On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 5:13 AM, Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@comcast.net> wrote:
> Andrew, I have the bubble flare tool and I bought bulk metal line from
> VW and then made up my own lines for the last Vanagon I replaced all of
> the brake lines on.  This time I went to my local NAPA.  I had all of
> the lengths measured out and I bought metal line from them that was
> already made up with ends on it and some couplers where the lines had to
> be longer than their longest one.  It was really cheap and now I have
> machine made ends which look nicer than what I could make myself with my
> tool.  Plus using the tool is super time consuming if you want to do a
> good job.  I would recommend going this way.  None of the vendors sell
> the long metal brake lines probably because they are too big of a pain
> to make and then a big pain to ship.  Then there are some length
> differences between 2wd and Syncro.  Do you see why this would not be
> worth it to a vendor to make up lines when you can go to NAPA and buy
> all the line you need for $30?  How could we hope to compete with that?
> There may be someone out there that makes generic stainless line as
> well.  Stainless is a pain to bend though.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com

Ken, good to hear your experiences.

I was thinking of replacing (making) the long hard line going to the
rear "T". Since the part is still "ok", maybe I could take it to a
brake shop and have them use it as a template to make a new one.

Thanks,

Neil.