Fitment of brake lines at distribution block on a 68 manual brake car

[John B.]

I have replaced all the brake lines on my 68 that is undergoing a frame-off. I put the body back on the frame last week and have been trying to make sure the brake lines to the rear and to the front are bent properly to fit to the distribution block attached next to the master cylinder. The AIM shows them clamped together just below the block and then going into the block with the rear line in the rear port and the front line in the front port. The bends in the lines I bought do not seem to allow it go together as depicted in the AIM. Does anyone with a manual brake 68 have some pictures that show how the brake lines are bent and routed?

Thanks,

John Brough

[John C.]

Re: Fitment of brake lines at distribution block on a 68 manual brake car

John

Attached are some pictures that I hope help you.

John

[John B.]

Re: Fitment of brake lines at distribution block on a 68 manual brake car

John, thanks for the pictures. It helps a lot to see how they are supposed to look. Now my problem is how to find brake lines that are bent like the ones on your car. I got the complete set of lines from Classic Tube. The one to the rear I can massage to fit, but it won't look like the one on your car. The one to the front was off by a couple of inches, so I bought another one from Corvette Central. That one is a little better, but not correct. The original lines on the car had been mangled, so I cannot use them as patterns. Anyone have any experience with any of the other brake line vendors fit? I am not opposed to buying another M/C to rear line and a third M/C to front line, but I have little confidence that I would find ones that really fit like the originals did. I've replaced lines on several cars before and realize they have to be massaged a little to get them to fit, just seems like on this car although I can probably make them fit they are not going to look original at all.

John

[Scott K.]

Re: Fitment of brake lines at distribution block on a 68 manual brake car

John, thanks for the pictures. It helps a lot to see how they are supposed to look. Now my problem is how to find brake lines that are bent like the ones on your car. I got the complete set of lines from Classic Tube. The one to the rear I can massage to fit, but it won't look like the one on your car. The one to the front was off by a couple of inches, so I bought another one from Corvette Central. That one is a little better, but not correct. The original lines on the car had been mangled, so I cannot use them as patterns. Anyone have any experience with any of the other brake line vendors fit? I am not opposed to buying another M/C to rear line and a third M/C to front line, but I have little confidence that I would find ones that really fit like the originals did. I've replaced lines on several cars before and realize they have to be massaged a little to get them to fit, just seems like on this car although I can probably make them fit they are not going to look original at all.

John

John, sorry to hear that you had troubles with one of our brake lines. What specifically was incorrect?

[John B.]

Re: Fitment of brake lines at distribution block on a 68 manual brake car

John, sorry to hear that you had troubles with one of our brake lines. What specifically was incorrect?

Scott, I was able to get the line you provided to fit pretty well and looks pretty much like the picture of the originals that John Carlson sent me. The issues were that when I connected the fitting to T block on the frame rail at the front, the line interferred with the steering box and did not lay flat on the frame rail. I had to adjust both of the bends to get it to fit. Once I got that fit resolved, the other end of the line was not in line with the port on the distribution block attached to the master cylinder. It was pointing too much towards the rear of the vehicle. I was able to twist the line to get the clocking close and then manipulated the bends a bit to get the height of the fitting right so it would line up with and be square to the port on the distribution block. Part of my problem also was that the front to rear brake line was not fitting correctly either and the original lines had been mangled over the years so I really was not sure how everything was to fit and look. Hopefully this explanation makes sense, it is hard to describe. In the end, I am happy with how the line fits and looks. Have not put brake fluid in it so I may still need to do some more tweaking to get it to seal, we will see. It definitely was not a direct bolt in deal.

Regards,

John