Upgrading Front Brake Lines

I posted on April 8th about a double flaring tool that I was going to use to improve my
brake lines to the front wheels. They have been a single flare since 1979 when the car
was first completed. It had this CF plumbing that we cobbled together in 79, at the time
and it worked, so it never got replaced until now.

Lisle 33260 Double Flare Tool



The inverted brake line Tee and the inverted flare to AN4 adapter were not compatible,
the adapter only caught about 2 threads and when I tightened it stripped. I looked at
several online sites, but they all had the same two Tees. Maybe the other Tee would
work, but I was not willing to try it out. I backed up and bought all the fittings I needed
to go straight AN fittings except at the MC. I already had the Rigid (PN 377) 37°
flaring tool.



Next was to 3D print my own bracket for the two bulkhead (see PN at bottom) fittings.
So I fired up my 3D program called FreeCAD, a parametric 3D modeler to design
the brackets. It took several prints to get the hole sizes perfect to give me a snug
fit on the Tee. The 3D printer is accurate to about .006"






Next I needed a brake line support, so back to FreeCAD and several more test prints to
get exactly what I wanted. Below you can see the printer at work. My front cross member
is 3.5 inches in diameter, so I made the support to fit the curve. I made the hole for the
brake line about 190° so it would just snap-in place.









Most plastics can be smoothed more than what you see above with Acetone or you
can use some body filler and paint to get exactly what you want for a surface finish.

FRA-583304 90 BULKHEAD STEEL
$10.44

FRA-583404 BULKHEAD TEE STEEL
$15.19

FRA-592404 BULKHEAD NUT STEEL
$11.37

SUM-220433-6N 4 AN TUBE NUTS 6PK NICKEL
$6.99

SUM-220434-6N 4 AN TUBE SLEEVES 6PK NICKEL
$6.99
.

 

Did you find FreeCad easier than Fusion 360? Those brackets look cool!

 

Very nice!

 

No not really, but Autodesk has already started limiting Fusion 360's free features. It's all
online, so your models don't reside on your computer. Your models are in the cloud, run
by Autodesk. At some point, you will be forced to pay or loose all your models and
software. I started using this 3D Max when it was called 3DS Studio and ran on DOS
back in the 90's. Loyalty does NOT pay anymore.

I paid $3,500 for their 3D Max animation software. When you install it on a different
computer you need their authorization code for it to work again. After 5-6 years they
quit supporting my version and would not give me a new code when I upgraded the
same computer. So I have a useless $3,500 piece of software to sell. THAT WILL
NOT HAPPEN TO ME AGAIN !!!

Anything else you would like to know ??? LOL !

 

Yeah, that CF I had before was embarrassing to look at !

 

Awesome!

 

Do these software people do that as part of their business model? That seems almost like theft

 

That’s part of their business plan. Planned obsolescence!!!

 

They have moved from selling software to leasing software. Since you are only leasing, you
get the latest version when it comes out. I didn't need the latest and greatest version, my
version had everything I needed. I didn't lease the software, I bought the version I had. You
will see more and more of this type of software in the future.

If you don't renew your lease, then the software quits working.

 

Nice job Indy, I tips me lid! Love how people like you have taken on the 3D printing solutions.
On the software, Autodesk (and Microsoft etc) have found a way to screw you over on an annual basis. I started using Draftsight (2D Cad) some years ago, it has been an open source (free) program up till 12 or so months ago, when they instituted a fee for it's use. Works out to about $99.00 / year which I'm happy to pay, as a single seat for Autocad is in the 4 figures.
Regards,

 

Thank you Mr Aussy !

Looks like they have gone up by another $100 again. Or is there that much difference in our currency ?

 

Damn! I'm obviously in for a surprise come renewal time. Getting extremely hard to obtain reasonably priced software now.

 

I'm wondering if you/I had donated our fees to some sort of free software of our
choice, where would we be today ?

 

Probably in the same boat Indy. All these Company's that started out with developing Open Source Software haven't had the income they thought they would get and now the all mighty $$$ is calling the shots. Microsoft has lead the charge and worked out they have an ongoing income by renting the software. They have even gone as far as admitting you're only buying the right to use it, you don't own it!
Sorry for the Off Topic chat people.

 

You mean like Microsoft? Lol... hell yes!