I took the 914 to VIR for a 3 day DE this weekend. At the end of the second session, I noticed my brake pedal going closer and closer to the floor. No big deal, the South Course is notorious for being hard on brakes. I'll just bleed them and the world will be right?

Wrong. My buddy and I decided to bleed all four wheel. we started, of course, on the passenger side rear. As we were bleeding, we noticed an unusual drop of brake fluid on the rubber hose. We weren't sure where it was coming from, but we think it was the connection between the rubber hose and the hard line to the caliper.

We moved to the driver's side and had the same thing happen, except there was more fluid and no idea where on the rubber line it was coming from. The brake pedal in the car never did start to firm up.

Needless to say, I shut down the car for the rest of the DE. The pedal was good enough to get me 150 miles home.

Now it looks to me like it is time to replace all 4 brake lines. I have a few questions.

Rubber versus Stainless Steel. I have read a bunch of pro's and con's on SS. I have always had them on my Porsches. Any consensus among 914 owners on which is the better way to go?

Anyone have a picture or diagram of where the rubber hoses attach to the m/c lines? I am thinking this a pretty simple DIY project.

The car is used 50/50 for street and DE's. Anyone have a recommendation for pads? I am thinking Porterfield's right now.

Thanks for any and all help.

It should be reasonably obvious where the lines hook up, just follow them upstream. The rears are a real b*tch, though--some people insist that the only way to do them is to remove the engine, because access to the upstream end is very poor. Others have said that you can work through the holes in the engine shelf for things like drain hoses...

I'm still not sold on SS for my own car. I prefer the gradual failure mode of the stock lines to the total failure mode of the SS ones. Happily the "total failure" doesn't happen very often, but....

--DD

Use rubber lines or Cap't Krusty will reach through the internet and slap you silly. I also agree with him for a street car. You must inspect SS lines religiously for hidden damage as the can and have been known to fail. Is it a DIY project? Sure, but take stock for your of your skills and tools. I'm not trying to be an a*s here, and questions are good and you will get many answers here but your question scares me. Why do you want pictures of the hose and hard lines? If you're not sure of what and where they are, maybe you need to have someone who already knows how to do this particular job do it or teach you how. Brake failures can kill you or some innocent bystander. Good luck.

Thanks guys. This is exactly the info I was looking for. Absolutely no offense here. I now know that this is beyond what I want to get into.

My problem is finding a shop that can get me done in time for another DE in 2 weeks.

This board is great. Thanks!!!

replacing brake lines should be really easy. i would, if i were you, get the proper line wrenchs (10 or 11mm), maybe 2 or each to have one to counterhold but look at the connection before you buy anything. i would replace with rubber hose lines (if i had to do it again)

"should" being the key operative. Jim, have you ever done this?

TIP: I've heard to make it easier, cut the rubber line where it joins the hard lines from the proportioning valve. This will leave the metal end of the rubber line as a knub that you can get a 14mm deep well socket on (I think they're 14mm).

The difficult part is this upper end and getting two line wrenches or otherwise in that small space under the engine shelf. Yes, as Dave mentions, I've gone in from above using the access holes in the tin (on my -6) etc.

I've never tried the cut hose method but when I was online here bitching about what a serious pain in the ass the job was, someone mentioned it. It was like a V8 juice commercial, where you smack yourself on the side of the head and say... "why didn't I think of that?"

...............and then I'll slap you for BEING silly. You need an 11, a 14, and a 17mm line wrench. Probably crow's foot line wrenches (same sizes), as well, and a foot long 3/8" extension and a decent ratchet for the rear ones. Difficult? Yes. Piss you off difficult? Yes. Doable? Definitely. Might wanna watch it done once, though, if you're not sure of your abilities. The Cap'n

Oh, and to add to what the Cap'n said... spray those connections down with penatrant first and allow it to soak. You don't want to break/ crack any of your hard lines.

i guess my alzheimers is acting up or i don't understand the question, both are probable, but if it's removing the rubber flexible hoses that basically go from the body to the moving parts of the suspension, i don't remember having a bunch of difficulty with that. my 74 has some little slide clips the help secure the hose in a bracket on the suspension parts (rear is trailing arm and front is.... not the spindle but the ...???). just use a line wrench and counterhold the end of the rubber line and unbolt.

i must not understand the question....

Even with the proper tools, a frozen nut can cause the hard line to twist.

And so for me, the bottom line is the car is at Eurowerks here in Charlotte: New brake lines, Porterfield pads and possibly a new m/c. Also going to mount a set of g-Force tires on Mahle's. The car should stop much better!

Access to the front connection on the rear lines is a cast-iron bitch. Sliding the clip off is a huge pain, IIRC, as there's almost no way to get a screwdriver in there to slide the sucker. And then finding a way to get not one, but two wrenches on the connection...

It's unfun enough that you tend to remember pretty well. Hence the question about if you'd done the job.

--DD