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Posted By: Moliva1568 Brake line help - November 21st 2018 2:44 am
Hello all....

It's been a long time since i've been here. I still have my 1991 G20 but it has become somewhat of a stepchild among my vehicles. That said, I'm trying to bring her back to life! Specifically, I want to do a 4x4 conversion. I'm a long way from that as i need to first get it on the road and see if it's in overall good shape to do one. It is nice to put a battery in it after a few years and hear that V8 start right up and rumble though. Too bad when i went to move it in the driveway, i had no brakes!!!!!

I have a blowout at the line that's right along the crossmember. I can't seem to find direct fit brake line replacements. Can't say I'm surprised but that gets in the way of my DIY ability to an extent. Anyone know where I might be able to find some or is there something else that you recommend?

I wanted to first get this back on the road so it could be a tow vehicle for a travel trailer. After some research i realized it can't tow as much as i wanted. So...i got the van in the attached pic. It's a 2006 E350 V10 and I even thought about a 4x4 conversion on it. However, I don't have the wife's permission to chop it up so hence the reason for resurrecting the G20. I'm hoping it's not too far gone as far as rust and corrosion as it's a great vehicle and I'd love to see it back on the road again.

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Posted By: Moliva1568 Re: Brake line help - November 21st 2018 2:52 am
Here's where the blowout is. Hopefully there isn't any others but I'd like to take care of this one so i can at least drive it to the shade tree mechanic a couple miles away. From there I'll have him do a once over and change all the lines.

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Posted By: Bullet Re: Brake line help - November 24th 2018 12:01 am
Mine did the same thing, the line runs in a place that fills with road grime and moisture and it rots from the outside in. I bought the straight line and bent it, made a new one. That's about the only option. I never found the line anywhere. You can buy the line in a coil that is annealed and easier to bend than the straight sticks. When you fix it, drill and tap a hole in the crossmember and put a line clamp on it and get it up out of that mess that lays in the lip.
Posted By: Moliva1568 Re: Brake line help - November 25th 2018 1:03 am
Originally Posted by Bullet
Mine did the same thing, the line runs in a place that fills with road grime and moisture and it rots from the outside in. I bought the straight line and bent it, made a new one. That's about the only option. I never found the line anywhere. You can buy the line in a coil that is annealed and easier to bend than the straight sticks. When you fix it, drill and tap a hole in the crossmember and put a line clamp on it and get it up out of that mess that lays in the lip.


Thanks. I've had no luck anywhere either. Any advice on where to jack it up and put the jackstands. I'm sure I'll be under there awhile and it may stay on them for a few days if i run into any issues. The last time i tried it felt like my jack stands weren't tall enough and i wasn't comfortable putting them up any higher.
Posted By: Dyno_Dave Re: Brake line help - November 25th 2018 2:56 pm
Hey Moliva1568. Great couple of vans.

As a Pontiac Oakland Club International (POCI) member, I'm fascinated by the Pontiac in you signature!
Posted By: Moliva1568 Re: Brake line help - November 25th 2018 9:50 pm
Originally Posted by Dyno_Dave
Hey Moliva1568. Great couple of vans.

As a Pontiac Oakland Club International (POCI) member, I'm fascinated by the Pontiac in you signature!


Thanks! Hopefully I can get the Chevy back to cruising. The Pontiac is a 1974 Catalina Armbruster-Stageway 6 door conversion. It belonged to a funeral home in CT. I've had it for almost 10 years and still haven't done what i hoped to do with it unfortunately. I definitely get some funny looks when I drive it and i LOVE it! I've attached some additional pics of it. I'm not aware of POCI but I'm going to look into it. I'm sure there's a lot of information and resources I can use.

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Posted By: frscke1 Re: Brake line help - November 25th 2018 10:25 pm
My god that thing is a lead sled ... long ft end N 3 doors !
Posted By: Moliva1568 Re: Brake line help - November 25th 2018 10:43 pm
Originally Posted by frscke1
My god that thing is a lead sled ... long ft end N 3 doors !



That it is. Fortunately i was able to find a house with a big enough garage to fit it in. That gives me some relief that it isn't being weathered away like it did for a few years. As you can see, I have too may "projects". I need to focus on one to completion. grin



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Posted By: Meanmachine Re: Brake line help - November 26th 2018 12:46 am
Nice stable of vintage vehicles you have.
Posted By: Dyno_Dave Re: Brake line help - November 26th 2018 2:26 am
I enjoy supporting the national by being a member.

We have a very active local chapter (#16 Michigan Widetrackers) which I also enjoy.

