Good Mornin' all;  Putting a electric master cylinder on our Bird!  Does anyone have a simple formula (and I do mean simple) for bending tubing that will make them look like they belong where the are.  working with a 1-1/2 inch bender, don't know what to measure to get the right radius??   Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!   God Bless    Eddie

Eddie

Lake Forest, Ca. 92630

The easiest thing to do is get some scrap line and practice.  The radius on the benders aren't usually adjustable.  What kind of bender are you using?


Lawrenceville, GA

Eddie - Eastwood has a couple of types of benders - including a neat little number that looks like pliers and makes some fairly tight bends.

The best advice is to get some practice material - and make pieces until you've got a handle on what to do to make whatever bends and wiggles you want. Mild steel tubing is fairly inexpensive so you can get a lot of practice for a few bucks......

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Thanks Guys;  Got all 3 eastman benders.  Guess it's called practice.  Think I'll try a roll of tubing.  Yeah,  I'm tooooo impatient!!!!   Many thanks,.    Eddie

Eddie

Lake Forest, Ca. 92630

My favorite is the rolling tube bender, followed by the lever type.  Both produce excellent bends.  I think I like the rolling one mostly because it has a tighter radius.  I hate the pliers type and the other el cheepo is absolute crap.

It can be tricky to get the hang of it.  What sucks is when you mess up and bend the last bend the wrong way.  I've done that a couple times.

Lawrenceville, GA

NAPA HAS SOME LINE THAT HAS A SPRING ON IT MAKES IT EASY TO BEND HAVE USED IT ON ALOT OF MY CARS WORKS VERY GOOD

SLICKS

NED

Been there done all that. On my last experience another FORD friend, Ralph Alix told me to try some stuff (don't know the name) that has copper and nickel alloy, and comes on a roll, by the foot etc. It can be bent easily with your hands! and carefully to match your preferred path without kinking, to some degree. You'll have to double flare it of course. Pretty hard to beat for applications on the frame where it has to exit in and out sometimes. Nothing looks worse to me than crooked homeade brake and fuel lines or worse-rubber fuel line. jmho. I still try to buy preformed brake and fuel lines if they are available for the application -they always work the best. But sometimes you just need to fix it! Even though I had the new factory line for the rear fuel frame line from the tank, there was now way to get where it needed to go unless I took the body off the frame! Forget it. I used the alloy and was done in an hour.

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

btw, what's an electric master cylinder?

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

I bought some brake line to replace my55 bird with on ebay. It was advertised as hand bendable. Lo and behold it was . Very easy to do . But I bend tubing with my bender while holding the line with the bend I need next to the one being bent until its close. Best thing is to play with some line . As they say "it ain't rocket science". Just have to go slow thats all. 

55Birdman  Hickory NC

Hi Alan;  Have not been happy with my disc-power conversion. very hard pedal. Now with the overlap on our cam the brakes where even harder. Tried a vac can-- then vac motor-  motor made them better, but very noisey!!!   talk to the guys a ABS Brakes in Orange, Ca. ( they used to do power steering conversion for me when i owned The Air Shop), they suggested the electric system. 1800 to 2500 psi. Been on market for 3 or 4 years and they have had very good reports on the system.  Has a master cylinder with a accumulator and a power motor for supply.  If electric system quits on the car I still have manual brakes.  Workin' a little slow, pulled my rotator cuff, can  o nly work for a short time.  Will keep you posted on progess.   Have a Merry Christmas and God Bless   Eddie

Eddie

Lake Forest, Ca. 92630