John V.
(1) I have seen the Goodrich brand flexible braided hoses and they seem
pretty solid. I should have gone with them when I did my rebuild. I have no
recommendation for the complete solid brake system lines as I reused most of
mine.
I did get new straight tubing from TRF for brake MC to PWDA and PWDA to
front T-splitter. I bent them to match old ones by tool.
Recently there was a message about a company selling the tubing for the fuel
line as well as the brakes with some bending necessary. (in the last week or
so, check the archive).
(2) I switched over to DOT5 when I replaced brake MC and rebuilt booster and
PDWA this year. The year prior I had rebuild the front calipers with new SS
pistons and seals as well as replaced the rear cylinders and flexible lines
with stock rubber hoses. To clean out all the DOT4 I removed the calipers and
blew the lines clear with low pressure compressed air. I drained the calipers
for about a week by suspending them with the bleed nipple at the lowest
position. I did not dissemble the calipers again. I got my DOT5 from TRF as
they
had it on sale at the time. It is purple in color.
When I got it all back together, I added the DOT5 and began to SLOWLY pump
the pedal with the rear right bleed nipple open. By slowly I mean about 5-8
seconds to reach nearly the floor then very slowly let the pedal rise back up.
Yes, this took a very long time with one person bleeding and I did see a
little bit more DOT4 pushed out during the flushing. I did this on each wheel
until I was happy with the flushing. Then let it sit for about week and did it
all again, but this time did not see any residue from DOT4 and no bubbles. Had
my wife help the second time with the slow pedal pumping! I kept the flushed
fluid and letting it stand for reuse later down the road. I went thru one
large DOT5 bottle and just started a second. I also did the clutch MC, but
only
drained that system, cleaned MC, reassembled, flushed, and refilled.
It is recommended to renew all the seals when you switch to DOT5. But since
I just rebuild my calipers the year prior I did not do that again. Been
driving it for about 2 months now and brakes are good and firm with no leaks.
I
have stock semi-metallic pads. (Should have gone with Greenstuff pads!) Car
sat
up for almost two years so trying to compare feel of DOT4 vs. DOT5 I cannot
do. My brakes work and work good in my opinion. I drive spirited street with
no racing.
DOT5 Pros: no moisture absorption, no reactivity with paint, cool purple
color!
DOT5 Cons: more expensive, seals replacement from new, more compressible
than glycol, more difficult to bleed due to microscopic bubbles, not for racing
applications.
Cheers! MRankin CC61212L 1971 TR6
|