Rainman's Brake Lines (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Rainman
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Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #263
Brake line related:
I stole a little time from the fam (what's left of it... Empty nest syndrome) during Christmas and got the body off the frame of the '32 and created the rear axle lines for it. I customized this one entirely. It's a narrowed Ford 9" and custom suspension. So an entirely unique route. I even added gaps to both sides of the diff for strapping the axle during trailer riding. While doing Cruiser lines I'll be taking some time to plumb the entire '32 with brake and fuel lines. It's an empty sketch pad at this point as I will be creating all one-off lines. "This ride only" lines. (all the powder coating is invisible from the sanding dust from priming the body. The body is ready for the final epoxy prime.
Cruiser related:
I hate to mention this prematurely but I'm happy to say that although it may be a while, I'm starting the gears on hopefully coming up with a solution to the 9mm Cruiser lines. Stay tuned. I've got a ringer in my corner that may be the key to getting these added. Wish me and all of you that own 60s trucks luck.
I stole a little time from the fam (what's left of it... Empty nest syndrome) during Christmas and got the body off the frame of the '32 and created the rear axle lines for it. I customized this one entirely. It's a narrowed Ford 9" and custom suspension. So an entirely unique route. I even added gaps to both sides of the diff for strapping the axle during trailer riding. While doing Cruiser lines I'll be taking some time to plumb the entire '32 with brake and fuel lines. It's an empty sketch pad at this point as I will be creating all one-off lines. "This ride only" lines. (all the powder coating is invisible from the sanding dust from priming the body. The body is ready for the final epoxy prime.
Cruiser related:
I hate to mention this prematurely but I'm happy to say that although it may be a while, I'm starting the gears on hopefully coming up with a solution to the 9mm Cruiser lines. Stay tuned. I've got a ringer in my corner that may be the key to getting these added. Wish me and all of you that own 60s trucks luck.
Vae Victus
Posting more than I know
Rainey - I know a lot of folks are interested in finding a source for those NLA 9mm brake line nuts for the early cruisers! That would be a huge win methinks.
Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #265
Okay fellow Cruiser nuts and potential brake line buyers...
This isn't the final say and I'm not claiming victory over this argument yet. But I have here a very good example of why I believe in the full threaded nuts. The image attached is off of an early 70s FJ40 and although this may be the worst one, all of the nuts on the truck had the same problem. Let's call them bell bottoms. (I lived through that era and wore them proudly at the time.)
*note [2/9/15] It may take some time but I'm determined to find what years are "forced" to use stepped nuts. The early 9mm systems HAVE to use stepped nuts. I'm looking for the time when they changed the female fittings. There is at least one month (5/77) that accepts fully threaded nuts. I want to verify the rest.
My point here is:
The thinner end on a stepped nut is weaker with a "side load" than a full threaded nut. There is just a very noticeable difference in the thickness of the nut at the tip and when the nut is cranked down on the flare, the pressure is both linear and outward at the tip. I will be looking into (literally) as many female fittings as I can from as many years as I can to see exactly what the real-estate looks like in there. The gap that is evident in the bottom of the hole is why the stopped nut is allowed to expand. The full threaded nut with have (a) more meat around the tip to be stronger and (b) less room to expand if in fact it does expand.
As you can expect, I want to make this small business work and be reliable. I also want to do as much research as I can to know as much as possible about all the brake issues and fixes on the Cruisers. I appreciate the help some of you have offered and sent in the past few months and I've been talking to someone on the west coast that will hopefully be a big help in covering the early Cruisers from the 60s. I have a 3/70 here at the "shop" now and will begin working on that in the next few days and as time permits.
This isn't the final say and I'm not claiming victory over this argument yet. But I have here a very good example of why I believe in the full threaded nuts. The image attached is off of an early 70s FJ40 and although this may be the worst one, all of the nuts on the truck had the same problem. Let's call them bell bottoms. (I lived through that era and wore them proudly at the time.)
*note [2/9/15] It may take some time but I'm determined to find what years are "forced" to use stepped nuts. The early 9mm systems HAVE to use stepped nuts. I'm looking for the time when they changed the female fittings. There is at least one month (5/77) that accepts fully threaded nuts. I want to verify the rest.
