Question about 308 brake lines?

CHANGE THEM!!! The rubber will swell from the inside and you will not have brakes on that wheel. Happened to me on the track with only ten years on the rubber lines.

Ps - do not put in stainless steel - not worth it.

Burnell

 

Change em. Cheap insurance. They are older than a lot of the people reading this.

 

The brake lines on my 1987 328 GTS looked fine, but I swapped them out for Goodridge SS lines, huge difference in pedal feel. Your car is much older...just do it. They were less than $100 delivered from this place:

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/

 

Great thread. I'm about to change my brake lines this week on my 1977 308 GTB. Here's a dumb question:

Do I simply drain the brake fluid from each caliper, collect and re-use, as I go?

Do I need to pull any fuses/relays to turn anything off? The brake master cylinder is purely mechanical, right? In other words, will only the brake fluid in the line come out, per corner?

Sorry for the obvious. simple questions, but I don't want to make a mess/do something stupid once I begin!

Greg

 

Get rid of the old fluid, it should be changed every year or two anyway. The brakes are all mechanical, don't worry about any electrics.

 

Actually, the fluid is about a month old. I just did the 30K service, all fluids replaced.

Do I still need to replace it, because it ran through the system?

The best way to evacuate the brake fluid is:?

 

Why not stainless steel lines? You say "not worth it." Is there anything wrong with these? OR is it just the cost for what you get. I was planning on getting these in the next month or so. I have pissed enough money away on other things for this car I figure why stop here? Plus, they look great (if you get under the car to see them - lol).

Nick's has them for $189.00. I didn't think that it was a bad price considering how much everything else is jacked up since it is for a Ferrari.

-Sam

 

Agreed Sam, and for less than $100 delivered, you most definitely should get SS lines. Get em here: http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/

Heck I was once told the factory ones are close to $100 each!

Dave

 

Go Stainless, as above.

Do it now while you have the a arms out, (much Much easier).

Firmer Pedal. You will know it is a done deal. Move on to the next problem.

New fluid.

hth,
chris

 

Fluid is cheap, just get fresh, rather than trying to "save" it....

 

OK, fresh it is.

So, is brake pedal pressure necessary to evacuate all the brake fluid? Can it all come out of one corner/caliper?

 

i vote for stainless and fresh fluid. if i keep my car i am going stainless soon as well.


edit.... i would STRONGLY SUGGEST you go ahead and buy the little small metal brake lines that go to the calipers also. i just got done with the right rear cv axles / wheel /axle bearings and bending another line to replace the one that stripped out was not fun. i believe the part numbers are 143669 and 101401 (alt 680671) from F.UK.
i dont recall the prices in $. i am going to order 4 new ones prior to replacing the flex lines with stainless steel. even if i dont buggger the old ones up i am going to replace them all anyway and have the spares in my parts stash! i had to waste a whole day fighting with the right rear caliper to flex line! best.
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It's my understanding that Stainless lines need to be replaced every couple of years. You may want to check this out before deciding.

 

Where'd you get that? Stainless lines aren't really stainless... they're TEFLON lines with a stainless steel over-braiding. They should last LONGER than your original rubber lines.

 

"It's my understanding that Stainless lines need to be replaced every couple of years"

Where on earth did you hear this?
The SS braid on the exterior of the lines is for protection of the inner line that carries the brake fluid.

This is proven technology, SS lines don't swell like rubber lines.

I installed Goodridge SS lines on my 77, the price was right and they perform flawlessly.

 

Mike,

I meant to indicate that I wasn't entirely sure of that. At one time the Porsche Club region where I ran track had a rule that they should be replaced every two years. This rule appiied only to stainless,as I recall. I don't know the reason for it

 

I purchased my lines from tirerack.com a while back when they still carried them for the 308.

 

"should" last longer. The problem is you can't tell if they're damaged because the braiding covers the hose completely. That's where the suggestion to replace them more often comes from.

 

Don't worry about getting the fluid out before you change the hoses etc. Just plug the lines so they don't leak all over and bleed the brakes either with a one-man set-up or with a helper adding new fluid to the master as you bleed and do it until you get nothing but fresh clean fluid out of each corner. You will have removed all the old fluid in the process. And since brake fluid is the cheapest component of this service, so what if you use a quart or two more so you can be sure the old fluid and any air is evacuated.

 

Thanks,

Now I remember the rule was due to the pre-event tech inspections. Since the braided lines were not visible, the club required that they be no older than two years.