Thread: Series 2a - My First Restoration

Originally Posted by Homestar

Geez, that's pretty bad, it sounds like it had no coating on it at all - decent stuff should last as long as the factory stuff does.

Yes it rusted from the outside in. I don't know what brand they used, but it certainly wasn't cheap after they put their markup on the parts + labour!

If you lived closer to me I would come along and do it for you, I have all the gear LOL, cheers Dennis

Just my 2 cents worth...

I looked at the copper brake lines from UK company Automec, specifically the nickel coated ones, as they would look like steel lines anyway. Despite convincing myself that these are a great product and comply with a lot of national and international standards, I could never find a definitive cross reference for the standards the Automec lines comply with, to prove equivalence to the SAE J1047 standard quoted as required for brake lines in Australia. As per the information in the Moke forum reference brakes lines complying with the ADR documentation must be made of steel bundy tube.

That and the fact that the copper lines would be more expensive convinced me to get the lines made locally out of steel tube. I haven't yet got the lines made, but Better Brakes on the Gold Coast quoted me $7 per metre for tube, and $2 per flare and $2 per connector, so I figured the total would be about $130 to have the lines made up compared to about $240 plus postage foe copper / nickel lines from Automec.

Copper lines may or may not pass roadworthy, as that will depend on how vigilant the inspector is, I just wasn't willing to spend $240 on copper lines only to fail roadworthy.

$600-$800 sounds quite expensive given the quote I got for making the lines. I don't know how long the bending and fitting would take, but I can't imagine it's $470-$670 worth of labour.

Cheers,
John

Just paint the lines. What they dont see they dont need to know about, unless ur gonna polish em and make em all shiny

Cheers Rod.

Ps. I made all my own lines up including the flares. Repco have a decent double flare tool in their latest catalogue.

Originally Posted by 67hardtop

Just paint the lines. What they dont see they dont need to know about, unless ur gonna polish em and make em all shiny

I did that once on my old 2a - painted the whole engine bay and chassis including all the old (copper) lines. The guy doing the RWC scratched the paint off then failed it - he said painting everything was an old trick and rings alarm bells and it wouldn't get past him.

Not sure if some younger blokes would bother though.

Painted or not, copper lines will fail a "magnet test"

Cheers,
John

Thanks all for your help!

Unfortunately, no work on the Landy last weekend.

Looks like the best option for me would be to get the brake lines pre-made here, then have a go at bending and fitting them myself. I'll measure the lines on my mates S3 lwb with a string, then can know exactly how long each line is.
I'll have to ensure the ends are BSF threaded so they can go into the original cylinders. Need to find a place who can do that.

Jim.

I think it cost around $400 to get all new hard lines made for the S3, including 4 braided lines, (3 for the brakes and 1 clutch).

Cheers,