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MG MGB Technical - Moss Motors - Rear brake lines

Hi All...

Just received both rear brake lines from Moss. No surprise, I gotta bend it myself... Anyone have experience with Moss' part? Any bending tips? How'd the length work out?

Curt
'69 MGB

cjd DeHaven

All new pipes are supplied coiled so no surprise there. Do you still have the old pipes? If so, measure their length with a piece of string and see if you have the same/similar length from Moss. If so, bend the new pipes (which is dead easy if they're copper but you'll probably need a pipe bender if they are steel) as the old and away you go. If the new is longer then no problem. If shorter on the offside then take the new pipe under the axle before rising to the junction. See photo 1. It'll save you 2" to 3" in length
I used a pipe bender for the 90 degree bends but found it easier to bend by hand for the twisty bits.
First photo shows the shorter route for the offside which I had to use because my new pipe was 2" shorter than the old steel one.
Second photo shows the typical route for the nearside where the fixings may change if you have the earlier banjo axle. My car is a '72 roadster with the later axle.

Richard Coombs

Second photo.

Richard Coombs

Contact " Classic Tubes"in N.Y. They come prebent to factory specs.
rich osterhout

Richard,did you sandblast your axle before painting?Did you rebuild it also?
rich osterhout

Thanks for the tips, Richard. Awesome pics! I just wish I had the same luxary of having the axel off the car... I do have the old ones still - good idea with the string. It'll be nice knowing about the length before making the 1st bend...

Thanks again. Curt.


cjd DeHaven

No problem Curt. Today the axle is under the car ready for installation so you asked your question just in time.
Hi Rich,
No sandblasting. Just loads of degreaser, loads of rubbing down and clean, clean clean, followed by two coats of Hammerite smooth black from a tin. Not sure how long it will last but it sure looks nice.
Richard Coombs

Just curious about the straps securing the brake pipes to the axle - any tips on getting them nice and tight? I can never seem to get them buttoned down the way I would like.
B Dubuc

They are a pain! I used a pair of grips with a curved top, gripped the end of the tab with the grips inverted so that the curved section 'rolled' against the axle, and just pulled and rotated hard. It's not perfect as the tab tends to pull the strap hole away from the axle eventually, limiting the total amount of reduction in strap circumference. I then used a 1/2" cold chisel to tap (lightly) the strap around the brake pipe. Again, it's not perfect but both straps are pretty tight to the axle. i.e. I can't rotate tham ...easily!
Richard Coombs

I now have two new rear brake lines on the car. Having never done it before I found bending them surprisingly easier than I thought. The short one was a breeze, but the longer one was more of a challenge as it had many more bends through a 3-D space. I ended up using small strips of (what we call) duct tape and taping the old and new to each other every couple of inches - before and after each bend. It was just a matter of matching a bend, taping it off, matching a bend, etc....
cjd DeHaven

This thread was discussed between 23/06/2010 and 01/07/2010

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