I'll be replacing the hard brake lines on my car as its the only thing I haven't replaced or rebuilt in the pursuit of eliminating the "spongy" brake feel.

Do I need to flare after feeding through the body, or is there clearance to route the fitting through that mess?

Is there space to route this from the middle of the car with engine in or is this a dropped engine project?

Thanks

Ummmm,

the "hard" brake lines don't flex.

ergo not a fix for the spongy brake pedal.

unless you've got a leak somewhere. that's a whole 'nuther story.

17mm master cylinders always have a little apparent spongy feel compared to modern cars but that's normal.

another known issue is firewall flex. have you searched our brain trust on that issue?

The trailing arm lines were NLA from Pelican so...I just bought a cheap brake line kit off eBay. It's semi-universal to several models.

My guess is you cannot feed the lines through the tunnel without removing the engine. I have Chris' sstl fuel lines to feed too.

Building your own lines will allow you to put the fittings on after feeding. In my case, my tunnel is cut open for the cable shifter so I'll see where to route them.

I understand that they don't flex, but if they are corroded from the inside out (much like galvanized water pipe does), the opening for brake fluid to flow becomes a pinhole. The restriction to flow gets so high, your force applied to the brake pedal can start flexing it..

Maybe my definition of "spongy" is really my leg flexing the pedal and linkage to my newly rebuilt 19mm master cylinder. Yes.. I have Nose-Tackle thighs and used to compete in powerlifting so I coudl be very well making the pedal a "spring" unwittingly...

I found this same problem in my buddies '64 Mustang GT. We were going crazy rebuilding everything and still getting no pressure at the calipers until we took apart the "body" lines.. they were horribly knecked down from entrapped water corroding from inside out.. you'd never know it looking at the lines from the outside.

Anyhow, I have one "vote" for engine out to change lines. It's not lookin' good.

Forgive my ignorance.... Why does the engine need to be out to install the center tunnel brake line?

With the engine in, you do not have a lot of room to move the long brake lines (or fuel lines) down the tunnel.

I am sure that it can be done, but it is probably easier to drop the engine then it is to get under there and try to work in the lines.

Dropping my engine was one of the first things I did to my car, and it was the first engine I ever pulled. It took me about 2 hours with an equally green assistant - and only took that long because a CV bolt stripped. It is a very straight forward process.

Zach

Hey Zach,

I haven't dropped my 914 engine quite as many times as in my '69 Beetle (about once a month), but yes, I understand it is straightforward. The challenge is always finding enough lumber to shore the car up to get it as high as it needs to go to clear the firewall tin + the height of the jack. I sold my house and moved since my last engine drop, and threw away all the heavy timber shoring I'd nailed up and bolted my jackstands to...

Note to self, ".. when you finish renting and finally buy a house, get a garage high enough inside to install a proper lift..."

Thanks