1952 Roadmaster brake lines

I need to replace ALL brake lines/hoses on my 52 Roadmaster.

My interest has been piqued for something like inline tubing stainless steel kit.

My question is: How hard of an install would this be to do with the body on the car? This kit is north of $170 so i don't want to contort a nice brake line just to get it to fit. Anyone done preformed brake lines on something like this? How did it go? Thanks , Matt.

I replaced all of the lines on my '52 Special with the body on. I ordered a set of "pre-cut" lines on EBAY. Notice I said "pre-cut" and not "pre-formed". They were basically straight lengths of tubing with fittings on them. I would not recommend that route as they took a LOT of modification to make them work. I have heard mostly good things about Inline Tube but have never used them personally.

This job can be done. Don't get me wrong though, it's not a walk in the park. There will most likely be a lot of "tweaking" required(even on a pre-formed set) which takes time. You also need the right tools if you're forming them yourself. These tools can be had relatively cheaply from Harbor Freight. Replacing brake or fuel lines is a major pain. If I had it to do over again, I'd just buy a coil of tubing and some fittings from NAPA and make my own lines. NAPA has much better prices on their fittings than the other auto part chains. Good luck whichever route you decide to go.

Stainless can be hard to seal. I have replaced a few complete systems, mostly 1/4" tubing. I think the roll tubing is a better quality than the straight lengths of pre-fitted. A decent double flare tool is around $50 and a two arm tubing bender will be close to that, too. A single arm muliti-size bender is less and handy for forming exact routes.

Make "home runs" between junction blocks; no connector splices.

The front to rear line is best run straight and bent in place, especially if it goes through the frame.

Don't be afraid to make a new piece. I have stubs of tubing with one fitting all over the place.

It really can come out like this:

Bernie

I agree. I did a really nice (for me) job on my entire fuel line. It's almost exactly in Stock form...running through new clips as well. It's just that I saw my 3/16 brake line from the rear distribution block forward. It was running beside the frame then running on top of the frame for a while just underneath the floor plans. I steel wooled my steel fuel lines then clear coated them to help preserve the finish.

The fuel line was of moderate difficulty. The brake lines appear even more difficult.

I'm seeing a trend there: moderate difficulty, even more difficult, something the other guy can't do or afford. I like it!

Bernie