Brake lines Replacement

[M100TURBOFR]

Hi
Haven't searched the forum, but can one purchase the brake lines already made up i.e. from middle of car (straight piece) right to the rear (where it branches off to right and left, up to point where one would then add a Goodridge braided kit. OR must one get them made up? Leak developed due to rusty lines.
Thanks David

[dapinky]

Hi David,

Whilst I'm pretty sure that there are places that will make them up from a pattern, there isn't a high enough volume of sales for anyone to actually list them (as far as I know).

Your issue will be the current material for the solid pipes is steel, and maybe Lotus will still sell the OE stuff, but no-one else will make them from steel (aftermarket) due to the individual tooling costs. Replacing them with copper (cupro-nickel) is the way forward, and that is how aftermarket ones will be produced. Difficulty can arise from joining steel to copper, so I would advocate changing the whole run anyway.

The next issue is that when fitting new flexi hoses (braided or otherwise), the ends may well be 1 or 2 mm longer/shorter than the OE ones, and trying to fit them to the OE steel pipes may be impossible due to the lack of flex in the pipe structure..... copper will flex and bend easily to accommodate a minor difference in length.... there is some adjustment to the bracket fixing the flexi to the chassis though.

I have been making my own pipes for many years and still have the same 2 tools now that I have always used - my 'good' one hasn't been out of the box in over 10 years..... I always use my "cheapo" one which does the job perfectly, and is small enough to use under the car, whilst my 'good' one needs mounting in a bench vice.

There is no magic to making them, and I would suggest that it isn't beyond the ability of most people (now, confidence in the end result is something else - but the actual process is simple!!!).

Any garage will make up a pipe for you (The Elan uses standard Metric fittings, M10 everywhere except 2xM12 at the Master Cylinder), or a complete kit from ebay with pipe, fittings and tools can be bought for about £20 - but I'm sure they can be bought in France as well.

[M100TURBOFR]

Thanks Dave. Will approach a garage pending purchase of a suitable kit and tool.

[Tuga2112]

I have a video showing how to do the job on the rear wishbone sub section the principle is the same for the whole car.

As far as joining steel to kunifer pipe,
My experience is that it can be done installed in the car, but it's challenging and most kits are not suitable to flare steel pipes so you have to be a bit more selective when ordering the tool