How to Assemble Brake Lines Using a Flare Tool - 1967 Chevelle
I’ll be honest. Brake lines aren’t my favorite project. Probably because in the real world, when you’re making new steel lines, it’s because the old one is rotten. This means you’re working in nasty orange mud made of brake fluid and rust. This emergency work usually follows right on the heels of trying to limp home some clapped out bucket that’s lost either its front or rear brakes entirely during your last journey. That’s a hard memory to shake.
In the project world, everything is shiny, new and clean when you’re making brake and fuel lines. Plus it’s just different when you’re working on something out of choice rather than necessity. You get to think through your plan and ponder how and what you’re going to do. If you’re like me, you spend an awful lot of time staring at things and thinking of how you want to tackle the next steps. To the untrained eye, this might look like procrastination. Procrastination is something that I, personally, have never gotten around to doing.
If this pondering happens too often or for too long your project slips into analysis paralysis. That was where I had found myself before I got fired up again to put the Chevelle on the ground and keep moving.
One of the things that I pondered and dreaded for a very long time were the brake lines. I knew that I’d need to replace all the lines from front to rear and build the system new because of the conversion to four-wheel disc brakes with non-factory line fittings, etc. I really didn’t want to though. I like doing things that I excel at. This is not one of them.
Every little bit helps though. After using a sample tool at the office from Titan, I was fired up about tackling the task. We started selling these hand-held flaring tools and I picked one up. It does one thing and it does it well. 3/16” double flares.
It’s a super simple premise.
- The cut line goes in to the supplied stop. (DON’T FORGET THE FLARE NUT)
You clamp it down on that mark.
Take out the stop.
Grease the dies and run the OP1 side of the tool into the body until it stops.
- Back out the die and flip it to a greased OP2 side and run it in all the way.
- Remove the die and loosen the bolts to reveal your perfectly formed double flare.
- Rinse, repeat.
This has easily become my new favorite tool. I continued to use this thing for every one of the flares on this project and even a couple for friends. Keep the package, because it makes a handy storage case as well.
