[6t5gto]

I am doing a concourse restoration on my 65 and need to decide to go with steel or stainless steel lines. I know stainless will last longer and not get any corrosion like plain steel will, but concerned if the stainless will look weird or to shiny and if I would lose points for the incorrect lines.

[b-man]

Stainless lines are harder and much more difficult to get the flares to seal.

Corrosion really isn’t an issue on a a show car that will be pampered, use plain steel lines.

[bill ryder]

X2 b-man. Only way to go.

"Bill"!

[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by b-man

Stainless lines are harder and much more difficult to get the flares to seal.

Corrosion really isn’t an issue on a a show car that will be pampered, use plain steel lines.

I agree 100%. Stainless lines,, IMO, are to be avoided like the plague. They are hard to bend and don't like to seal or be flared. Stock steel lines will be just fine and will outlast you. (unless you drive on salted roads). I'm lucky in that all my old cars have their original brake and fuel lines, being CA cars without rust. I just have to deal with baked- out weatherstripping!

[6t5gto]

All good points. Thank you

[Rich-Tripower]

I have never had any problems getting stainless brake or fuel lines to seal on any of my cars. I replaced every line on both Chevelles and the GTO and the rear end ones on my truck. Not one single item and they look like plain steel once installed.

[ZeGermanHam]

Another vote for regular steel brake tubing. There is virtually zero percent chance that corrosion would ever be a concern on a show car, and it's vastly easier to work with than stainless.

Personally, I'm a big fan of copper-nickle brake & fuel lines, but I understand why that wouldn't be an option if you're building a concours car.

[6t5gto]

My main concern was not the brake lasting longer from wear or corrosion on the inside, but lasting longer and no corrosion on its appearance on the outside. Steel will surface rust even in the best conditions eventually I would assume. Thought I could put a coating like sharkhide on the steel lines before installing to prevent flash rust. I know the judges are very critical so thought the stainless might be a deduction in points.

[John V.]

I can't comment about concours judging.

I bought stainless brake and fuel lines many years ago from The Right Stuff and long before they were finally installed.

I wasn't the one that installed them but no leak issues and I think you'd be hard pressed to tell they are stainless except that they may not be magnetic (I've never tried to check them for that).

I think they look good and I'm glad I chose them.

I kept my originals which weren't in bad condition and have wondered what they would look like if I put a lot of elbow grease into cleaning them up. Rust was not an issue. But I'm too lazy to find out at this point so they just remain stored.

I also have an extra stainless line, long brake line IIRC, because they mistakenly shipped an extra. It is also stored away but doubt I'll ever need it.

[tripower]

Appears GTOAA Restored class likes the regular steel lines too. See page 16 here:
https://www.gtoaa.org/pdf/concours.pdf

[John V.]

Not so sure. They MIGHT mean carbon steel and NOT stainless steel. But as written it is ambiguous. Stainless steel is still steel. Just different chemistry from carbon steel. One could just as easily interpret this requirement as meaning you can’t use rubber lines, they must be steel and carbon steel or stainless steel would both satisfy the requirement as written. Without knowing the original chemistry of the steel used for the brake and fuel lines by PMD how could the GTOAA know if a reproduction line was truly “as original”. If the GTOAA deducts for stainless steel lines, I would think their judging standards would directly state it. Simply saying “steel” doesn’t outlaw stainless steel by my interpretation. I don’t expect to have my GTO concours judged so no consequence to me. JMO.

[Geoff]

S/steel for brake & fuel lines is a bad move in my opinion.

S/steel is harder to deform than mild steel & also work hardens.

The steel used by the factory is a 'soft' steel so that it purposely deforms easily to match the fittings being used with it.

Greater force [ torque ] on the fittings will be reqd with s/steel to get it to seal. Since the size & thread gauge of the fittings was sized for softer metal, you run the risk of distorted/damaged fittings with s/steel tubing.

[Rich-Tripower]

Originally Posted by Geoff

S/steel for brake & fuel lines is a bad move in my opinion.

S/steel is harder to deform than mild steel & also work hardens.

The steel used by the factory is a 'soft' steel so that it purposely deforms easily to match the fittings being used with it.

Greater force [ torque ] on the fittings will be reqd with s/steel to get it to seal. Since the size & thread gauge of the fittings was sized for softer metal, you run the risk of distorted/damaged fittings with s/steel tubing.

And yet after using stainless steel lines throughout the brake and fuel lines on three different cars I haven't had one single leak or difficulty with stripping out a fitting due to needing to tighten them down sufficiently to seal.

I will say that using a high quality set of flare nut wrenches that fit very snug on the fittings so you can impart sufficient torque without damaging the flare nuts is a requirement. I have a feeling that most that have had difficulty with stainless steel lines have tried to assemble them with open end wrenches or poor quality loose fitting flare nut wrenches (which aren't even a good idea with mild steel lines honestly).

[6t5gto]

I found a product called Sharkhide that is made to prevent rust or oxidation on metal, aluminum, stainless etc. It comes in a qt, gallon or spray can. I tried it on bare steel and it really does not change the look of the metal and dries within 15 minutes. I am going to coat all the bare steel lines before I put them in and that will prevent any surface rust that could possibly start. Plus the bare steel lines cost less than the ss lines and are easier to manipulate to the exact shape that I want.

[george kujanski]

For our cars that won't see daily use as they did back in the day, plain steel lines will last a long time. When i did mine I used SS lines just because, i also had a hydraulic flaring tool which i think is a must for making flares with SS.

george

[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by george kujanski

For our cars that won't see daily use as they did back in the day, plain steel lines will last a long time. When i did mine I used SS lines just because, i also had a hydraulic flaring tool which i think is a must for making flares with SS.

george

Both my GTO's ('65 with 160k miles and '67 with 254,000 miles) have been running their original brake and fuel lines since they were built by Pontiac. Neither car has ever been out of service since new, neither car has been restored. These lines will last virtually forever if you and the car are in the right area of the world where they don't salt roads. So IMO, mild steel is the way to go.