Originally the brake lines are metal, which appears to have the tendency to get rusty as time passes by. To get rid of this phenomenon, we decided to replace all brake lines by copper ones.
Your shopping list will consist of:
2 Roles of 4,75mm copper brake line (approximately 10m).
14 Gland nuts, size M10 (end nuts to connect the brake lines to the cylinder).
Tube cutter (note the small diameter).
A small, sharp knife to remove the copper remains from cutting the brake lines.
A die set to make the tapered end.
So what is this going to cost me?
Although I lost my receipt from buying the roles of brake line and gland nuts, I remember it being awfully cheap. The copper roles must have been around 5 Euros each and the gland nuts are cents rather than Euros. The die set is a different thing though, a semi-professional set will cost you about 90 Euros, which is a lot of money for using it 14 times, let's make it 20 times including some practice rounds... I'd suggest to go out and ask around, every self-respecting garage should have a die set. In my experience, cake and coffee seem to do the trick ;-)
Now, before you start making your own brake lines, take notice of the following tips:
Make sure that the end of the brake line sticks 3mm out of the die set clamp, no more, no less.
Clean out all copper remains on the inside of the brake line using the small knife.
Stick the pin of the 4,75mm die into the brake line.
Install the press and tighten slowly.
When the die moves to the wrong angle, adjust by using a rubber hammer, nocking the sides of the clamp carefully.
Maybe a bit to much, but please make sure that you insert BOTH the gland nuts on the brake line before you make the tapered end on the other end of the brake line.
