Heat Shrinked Covered Brake Pipes

[Mattr5uk 20 5 Cars]

Asked earlier as to why I do this, so thought id ask your opinions and experience on brake pipes.

Now I have remade a huge amount of brake pipes up over the years and seen many come back the following year with signs of oxidisation on them so I decided when making my own for vehicles im restoring id go that bit further instead of just greasing them after I would cover them in 5mm heat shrink giving a good protection from moisture and in my opinion a better look. As new brake pipes are often covered in some sort of protective covering I thought this gives a much more oe fitted appearance as well.

I will try and post some photos of some I make up to show finished items. Any thoughts?

 

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

I was planning on doing this on my Mini so I'm looking forward to seeing some results.

[Mattr5uk 20 5 Cars]

I did every brake pipe on my white 205 and think it looks really good especially if you don't want to look at it either covered in grease to protect it or covered in the nice signs of it oxidising in a year or so. Takes a little time and patience feeding it on to the brake pipe before shaping it however I think the finished result looks great(in my opinion).

[TooMany2cvs 65]

I presume you're talking about steel pipes? This might sound a daft question, but why not just make the new ones from cupro-nickel?

[Mattr5uk 20 5 Cars]

Yes sorry I've just realised I've not been that clear it what I've done. I replaced all the original steel brake pipes with copper lines in all honesty I've never come across cupro-nickel but after a read up on it, it does seem a more quality option to just copper. I think I would still cover it though as I prefer finish.

[omega 82]

well as it was me that asked the question will watch with intrest to what other people think as I have never seen this before.

while it makes the pipe look nice I am not convinced because

1 it might hide something that should be seen eg a leak

2 if it gets a hole in it then water could get trapped in there

 

but I have a open mind

[Mattr5uk 20 5 Cars]

Not the best of photos but you can just about see how I've done it. It's unlikely to hide a leak unless there's a hole in the copper pipe I've never come across it but I'm sure there's always a chance and yes it could always split and hold moisture underneath you see it commonly on vws where the protective covering has swollen where it's corroded underneath. No harm in a little extra protection I'm always open to people's opinions and feedback. My not be to everyone's taste but I'm also interested in what people think about it?

[dcc 855]

personally I feel it would trap moisture and exaggerate the corrosion process. however, hats off to you as it does look smart. I will just leave mine as they are, and replace them in x years time when needed.

[Mattr5uk 20 5 Cars]

I only changed them all as most would have failed the mot anyway so I'd rather have them all uniformed. I looked at it as it being more than an acceptable repair for wiring and I'm sure we've all seen the affects of moisture and weathering has to that when left exposed. Keeping the moisture out in the first place when preparing the new pipes should help Provent future ingress. Well at least I hope so lol

[TooMany2cvs 65]

Yes sorry I've just realised I've not been that clear it what I've done. I replaced all the original steel brake pipes with copper lines in all honesty I've never come across cupro-nickel but after a read up on it, it does seem a more quality option to just copper.

Yeh, IIRC copper's not recommended because it work-hardens very quickly, including with vibration. The cupro-nickel alloys don't. And, of course, neither rusts like steel - all the plastic-coated pipes you see from the factory are steel underneath, and the coating (or grease, if you're old-school) is rust-proofing. Years back, my old man had a Cavalier estate that failed it's first MOT on brake pipe rot...

I think I would still cover it though as I prefer finish.

That's the only reason to do anything with cupro-nickel or copper. Any corrosion or oxidation is purely cosmetic.

[Ryan 99]

Yeh, IIRC copper's not recommended because it work-hardens very quickly, including with vibration.

 

I'm not really sure why people say this. Copper has been used for 100+ years for brake and fuel pipes and I've never heard any stories about it failing - not counting 5th-hand "my friend's dad's friend's brother's mate says..." stuff.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Ryan

[Mattr5uk 20 5 Cars]

I've personally had loads of steel pipes failing whilst I've been testing them during a brake test for mot never had any problems with replacement copper ones other than the cosmetic look after a while hence the reason I've covered them. I don't like the thought of the effort put in replacing them for them to look crap in a year or two. However if it was a ford of same age I was replacing them on I probably wouldn't bother as the copper pipe would last longer than the car!

[Davy 18 1 Cars]

Ah crap! Only just this morning I went and ordered some 9mm diameter heat shrink that shrinks down to 3mm. You mention you use 5mm? Do you think the 9mm stuff will still work ok? I went for 9mm as it apparently shrinks to 3mm and I imagined the 6mm stuff would be more awkward to work with. I guess I'll soon find out!

 

As for the water ingress concerns, I went for the heatshrink with internal adhesive layer. My thinking is that it should bond to the pipe rather than just wrap it.

 

http://www.heatshrink-online.co.uk/heatshrink/prod_339467-31-Black-Glue-Lined-Heat-Shrink-9mm-Diameter.html

[Ryan 99]

Brake pipe is 4.8mm diameter, so as long as it shrinks down to a nice tight fit then 9mm should be fine.

[Davy 18 1 Cars]

Thats what I thaught. I'll do a test piece 1st to see how well it shrinks, if it sticks well, and see how thick / bulky it looks.

[Ryan 99]

I've never found the 3:1 heatshrink to shrink quite that far - somewhere between 2:1 and 2.5:1 is more like it. Even if it's only 2:1 then that's still 4.5mm which should be good enough, especially if it's the adhesive-lined stuff.

[309jazzpanda 41]

Excellent idea you have there, been thinking of covering mine for some time but always thought it would be a struggle getting it flared at both ends. I Hope the 9mm works, let me know how you get on

[Davy 18 1 Cars]

Excellent idea you have there, been thinking of covering mine for some time but always thought it would be a struggle getting it flared at both ends. I Hope the 9mm works, let me know how you get on

 

Well, the 9mm glue lined heatshrink arrived, so I tried a small piece on a piece of old brake pipe. It shrinks well but because it reduced so much, it was really bulky looking and I didnt even bother trying to force it into a plastic clip for a test fit. So there goes using 9mm on 3/16" piping!

 

 

Out of curiosity I got hold of a small piece of 6mm adhesive lined heatshrink to try and sure enough, it dosnt reduce in diameter as much, so is a bit less bulky. However, even this was still very tight in the clips which I didnt really like.

6mm heatshrink on 3/16" piping..

 

In the end I decided to ditch the heatshrinking. I made new pipes out of kunifer so these should last more than long enough. Plus, to flare the ends, you really need to leave at least an inch exposed anyway. I'm not shunning anyone else reasons for doing so or anything, just didnt really appeal to me after all.

 

The one thing I might have considered tho, would be to use the 9mm stuff over the original steel fuel lines, but only if they had have been in excellent condition to begin with. At least you could cover them right to the end (taking extra care with petrol fumes and a heat gun of course!) My fuel lines were scrap so it was down the kunifer road for me anyway.

 

I tried a piece of the 9mm glue lined heatshrink on an old piece of fuel pipe anyway..

9mm heatshrink on 8mm piping..

[jackherer 543]

Raychem make a heatshrink specifically for this purpose, it's a lot more substantial than generic electrical heatshrink.

 

http://www.upolymer.com/pro.asp?id=53&classname=A3%20Brake/Fuel%20line%20protection%20heat%20shrink%20tubing

[309jazzpanda 41]

I was hoping with the 9mm it could be rolled back on itself enough to flare the ends. I have toyed with the idea for the rally car (lines inside) but it always come down to flaring issues