70 C10 resto-mod (was Chevy culture shock)

You can get a brake line made at Parker with a 90 degree banjo that would make that setup one better.

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Got a stick of 1/4" PVF steel to work with. There's a bend of 135* on the original at about 3/4" inside radius that is too small for my bender, so I had to bend by hand around a breaker bar and I kinked it twice.
Eventually, I bent up a passable replica of the OEM line, but by this point, my line was too short to reach the combo valve. I've seen a fair amount of whining about this material, but I found it to be quite predictable with the tool.
Tonight I tried working with a section of Nickel Copper and it was definitely softer, but still had a tendency to crimp on that one tight corner. I'll put some ends on that tomorrow and see if I can make it work.
 

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pdentrem said:
Fill the tube with sugar, salt or sand to support it while bending.
Pierre
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I've done this with baking soda, on a short line I could tamp and easily rinse+dry. Reluctant to put granular materials into a longer convoluted line due to the difficulty of flushing and drying the line.
This particular bend is to meet a clip and I'm going to see if I can just rotate that clip first.
 
I hear you, but salt or sugar dissolves in water as well. No debris left behind.
Pierre
 
A trick I learned from the music biz is using a solution of glycerine and water then freezing it to keep brass tubing from collapsing when bending
 
pdentrem said:
I hear you, but salt or sugar dissolves in water as well. No debris left behind.
Pierre
Click to expand...
yeah, baking soda dissolves as well, but first it has to be tamped in to work, then there's residual water to drive out.
I suppose starting in the middle would allow the ugly bend to be done first and the material tamped in with a wire.
Prolly just bake out the moisture in a warm oven, eventually
 
All good ideas there. Can wash the water out with alcohol if not wanting to use heat.
Pierre
 
Turns out, the PVF piece I made actually fits. I do like the dark green(practically black) better than copper. NiCopp looks a bit like I installed an icemaker under the hood ;-) PVF coating does get nicked up somewhat easily though.
I can see the appeal of NiCopp, it's way less pressure to bend in general and in theory doesn't require tools. It's also a lot less springy, so getting the nut lined up is less of a fight.
NiCopp is also literally 2x the price, so it just depends.
 
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