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Flaring Brake Lines HELP!

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    Flaring Brake Lines HELP!

    Merry Christmas all! Hoping someone can help me with my frustrations in flaring brake lines. I blew one of the 25-year-old hard lines going into the tee at the rear. This prompted my winter project of complete sub-frame re-hab. I'd love to get my new Garagistic sub-frame bolted up this week but am having a HELL of a time making a couple of flares. The one that broke is the long one from the front. My plan is to put a bubble union at the rear, about 24" from the tee. that leaves two other lines off the tee, one of which is a little over 11"- so I was able to buy a steel pre-formed 4.75 mm bubble at 12" and bend it up. The two lines under the rear control arms are 30", so good to go there too with a pre-made line. So essentially, I need to make a total of FIVE (5) flares. No big deal right?

    So far, I have used the standard "bar/clamp" type tool. A crappy one from HF that I broke and returned and a really good SK from a mechanic friend. I also bought a ATD Tools (same as CalVan) inline tool with proper adapters.

    I was able to make decent inverted DOUBLE flares using the proper dies, but can't for the life of me, turn out a good BUBBLE flare. I looked at all the on-line videos (cut square, chamfer edges, de-burr inside, lubricate, and PRACTICE). I gave up trying on steel tubing and bought a 25 ft roll of 3/16" CuNi- much softer and easier to work with. Below are some pictures comparing a factory-made BUBBLE flare to a) flare made with 4.75mm BUBBLE die and b) flare made with 3/16" standard die (without the 2nd step to do a DOUBLE FLARE).

    You can see that there is like a "double lip" on the BUBBLE flare- it appears that this will not seal properly. The one that I did using the STANDARD 3/16" flare die produced a nice smooth flare- but when looking at the angle, it appears that this one would not seal properly either.

    The last thing I want to do is install these lines, bolt up the sub-frame and have them leak. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks

    Swen
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Swendog; 12-25-2016, 12:46 PM.

    #2
    Do you have a pic of the bubble flare die? I've never had a problem forming a bubble flare, but I've had a lot of issues making sure they're symmetric. How are you cutting the tubing? I've found it's best to use a hacksaw and a file, rather than a Dremel. It definitely takes a few practice flares to get the hang of it.

    Originally posted by whysimon
    WTF is hello Kitty (I'm 28 with no kids and I don't have cable)

    Comment


      #3
      As you note, neither of your flare types will work very well.

      Your STD. die flare looks pretty good except for the flare angles need to be flip flopped. Any chance you're putting in the tubing wrong and the die is on the other side?
      ADAMS Autosport

      Comment


        #4
        Your flares do not look like bubble or inverted double flares to me.

        I have made many bubble flares with cheaper tools and can usually achieve a usable flare, not so with double flares.

        Last year i bought this Mastercool tool...



        and boy, do i wish i had sprung for one of these earlier in my life! The speed and quality level you can achieve with this tool makes the the other past flares I've made look the head of a janky chinese 16 penny nail.

        I just made several double flare lines for my Scout and i produced superior flares compared to the flared premade lines at the auto parts store, i sectioned the flares with a cut off saw to inspect.
        Lorin


        Originally posted by slammin.e28
        The M30 is God's engine.

        Comment


          #5
          Thanks for the input...tried a few more times today by making adjustments to the length of tubing that protrudes from the die. Going a little longer- beyond the first step in the die- produced a better- but not perfect flare.

          With this type of tool (in-line flaring tool), you cannot put the tubing in backwards.

          Using the bar-clamp style tool, I used the flat side of the bar per instructions when making a bubble flare and the base of the flare turned out better, but the sealing part still had that "double lip" shown in the pictures above.

          I made some very nice double inverted flares- I just can't seem to get the bubble flare to work.

          Pictures below of the Cal-Van and ATD tools (essentially the same).

          Swen
          Attached Files

          Comment


            #6
            I've never produced an acceptable bubble flare with those types of tool that I was satisfied with, the was always some level of deformation.

            Like another poster I sprung the cash for the Mastercool 71475 and it's totally worth the $280. You might ask around if there's board member with a Mastercool set in your area who can flare your pipes for you. I've done a few sets for folks up here in the NE.

            Comment


              #7
              SUCCESS! I was able to borrow a SnapOn (actually made by Blue Point Tools) bubble flaring tool. This is a bar/clamp style however uses a yoke that has a machined lip that grabs the bar assembly. The bar itself is also designed with recesses that properly align the hardened screw-on dies. This is a SUPERIOR tool in every way. It produced a PERFECT bubble flare on my first try! So for those of you who haven't or won't spring for the MasterCool, at $161 new (and you can find used ones on Ebay) is just the ticket. Check out the pictures below. Here's a link to SnapOn as well. Thanks for everyone's input! Swen.

              https://store.snapon.com/Flaring-Too...--P630747.aspx

              Attached Files

              Comment


                #8
                I have also used a mastercool with repeated success on British, German, and Japanese cars all with different flares. Awesome tool, shame to buy for a one time use but if you intend on working on old cars regularly it's a great thing to have.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I just bought the schwaben bubble flaring tool, looks the same as SnapOn, and it's been better than the cheap tool from advance auto, but my bubbles are still not quite right. They aren't quite symmetrical, usually pushed off to one side. I think I just need more practice and attention to making the die seat evenly, but any advice would be great.

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