Replacing flexible brake lines

[Bainbridge]

My mx5 is an old girl now at 13 years old, so I've bought a set of replacement flexible brake hoses.

Now, for the sake of a fiver I could just buy a flare spanner, and I probably will to have one in the tool box. But.. I was thinking that if I were to simply to cut the old hoses, which are being binned anyway, I could simply slip a 6 sided ring spanner over the cut end and get maximum purchase on the hose unions.

Is there a flaw in this logic?

[Chris32345]

Don't see any issues with that other then the mess from leaking fluid

[stevieturbo]

Any good quality spanner should be perfectly fine.

And better than a cheap flare spanner anyway.

[darreni]

Decent flare spinners & a pair of knipex cobra pliers (250mm). They have undone previously seized brake lines for me on two occasions. Life savers.

Edited by darreni on Saturday 25th February 00:26

[TwinKam]

Chris32345 said:

Don't see any issues with that other then the mess from leaking fluid

No need for any mess; hold the brake pedal depressed slightly with a length of eg wood against the front of the seat, this will close off the input port in the master, once the initial pressure is released you will have no leakage from an open pipe, work at your own speed, take a tea break at will.

[Jakg]

Bainbridge said:

Is there a flaw in this logic?

You probably want to use a flare spanner for the final tighten.

And if you cut the hoses and the new ones aren't right, you are screwed. I had some custom ones made up and they got the order wrong and sent me one with metric on one end and imperial on the other... took me a while to work it out!

[steveo3002]

cutting and a 6 sided socket is the best way to remove old scrap ones , as said a proper spanner would be nice for tightening , although cheap spanners flex and open up anyway

[Bainbridge]

Thanks for your responses guys, some good tips there.

To be prudent, I'm going to use a flare spanner to crack open each union, just in case there's a problem with the replacements. This is unlikely because the reviews of the IL Motorsport set I've bought say that they're OEM spec with all the turns and fittings in the right places, which is is more than can be said for the Goodridge set which apparently has fittings missing and turns in the wrong places. Better safe than sorry.

Great tip about depressing the pedal to close a port in the master cylinder. I have a home made adjustable pedal presser which was made to enable me to reset the ECU, which is just the job.

Halfords Advanced flare spanners are a fiver each, and I've no complaints about the quality of their Advanced tools.

Thanks again for your input, I do like this section of PH