But best of all, they have a great monthly magazine (Smoke Signals). Tim Dye is the editor, and curator of the Pontiac Oakland Museum and Resource Center (POMARC) in Pontiac, IL (and he's also involved in a recently announced Transportation Museum here in Pontiac, MI)...he'd love you're car!

POCI.org

POCI NY State Chapters

Tell 'em Dave (member #72200) sent ya!
Posted By: Dyno_Dave Re: Brake line help - November 26th 2018 2:33 am
And to address your original question, if you can get that one off whole, a local company (InLineTube) can duplicate it.

"Inline Tube can duplicate brake lines, fuel lines, transmission lines, parking brake cables, hoses, rubber to hard line fuel injection assemblies and many other factory fluid transfer parts.
If you do not see your application among our thousands of items, we can use your originals as patterns to custom duplicate new components. Before sending in any parts, check our online catalog or call us at (800) 385-9452 to make sure your car or truck is not already listed."


InLineTube
Posted By: Moliva1568 Re: Brake line help - November 26th 2018 2:55 am
I browsed the website earlier. I'll be sure to let them know you sent me. I guess i need to update my profile though. I'm down in MD so the Central East region would be my home. I did see that the convention is in PA next year. I'm going to try and get her in shape to make it out there. I've been meaning to take it to Carlisle for years now but never make it. I love to see peoples face when they see it like in the picture grin


As for the brake line, doubt it comes out in 1 piece. Luckily, my 91 nissan pickup has a blown line too....yay!...not.

that one is along the rear axle so at least it's easy to get to at least. I'll practice with that one and hopefully it will make give me a little more confidence to tackle the van.

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Posted By: Moliva1568 Re: Brake line help - November 26th 2018 3:09 am
Originally Posted by Meanmachine
Nice stable of vintage vehicles you have.


Thank you, Wife is mad she can't park in the garage though. lol

my friends say i have a used car lot. they don't understand.
Posted By: Dyno_Dave Re: Brake line help - November 26th 2018 1:47 pm
Originally Posted by Moliva1568
Wife is mad she can't park in the garage though. lol


That's funny...I hear the same complaint. Weird.
Posted By: CatFish Re: Brake line help - November 26th 2018 4:32 pm
Originally Posted by Dyno_Dave
Originally Posted by Moliva1568
Wife is mad she can't park in the garage though. lol


That's funny...I hear the same complaint. Weird.



I have to tell my wife all the time, "Honey we don't have room for another van!"
And she'll whine, "But it's so cute!"
Vanner chick! grin

Never had a brake line rust!
Is it because of that salt stuff?

The best way I found to bend tubing is to make a small template first from wire.
Otherwise I'd always end up making one bend 180 degrees out... blush
Posted By: Bullet Re: Brake line help - November 27th 2018 2:45 am
If it's nice and level where you're going to be working, assuming you have the tall 6 ton stands, you can set the stand under the bottoms of the spring buckets on the lower control arms. Set them so the inside rounded part of the bucket sits in the center of the saddle on the stand. The release handle on the stands will be on the side when you set it. If you have smaller stands, stack some pieces of 2x8 or 2x10 underneath them so you don't have to extend them so far. Make sure the boards are not split or have any rot. I have used cap block under stands but I don't advise it. Cinder blocks, even solid ones are notoriously fragile when loaded unevenly. I highly recommend the bigger stands if there's a Harbor Freight or Northern Tools nearby, they aren't very expensive and it's good piece of mind.
Posted By: Moliva1568 Re: Brake line help - January 13th 2019 3:58 am
These blown out brake lines are proving more difficult than i initially thought. For me anyway lol

I've attached some pics of the undercarriage. Hopefully they're clear enough to see. I want to get the van back on the road and cleaned up. I also want to explore the possibility of a 4x4 conversion. Based on what you can see in the pics, should I look to get another van for that project? Time is not a concern but I don't want to waste time (and money of course) if the integrity of the van is too far gone to begin with.

I've been looking at vans for sale and I'd probably have to spend 2-3k just to pick one up to start with. If that same money can get my van right, it would be nice to continue memories with it. Van is mechanically good (brakes aside) with only 125k miles. The underside seems to have been undercoated by original owners.



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Posted By: Moliva1568 She's gone - February 02nd 2019 9:00 pm
Well, she's gone....The buyer plans to make it a road trip van for his family. That's exactly why we bought it so it's good that it will be used for that again. Better than someone just scrapping or stripping it. It has served us well and now it's on to something else.

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Posted By: Dyno_Dave Re: She's gone - February 03rd 2019 1:00 pm
Once you decide to sell, it's nice to know it's going to a good home.
Posted By: 91Chev Re: She's gone - February 05th 2019 8:26 pm
Hey Moliva! Thanks for the Van! Already started tearing it apart and ordered parts.
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