My point here is:
The thinner end on a stepped nut is weaker with a "side load" than a full threaded nut. There is just a very noticeable difference in the thickness of the nut at the tip and when the nut is cranked down on the flare, the pressure is both linear and outward at the tip. I will be looking into (literally) as many female fittings as I can from as many years as I can to see exactly what the real-estate looks like in there. The gap that is evident in the bottom of the hole is why the stopped nut is allowed to expand. The full threaded nut with have (a) more meat around the tip to be stronger and (b) less room to expand if in fact it does expand.
As you can expect, I want to make this small business work and be reliable. I also want to do as much research as I can to know as much as possible about all the brake issues and fixes on the Cruisers. I appreciate the help some of you have offered and sent in the past few months and I've been talking to someone on the west coast that will hopefully be a big help in covering the early Cruisers from the 60s. I have a 3/70 here at the "shop" now and will begin working on that in the next few days and as time permits.
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Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #266
First charcoal line for later models. (Not sure exactly what years yet.)
This line is so squirrely that I'm considering one shipping bend and one union. Client, @shipmag, wants unions instead of bends but I'll test and see if 1/4" NiCopp is easily straightened like the 3/16ths lines are. I'm not overly confident after wrestling with this line. I'll keep this thread posted.
Shipmag's donated line and the new NiCopp beside it.
This line is so squirrely that I'm considering one shipping bend and one union. Client, @shipmag, wants unions instead of bends but I'll test and see if 1/4" NiCopp is easily straightened like the 3/16ths lines are. I'm not overly confident after wrestling with this line. I'll keep this thread posted.
Shipmag's donated line and the new NiCopp beside it.
Rainey, after purchasing your brake lines and seeing first hand the quality you put out, I was certainly hoping you would continue on with other lines as well...I need one of these, too, and would like to put in an order for one. I never understood why Toyota went all over the place with this line, but I'm glad to see you reproduce it. Being that it's basically a vapor line, I wouldn't care if it was shipped bent, or with a union. Let me know when you might could get to it...I'm buying 
Skip
Skip
Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #268
Aaaannnd another thing:
Working on the "Topless Beauty" STPCHLD, I found (it's a 3/70) all nuts are indeed stepped nuts and they HAVE to be. But the chassis line back were all original lines. The steps on the nuts were ALL flared so badly that it took vice grips and lots of elbow grease to get the nuts out of the fittings after completely unthreading them. The step ends were so badly flared, they wouldn't easily slide through the threads of the fittings. ALL OF THEM! I'm hoping to do a research post after the 9mm scrap comes. I'm going to start working on potentially making my "Kryptonite" 9mm stepped nuts. More on that when I get farther along.
Working on the "Topless Beauty" STPCHLD, I found (it's a 3/70) all nuts are indeed stepped nuts and they HAVE to be. But the chassis line back were all original lines. The steps on the nuts were ALL flared so badly that it took vice grips and lots of elbow grease to get the nuts out of the fittings after completely unthreading them. The step ends were so badly flared, they wouldn't easily slide through the threads of the fittings. ALL OF THEM! I'm hoping to do a research post after the 9mm scrap comes. I'm going to start working on potentially making my "Kryptonite" 9mm stepped nuts. More on that when I get farther along.
Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #269
BIG NEWS!
I've been dissecting the frankenstein brake system off of @Vae Victus' STPCHLD 3/70 FJ40 and I'm very confident that I can create a complete E to 7/70 brake line master pattern set. That does NOT include the fittings yet. Patience, Iago... By next week I should have in hand the pieces I need to do the research for creating replacement 9mm fittings. I'm not exactly sure how much time it will take to find out if it's feasible to have those made here or not. For all of you out west with all the early trucks, I'm praying that this works!
I've been dissecting the frankenstein brake system off of @Vae Victus' STPCHLD 3/70 FJ40 and I'm very confident that I can create a complete E to 7/70 brake line master pattern set. That does NOT include the fittings yet. Patience, Iago... By next week I should have in hand the pieces I need to do the research for creating replacement 9mm fittings. I'm not exactly sure how much time it will take to find out if it's feasible to have those made here or not. For all of you out west with all the early trucks, I'm praying that this works!
Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #270
9mm nuts:
BrakeQuip does have 9mm nuts and I have a couple on the way but was told the stepped area of the nut is only 2mm long. That's not enough to clear the solid area in the bottom of the fittings. That will end up stripping the bottom thread or two. I'll know more when they get here in a day or two.
