 1/2" garden hose can be obtained by removing the two rubber grommets on the Rear Cross Member which are directly in line with the chassis rails. Bung as much hose in there as you like & work it back & forth. After turning on the tap first, obviously.[bighmmm]

Ed. Not sure if these holes were original now I think about it or were drilled by PO, however it can be done if one is so inclined.

JOB DONE.

[DonQuixote]

I'm sure John will comment soon but in the meantime....

Pure copper brake pipes are not legal in Australia.
One reason is that if a length of pipe can vibrate the copper work hardens & can crack.

Copper alloy is OK (Kunifer).

Local requirements may allow copper so you'd have to check. I'm sure in the UK it used to be OK but I'd always used Kunifer, the main advantage there was corrosion resistance because of the rocksalt used to de-ice the roads.


Colin
Thanks, Colin -
Looking at the brake lines, they have a slightly different color, so I'm thinking they may be some alloy - they are copper-ish. I'll check with the people who did the installation. Thanks for the explanation.
-Mike

[DonQuixote]

Copper brake lines are illegal in all Australian states and territories because one of the properties of copper is that, subject to vibration, it will work harden and is very likely to crack.

For obvious reasons this is absolutely not what you want to have happen.

While I have never encountered it in brake lines, in my early days of motoring involvement, I remember that my father's motorbike (a "New Imperial" from the 1920s) and the family cars (Ford T, Reo, and Swift) all had copper fuel lines, with no flexible hoses (used a coiled section instead), and on a couple of occasions the fuel pipe cracked, one in the middle of the Hay Plains, necessitating building a fire to heat a makeshift soldering iron to make temporary repairs. On other occasions he removed sections of fuel pipe to anneal them as a preventative measure.

There are copper alloys that do not work harden, and brake tubing is available in these. This tubing is marked along its full length with the type of tube, and should be available from brake specialists.

Thanks, John -
Oh - good idea. I'll look for the markings.
-Mike

[gromit]

Thanks, Colin -
Looking at the brake lines, they have a slightly different color, so I'm thinking they may be some alloy - they are copper-ish. I'll check with the people who did the installation. Thanks for the explanation.
-Mike

Mike,
That sounds like Kunifer.

Some interesting reading here :-
Applications: Automotive - Copper-Nickel Automotive Vehicle Brake Tubing (https://www.copper.org/applications/automotive/brake-tube/brake.html)



Colin