Hard Brake Line Question

Ive had nicked lines last forever. 

Ive also had them fail and lose all brakes.

Replace it.

As my dad once said: not running is an inconvenience. Not stopping will KILL you. 

If it's ONLY the coating you can probably paint over it and be fine. If you actually gouged the metal I'd replace that section. There is not a lot of wall thickness to begin with. 

duster gets a +1

Vigo gets a +1

Everybody gets a +1

AngryCorvair said:

duster gets a +1

Vigo gets a +1

Everybody gets a +1

Well, it wasn't a hard question.  I mean, it actually was, but

Forrest

Having lost my brakes on my first car (1967 MGB) and living through it (only a few trees were killed in the process), I always don't skimp on brakes, I would replace it.

In reply to dherr :

Remindsme, I need to find out why the brakes disapeared on my 67 MGB GT!

Single line master cylinder on the 1967 and earlier cars, so any leak is fatal......

Related question for the group here... I had something like this happen to me on my track car due to an off.  I replaced it with a Dorman union that's good for 3000 PSI.  However, apparently it's illegal for them to advertise the product as a solution to joining hard brake lines, so the engineer I spoke with said that he cannot tell me to use it on a car.  

My question to the group is: is a union really dangerous?  I'm only hesitating about replacing it because for my car the hard line is pretty long and it's a PITA to replace the entire thing... 

In reply to bcp2011 :

The only legal method of connecting two brake lines is with double flares.  A ferrule type couple will likely work, but if it fails, it fails completely and instantly.  A double flare may leak if done poorly, but it will be a slow leak that  may eventually lead to a low pedal.

I am sure it will hold...but honestly, once you buy a flaring tool, a tubing cutter, a bender for some professional looking bends, some tubing and tube nuts there is literally no reason not to make a new line....it only takes about an hour per line.

is a union really dangerous?

A double flare union isn't dangerous, it just kind sucks to add multiple failure points in the space of 1" of line. Having said that I just did one recently and if done correctly it SHOULD be no less reliable than any other brake line connection. 

As far as compression fittings, i wouldn't do it on a brake line. Depending on your leg you could do 1500+ psi in a brake line.  

I would replace the line or section of line.  Splicing another section using a proper flare fitting and a flare union would be fine.