Starting to reassemble things after rebuilding trailing arms, dropping engine, etc.

I plan to replace the rear brake lines and hoses while I am at it. In looking at rear hoses at PMB I see the following comment:

"This is one of the toughest jobs on a 914 but, if you need them... you need them."

Just curious, what makes this difficult? Does the engine or trailing arm block something (hard to tell with them both out). I just want to make sure I put everything back together in a logical sequence.

With the engine and exhaust on, space is very tight which is what makes it so difficult. If you have the engine out its a breeze.

The fact that it's tough means that it might not have been done for a long time. Spray the fittings ahead of time to start loosening up the corrosion. Capt Crusty taught me a trick that often comes in handy. First tighten a corroded bolt, screw or fitting. Even a tiny bit. It often breaks it free and then loosens up easily.

In my case, it was because Erc shipped me the wrong hoses.

I managed to do this with the engine in, but it IS very tight and was painfully slow in terms of making progress loosening and tightening. Make sure you have a proper 11mm brake (flare nut) wrench to do the job. And/or an 11mm flared crowfoot may make it easier.

When I did mine I bent up the hard lines that run to the bulkhead and had to remove it and replace, turning the nut on the pressure regulator 1/64 turn at a time. Engine in the car. Fun times.

That's about right! Struggle to get wrenches on. Turn 1/64th of a turn. Repeat.

Make sure you use a Flare Nut wrench when removing brake lines.