Reproduction Straight Fitting Front Brake Hose

[Steve Swan]

on another note, let's all plan to begin collecting pics of original parts such as Steven V's brake line pics and this winter we will get all these pics into the "Restoration/Technical Support" section of website.  as you can see, i started doing quite a while back with oil lines and lotus root exhaust in the "Restoration/Technical Support" section of website.  it would be really great to get pictures of all 86 distinctions.

[vnz00]

I just recently shot some rebuild pics of my carbs showing a comparison between the long and short slides/springs/caps etc.  Ill get them up here too.
Also of interest are the early model instruments - not sure if this one is documented yet, but the faces are different on the back.  I guess we put them up in the parts section, under their respective part names.  This way the photos can be filtered down into the appropriate section...

Regards,
Steven.

[Wayne]

i would say the most important features are in this numeric order:

1.  short straight neck
2.  square crimp mark
3.  lettering text/numbers around crimp
4.  the hose should be the same, ink stamp not that important

again, lettering/numbers would be frosting on the cake, but not nearly as important as short neck, square crimp marks.  would think the long neck banjops could be cut down to short necks, easy enough.  The bigger deal is making tooling to replicate the crimp type.

Thanks Steve. I agree that the early banjo should not be that hard to duplicate. The crimping tool shouldn't be that big of a deal to make the square crimp. The lettering/numbers, I'll see what my friend thinks. I'll touch base with some people I know at work and see if a supplier can give me any unmarked hose.

In this scenario, bare in mind that these lines will not be DOT approved although I can have them leak/pressure tested to whatever spec we want.

[Steve Swan]

Wayne, We had brake hoses before we had DOT, of course we have DOT for obvious reasons, but brake hoses that can be made up for "one off" or restoration use will be as good or better than anything.  Thanks so much for being able to make access to be able to consider doing this.  steve

[Wayne]

OK, I took the easy route first. Steven had said "Of course, if feasible and possible go for the most original line possible but the main feature people are looking at is the short banjo, its finish, and if they are road legal."

If someone wants a DOT line, that looks close, the image is what you will get. We can't shorten the sleeve on a DOT line. They can however give me a custom neck length. They have a patented brazing process to accomplish that. Once brazed I'm thinking we could fill the band with a lower melt point tin solder or something similar. Drop it in the zinc, take it back to my guys and they will crimp it onto a DOT certified flex hose. It is tested past 3000 lbs and checked for leaks. 100% DOT and saleable anywhere that the DOT certification is recognized.

The pic is photoshopped so the images may not be exactly to scale. I'll need an upper line so we can get the length and banjo offsets correct. As well, I need it to get any manufacturer markings and crimp for the next phase, that being the non DOT line that will hopefully be very close to the original banjo's. (short neck, short sleeve, proper markings)

Lastly, if we are going to make a few DOT lines, does anyone have a Caswell home zinc setup or similar? I hate to send a few fittings to get zinc'd.

[vnz00]

Hi Wayne, its good that they can shorten and braze the neck.  Looks like a good solution has come up.
One thing to confirm - if you use a low melt solder to fill the groove up near the neck, then check if the zinc plating will stick to it.

Its fun investigating this stuff isnt it

[Wayne]

Its fun investigating this stuff isnt it

That it is Steven. This project will probably drive me around the bend though. If I know something shouuld be a certain way, I must have it. I'm afraid going in with that attitude I will never finish 576!