Question: 1956 Front Crossmember Brake Line

[MR Bill]

Good morning all you C1 experts. I have finally decided to tackle my 1956 Corvette (been in the family since 1959 and in storage for the past 35 years). Just retired and have a lot to do on this car to get it on the road. Starting with the brakes with a brake line kit from In-line tube here in Michigan. Does anyone have ideas on how to change the front crossmember brake line without pulling the engine? Appears to 'snake' around the steering components on the left and the radiator hose on the right. Actually the existing line as two compression fitting couplings which would indicate my father made some questionable repairs at some point. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Toms007]

First I want to welcome you to CAC Mr. Bill. We have some of the most knowledgeable people here and I'm sure one of them will be by soon to help you. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those to help you with this particular problem.

A 56 Corvette that has been in the family since 59 is a great legacy. When you have time we would love to see pictures of your prize.

 

[navy2kcoupe]

Actually the existing line as two compression fitting couplings which would indicate my father made some questionable repairs at some point. Thanks.

JEEZ........ did THAT sentence bring back some memories of MY Dad. Been laffin my butt off for about 10
minutes just remembering some of the stuff my Dad did........ Thanks for the memories!
Just a quick one to illustrate...... Dad had a 59 Chevy Kingswood wagon (which I would DEARLY love to have
back right now), and a wooden outboard 18 foot boat. Dad drove tanker trucks for Mobil oil, and could back
a truck up like nobody's business. We took the boat out one weekend, and stopped to get gas in the car and
boat. Dad had to back up, and jackknifed the boat trailer which put the fin of the Chevy THRU the boat. I thought
"well, there goes the water skiing for today, but Dad never said a word. We didn't either, cause we KNEW not to. LOL
Dad stopped at an auto parts store, bought a can of "bondo" and fixed the hole when we got to the lake. Looked ugly
as sin, but worked like a champ, and he repaired it correctly AFTER we had a helluva good time and got home.
Dad's are like that...............
Andy

 

[PeterR]

Mr. Bill, Glad to hear you're getting to work on that '56. Let me say that installing the front crossover brake line, while a little difficult, is totally doable without removing the engine. I've done it on both my '57 and my '54. Obviously you'll need to jack up the front end nice and high so you have plenty of room to work. Then you'll need to remove the old line. I think I might have removed my old line by cutting it into a couple of pieces, just because that was easier and faster and I had no need to preserve the old line. When installing the new line, realize that you may need to temporarily and carefully partially unbend one or more parts of the pre-bent line that came in your brakeline kit and then carefully re-bend it to the correct shape as it's going into place or after it's in place. The idea of unbending and re-bending as needed is probably the main secret to installing the new line successfully.

Pete

 

[MR Bill]

Thanks for the feedback.

Mr. Bill, Glad to hear you're getting to work on that '56. Let me say that installing the front crossover brake line, while a little difficult, is totally doable without removing the engine. I've done it on both my '57 and my '54. Obviously you'll need to jack up the front end nice and high so you have plenty of room to work. Then you'll need to remove the old line. I think I might have removed my old line by cutting it into a couple of pieces, just because that was easier and faster and I had no need to preserve the old line. When installing the new line, realize that you may need to temporarily and carefully partially unbend one or more parts of the pre-bent line that came in your brakeline kit and then carefully re-bend it to the correct shape as it's going into place or after it's in place. The idea of unbending and re-bending as needed is probably the main secret to installing the new line successfully.

Pete

Appreciate your suggestion.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Welcome to the CAC

I haven't done the lines on my '59 but I did do the ones on my '69 stepside with a kit that was supposed to be right on. I think I had to reshape every one of the front pieces to get them in where the old ones came out. Some of it you can bend gently by hand and other areas I used my 2 lever cheapo tubing bender just to be sure I wouldn't kink it. Good luck.

Tom

 

[MR Bill]

1956 Corvette Front Cross Member Brake Line Replacement

I haven't done the lines on my '59 but I did do the ones on my '69 stepside with a kit that was supposed to be right on. I think I had to reshape every one of the front pieces to get them in where the old ones came out. Some of it you can bend gently by hand and other areas I used my 2 lever cheapo tubing bender just to be sure I wouldn't kink it. Good luck.

Tom

Thanks to all of the Corvette Action Center members who provided feedback on this thread. I actually decided to to remove all of the fan shrouding, fan, radiator hoses which provided ample room for the brake line replacement. Probably the best approach as it appears the radiator had been leaking/seeping as some staining was noticeable on the core. So the radiator will be visiting the repair shop. I guess that should be expected as the car has not been used for the past 30+ years. Next project is the replacement of the rear cross member (pretty rusty). The saga continues.

 

[Verle]

Thanks to all of the Corvette Action Center members who provided feedback on this thread. I actually decided to to remove all of the fan shrouding, fan, radiator hoses which provided ample room for the brake line replacement. Probably the best approach as it appears the radiator had been leaking/seeping as some staining was noticeable on the core. So the radiator will be visiting the repair shop. I guess that should be expected as the car has not been used for the past 30+ years. Next project is the replacement of the rear cross member (pretty rusty). The saga continues.

You might consider a new radiator if yours is very corroded.
Dewitt's Radiators makes a very good reproduction that will cool better and when painted look very original also.