There are always certain elements to building a car that intimidate the average enthusiast. Some examples include paint and body work, recovering seats, electrical systems, and plumbing the brake and fuel systems. Good body work is an art, so when a novice takes hammer and dolly in hand, the end results are predictable. With the quality of reproduction interior kits today, installing a fresh interior is something the average enthusiast can master--it's just a matter of practice. Unfortunately, most of us won't do enough interiors in our lives to get that good, so we drop it off at a pro shop. As for electrical system work, does anybody really understand that whole "electricity is like water" thing? How come it seems like every time we "complete the circuit" we end up with a blown fuse?
Okay, so not everybody can handle those aspects of building their own vehicle, but what about plumbing hard lines for the brake and fuel systems? Like many areas on your car, special tools are required to do the job, but running lines is truly a job that, with just a bit of practice, anyone can do. Although it sounds strange (and I've received more than a few looks from the rest of the guys in the shop when I've said it before), I enjoy bending my own lines. I can't explain it, but there's something satisfying about taking a straight piece of hard line and making it run the route I need it to go. All it takes is a little (and I mean very little) practice, a modest investment in tools, and you'll be able to run professional-looking lines for the rest of your life!
Today, complete pre-bent line kits are available from companies such as Inline Tube. While these lines are fantastic, if you've modified your car, chances are somewhere you're going to have to modify the lines as well. A case in point is the '70 Duster 340 we installed headers into a couple of months ago (They Fit! Mopar Muscle, May 2000). The automatic transmission lines had already been modified using a spliced-in length of rubber hose. A bad situation was made worse after we installed our Tube Technologies headers and discovered that the length of rubber trans line was now squeezed between the header tubes and the oil pan. It would probably take about twelve minutes for the rubber hose to burn through if we'd have left it like that. The solution was to replace the old cobbled-together length with pre-bent lines from Inline Tube; however, with the addition of headers to the car we wanted a little more clearance between the trans lines and the header tube, so even our pre-bent lines needed a bit of bending.
We called Inline and asked for some pointers for this article. They gave us trouble-shooting tips and recommended tools for the job that would make things easier. We already had a Snap-on Tools bender and flare kit, but they loaned us a real nice bender that we now can't live without. Inline Tube can supply you with complete pre-bent kits, individual line sets (like the A/T lines for our Duster project), straight line kits in stainless steel or original steel, all the fittings needed to install them, and any tools you might not already have. Once you learn the basics of running your own hard steel brake and fuel lines, you'll have the satisfaction of having done the job with professional results, right in your own garage.
We preach about buying good tools for a reason. We had a high-quality tubing cutter, lost it, then replaced it with this cheaper model. The cutting wheel isn't solidly-mounted, and exhibits side-to-side play rather than being perfectly square to the tubing. If you aren't deliberate, the cutting wheel will tip to one side and you end up with a spiral scribe along the tube rather than straight-through cut. Inline Tube does not recommend using a tubing cutter at all, but rather a cut-off wheel or saw. With either method, be sure to de-burr the inside and outside of the tube at the cut point, otherwise you risk cracking the tubing during the flaring operation. | 
Several years ago we invested in a Snap-on tubing flare kit. It's not too expensive, and we've never been disappointed with it. Using the flaring buttons (there is a separate button for each diameter of tubing), the amount of tubing sticking out of the flaring bar is set to the mark on the button. | 
The button is set on the end of the tube with the stem inside the tube. The button has a recess in the top for the screw cone to seat. Compress the button until it is flush with the top of the tubing holder. This "mushrooms" the end of the tube. |
The cone is then backed off, the button is removed, the cone is screwed down into the tube. | 
Thus, the mushroomed tubing is flared. | 
Inline Tube offers all of the fittings you will need for brake and fuel lines, armor spiral, and any clips you will need to secure the lines to the car, including original OE-style fasteners. |
Here, you can see the problem we encountered when we installed headers on a '70 340 Duster. The original transmission lines had been cobbled once before with a length of rubber hose, and they were fairly tight between the oil pan and the new headers. | 
We ordered a set of trans lines from Inline Tube, but wanted to re-route them for clearance around headers, as well as keep them away from the heat. We re-bent the lines so they would fit in the section near the oil pan. It proved quicker to modify pre-bent lines than try to bend straight lines and correctly route them around the tranny and to the radiator. If the steering linkage and fan shroud were out of the car for clearance, we'd have bent our own. It was a compromise. | |