Brake line kits for FJ40s, E to 7/70 are well in the engineering stage. Rough fit mostly on the STPCHLD for now. I don't have the ability to test the front drum lines yet but had perfect samples to pattern from. I did take some liberties that need confirmation that it's okay. I should have all 14 lines completely patterned in another day, time permitting. In the picture below, there are 7 of the lines that cover 11 of the 14 lines. The small "7" in the middle covers all 4 for the front drums and the one that looks like a staple is for both sides in the back. The right 9mm nuts and I'm in biz.
The new series calls for a new naming set. I will be separating the Parts Dates chart into 3 charts very soon.
Left to right (sort of)
FFL - Front Frame Loop. E-7/70
CHL - Chassis Long. E-7/70
D2F - Driver side to Flex hose. E-7/70
FWC - Front Wheel Cylinder. E-7/70 (I'm hoping this pattern is reversible for both sides of the drum and both sides of the truck.)
RAS - Rear Axle Short. E-7/70
P2F - Passenger side to Flex hose. E-7/70
RWC - Rear Wheel Cylinder. E-7/70 (This pattern serves both sides in the rear.)
Remaining lines (not shown) are:
M2F - Master cyl. to Front
RAL - Rear Axle Long
F2C - Front to Chassis
BrakeQuip does have 9mm nuts and I have a couple on the way but was told the stepped area of the nut is only 2mm long. That's not enough to clear the solid area in the bottom of the fittings. That will end up stripping the bottom thread or two. I'll know more when they get here in a day or two.
Brake line kits for FJ40s, E to 7/70 are well in the engineering stage. Rough fit mostly on the STPCHLD for now. I don't have the ability to test the front drum lines yet but had perfect samples to pattern from. I did take some liberties that need confirmation that it's okay. I should have all 14 lines completely patterned in another day, time permitting. In the picture below, there are 7 of the lines that cover 11 of the 14 lines. The small "7" in the middle covers all 4 for the front drums and the one that looks like a staple is for both sides in the back. The right 9mm nuts and I'm in biz.
The new series calls for a new naming set. I will be separating the Parts Dates chart into 3 charts very soon.
Left to right (sort of)
FFL - Front Frame Loop. E-7/70
CHL - Chassis Long. E-7/70
D2F - Driver side to Flex hose. E-7/70
FWC - Front Wheel Cylinder. E-7/70 (I'm hoping this pattern is reversible for both sides of the drum and both sides of the truck.)
RAS - Rear Axle Short. E-7/70
P2F - Passenger side to Flex hose. E-7/70
RWC - Rear Wheel Cylinder. E-7/70 (This pattern serves both sides in the rear.)
Remaining lines (not shown) are:
M2F - Master cyl. to Front
RAL - Rear Axle Long
F2C - Front to Chassis
Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #271
I'm expecting the cost assessment this week for Rainman's new-replacement-stronger-better-"Kryptonite" 9mm nuts. The CAD file has been completed with improvements and is off for quotes and count estimates. If all goes well I just may have them being produced soon. I hope i can afford them. I pray this is the right ting to do. I want this to help make all the early Cruisers have the option to have new brake lines without all the unnecessary adapters.
I'm working at getting all of this solved as soon as I can so I can set this on auto when my new full time job comes around in June. Some of you may want to buy some of what comes from that too...
I'm working at getting all of this solved as soon as I can so I can set this on auto when my new full time job comes around in June. Some of you may want to buy some of what comes from that too...
Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #272
Updated listing for the late model FJ40s. With the help of @redrock I'm getting more detailed information about the lines up to '83 and '84. We've solved the back end now I just need to get the details for the Master Cylinder connections.
(old chart has been deleted. Obsolete)
(old chart has been deleted. Obsolete)
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Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #273
Everybody,
I know this has been a long time coming but so many things have drawn out that I couldn’t make a firm announcement about until now. You don’t have to read all of this unless you want to know why I had to shut down. The punch line is in the last paragraph.
Back in the late summer, I was preparing for my daughter’s wedding here on the “ranch”. Straight line winds whipped through our property and snapped 3 quite large trees (80 to 90 feet tall) and threw one of them on the house. (The last details of the repairs have still not been finished.) I had to spend the hottest two weeks of the year cutting and splitting several tons of firewood. Then the most wonderful wedding I’ve ever attended took place and I got the best seat in the house being Father of the Bride. (2nd time.) Four days later I had Prostate surgery to remove my cancer. The jury is still out but things are looking very good right now. The holidays came and went and of course family comes first. Then a very well known Land Cruiser related company (left un-named) expressed interest in selling Rainman’s Brake Lines and offered to buy me out. THAT was the perfect world. Unfortunately, it wasn't the perfect world and fell apart. No one’s fault. It just didn’t happen. Now add to that the ever-about-to-start full time job I’m going to have still hasn’t started. I will be working full time (in the next moth or so) at a brand new distillery literally a 4 minute walk from my back door. I’ve run my freelance business since 1989 and it still hangs on. I’ve landed a very important client that just may change my retirement while still doing illustration. I’m blessed coming in and going out. Just not rolling in it at the moment.
