Front Brake Hose Options - OEM, Braided, Etc...

My 68 Sport Fury was originally equipped with the Budd 4-piston disc brakes, but I replaced them with '73 C-body brakes (KH pin calipers) because I want to drive the car more than show it. The Budd parts are plenty hard to come by, and going to the '73 setup gave me more common LBJ's, rotors, etc.

73_Brake_Caliper-01 by clair_davis, on Flickr

The main thing I'm concerned with is the brake hose length. The OEM '73 hoses are right at 14" long, and when the suspension is at full-droop, full lock, I feel like the hose is pulled too tight. Here's a pic of full droop, straight ahead:

73_Brake_Caliper-04 by clair_davis, on Flickr

You can see that if the wheels were turned more out towards the right, the hose would be in more tension. I realize this isn't a likely situation short of a Duke Boys stunt, but... it's the brakes. I think a hose in the 16-18" range would be about right.

So my question is, how to get a longer OEM-style hose? Is there a list of various OEM brake hoses with length data? OFSCO can make custom DOT hoses, and I think there are a number of 90* -3 ends out there that could do the trick. What other options should I be looking for?

Thanks,

Clair

by the last pic, it looks like you could orient the locating tab closer to 90*, which would take the bend out of the hose end, allowing you to use your existing hose.
it also looks like the tab has a locating tang, so another hole may need drilled in the side of the frame rail to accommodate it.

The brake part manufactures have picture manuals of their parts. You need to figure out the fitting type, size, thread pitch, length of yours then go through the books and come up with a substitute. Did that many times when I worked in parts stores.

Moparx, that's an option I'm looking into - I just need to be careful to not nuke the existing lines. I don't mind straightening out that bend a little bit and then drilling a couple more holes for the mounting bolt and tang. The mount is already rotated a tad, but I didn't want to go nuts when I first put this brake kit on 10+ years ago. I'd put the hard lines and mounts back to the full stock locations if I found the right hose.

CKessel, you're right. I used to dig into the catalogs back when I worked at AutoZone. In fact, I kept all the paper catalogs back when they converted to digital parts books in the early 90's. I kept those things until just 3 years ago... I assume much of that same information is available online somewhere, I just don't know where all the info is at this point. If you've got some leads, I'm all ears.

The original brake line looks fairly surface-rusted. Not yet 'it-can-fail-any-minute' rusted, but it's getting pretty close to that.

I would consider replacing the front brake lines while you're at it, and realign the brackets at the same time to give more slack on the hoses.
Like you said: "It's the brakes".

Yeah... I was hoping to deal with the hard lines after I got the hoses sorted out. There are some front hard line kits out there now, so that's an option beyond just fabbing everything from scratch. That will probably get done before the car is back on the road - shooting for end of the year or early Spring if I can stay on track.

I've got the master cylinder on the way, along with a pair of hoses from a '73 D-100 that have the right ends and are ~18" long. If this does the trick, I can start to lock things down and replace the hard lines next.

If it was me I'd just take one of your existing hoses to an industrial hose place and ask them to make one that is slightly longer. I use Oil Filter Service here in Portland OR. They make stuff like that all day long and they pressure check it before you leave the store. Those hoses don't cost much either. I'd probably have them make me two sets so I could put a set up on the shelf in case I needed them down the road.

I used Russell DOT approved braided lines and AN adapters. I can't remember if they were -2 or -3.

They are available in various lengths. I think once I reclocked those fittings, a 13" hose did the trick as the adapters put at least an inch into the equation.

Kevin

+1 for the russell braided lines - never had a problem with them on my cars

I had some custom made by SSBC https://ssbrakes.com/. I saw some stainless ones on Dr. Diffs site after that, maybe he has something that would work. http://www.doctordiff.com/brakes/components-en/page-4/

The Dorman hoses came in today and they look like they'll do as a place holder until I decide whether to go braided or with a custom hose. For what it's worth, the Dorman PN is H36664, and it's 18.25" long. At less than $10/ea, it's hard to go wrong in the short term.
https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-12986-h36664.aspx

I bit the bullet and ordered a front end brake kit from Fine Lines for a disc brake C-body after confirming it was what I needed. Once I get everything on where it's supposed to be, I'll have to decide if custom rubber lines from OFSCO or a local supplier is the way to go vs. braided. I've dealt with OFSCO and Godman in the past, but I'd like to find a local shop if I can.

Thanks again for all the help, folks!

Clair

The only braided hoses I'd recommend are the ones with a clear cover. There are several places now that make very nice braided hoses with clear covers and rubber strain reliefs on the ends.