Brake pipe flaring

[rreems]

Hi I have to replace a brake pipe that fits from the union in the engine compartment to the flexi hose on the front. I have borrowed a sealy brake pipe former from a friend. Do I need to form a Male or female flare? Single or double flare?

Many thanks

Richard

[mogbob]

Richard
Hope fully your mate loaned you a small pipe cutter as well. Start by soaking the fittings with Plusgas or similar releasing fluid.
From memory ( very vague these days ! ) it's a double flare but once the old pipe is off , you will be able to double check.
Is the flexi hose in good shape before you start ? If the " nuts " part of the fixings are rounded off , you might want to replace those as well.
Do not forget to put those fittings on the new pipe before you do the flares !

Practice making the flares with spare brake line until you're happy you've got the knack. Clean the end of the pipe of any internal and external burring before attempting the flare. Look up the topic on You Tube for hints.
Keep everything clean , covering up any exposed pipes, wind will pick up "dust " quicker than you can move. If you're a golfer , plastic golf tees are great for a temporary " plug " if you clean them first. Slowly mirror the bends in the new pipe to the old pipe , allowing a little
extra for the flares, either end which you can reduce with the pipe cutter once you've got all the bends and curves sorted. If you don't have a pipe bender or special pliers , look around you garage for a suitable former to get the right sort of curve. Bend a bit at a time. If you over work it, it will eventually fracture or at least be weakened. Just take time and care with it and you'll be alright.
Bob

[kennatt]

not sure about the seely tool but some hand held tools don't flare steel pipe very well have a tendency to split the pipe,ok with cunifer though,which you should be using anyway. good luck

[philthehill]

This may be the Sealy flaring tool being discussed:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-AK5063 ... SwQTVV8GCI

Note the reference to copper pipe in the above advert - as pointed out in the post above it may not be suitable for some types of brake pipe - I would advise that you check suitability.
Looking at similar adverts for the Sealy tool - they all state suitable for copper brake pipe with no reference to kunifer pipe or similar.

[amgrave]

I have used a similar tool to that to do kunifer brake pipe and it struggled as the pipe is harder. Must admit I gave up and purchased a kit off ebay for around £35 and it was spot on.

[rreems]

Hi everyone

Thanks for all the great advice, after a lot of practice I managed to form the pipes using new nuts, replaced all the flexi pipes as they were advisories at the last Mot!

Regards

Richard