So, unless someone cares to make a deal as sole supplier for my brake line designs and can maintain the quality making them on there own, Rainman’s Brake Lines is shelved permanently here. I have all the patterns designed with individual samples. I have some line stock and line nuts. It was fun while it lasted. Those of you with my lines on your trucks, thanks for the faith and interest and I hope they prove to last for many years and give you unfailing service.
Rainey “Rainman” Kirk
P.S. Hey. I’ll never ever have to have another prostate exam again!
I know this has been a long time coming but so many things have drawn out that I couldn’t make a firm announcement about until now. You don’t have to read all of this unless you want to know why I had to shut down. The punch line is in the last paragraph.
Back in the late summer, I was preparing for my daughter’s wedding here on the “ranch”. Straight line winds whipped through our property and snapped 3 quite large trees (80 to 90 feet tall) and threw one of them on the house. (The last details of the repairs have still not been finished.) I had to spend the hottest two weeks of the year cutting and splitting several tons of firewood. Then the most wonderful wedding I’ve ever attended took place and I got the best seat in the house being Father of the Bride. (2nd time.) Four days later I had Prostate surgery to remove my cancer. The jury is still out but things are looking very good right now. The holidays came and went and of course family comes first. Then a very well known Land Cruiser related company (left un-named) expressed interest in selling Rainman’s Brake Lines and offered to buy me out. THAT was the perfect world. Unfortunately, it wasn't the perfect world and fell apart. No one’s fault. It just didn’t happen. Now add to that the ever-about-to-start full time job I’m going to have still hasn’t started. I will be working full time (in the next moth or so) at a brand new distillery literally a 4 minute walk from my back door. I’ve run my freelance business since 1989 and it still hangs on. I’ve landed a very important client that just may change my retirement while still doing illustration. I’m blessed coming in and going out. Just not rolling in it at the moment.
So, unless someone cares to make a deal as sole supplier for my brake line designs and can maintain the quality making them on there own, Rainman’s Brake Lines is shelved permanently here. I have all the patterns designed with individual samples. I have some line stock and line nuts. It was fun while it lasted. Those of you with my lines on your trucks, thanks for the faith and interest and I hope they prove to last for many years and give you unfailing service.
Rainey “Rainman” Kirk
P.S. Hey. I’ll never ever have to have another prostate exam again!
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shipmag
Hagler Technology LLC. Aka Shipmag
sorry to hear you hung it up. Was looking forward to more from you. Good luck.
Lou
Lou
Glad you have such a great outlook and attitude on life...congratulations on the wedding! My dad (85 years old) completed treatment for prostate cancer successfully back in September, he has gotten a clean bill of health from the doc...hope you do, too! I am glad that I was able to buy what I did from you while you were producing, sad to hear that you won't revive your venture, was looking forward to more of your excellent quality products! I wish you the best in your endeavors...thanks for the update!!
Skip
Rainey,
I wish you the best of health and success with future endeavors! It must be really tough for someone with multiple talents to choose what to pursue. I was lucky to pick up a couple of your lines just before you closed the door. My Land Cruiser thanks you for it!
I wish you the best of health and success with future endeavors! It must be really tough for someone with multiple talents to choose what to pursue. I was lucky to pick up a couple of your lines just before you closed the door. My Land Cruiser thanks you for it!
Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
- Thread starter
- #277
Thank you guys. I appreciate your thoughts and comments. I didn't say there was no chance of the lines being available ever again. Never say never. I just don't think they will be available from my little shop. I've had two companies express interest and you just never know what may raise it's ugly little head. One thing is for sure. I need to get this new job up and running before I can commit to added work. It looks like a month or two before I'm doing that job... (I've said that before but now that it looks like we could start next week, Maybe two months is reasonable now.)
All my stuff isn't even boxed up downstairs yet. It's all still laying around and on the parts racks. Time will tell.
All my stuff isn't even boxed up downstairs yet. It's all still laying around and on the parts racks. Time will tell.
I wish the brake lines were available ... 