11/13/09
Brake Flaring tool, and GTE Nose Pan

Ferrari brake lines require several different flares to fit the various components on the car. The British Dunlop calipers have a special “bubble flare” that is not commonly found on American flaring tools, and finding a tool that makes a good bubble flare is equally difficult. I got a tip from a fellow Ferrari restorer, and checked out a website with a flaring tool I wanted to try.

Fedhill sells a brake flaring tool that is mounted on a vice and formed with a die. The tool makes a very nice flare with one move, but I’ll have to try it out on a caliper before we commit to this tool. So far, it looks good!

Another product they sell is a copper alloy tubing for brake and fuel lines. It’s DOT approved line, and has a copper colored finish. Ferrari brake and fuel lines have a copper finish to them, but these were copper plated steel lines. The finish does not last long, and if you’re doing a concours restoration, the fresh copper plating looks a lot brighter than this stuff. As the copper ages, however, it gets darker and looks a lot like this copper alloy tubing. The nice thing about this stuff is it’s not plated, so it will always have the copper color. I bought some 3/8 inch line for some fuel line I’m fabricating for the 275GTB I’m restoring, but will definitely try out the 3/16th inch line for the brakes in the future.

The painted nose pan for Gary’s GTE was fitted, along with the freshly painted front sway bar. 

The sway bar end links could use some some attention, as I found the rubber bushings very worn, and the end links to be the wrong finish. I believe these are supposed to be nickel plated.

Just a reminder, I’m looking for a new Vintage Ferrari Project. If you have, or know of a restoration project, please let me know. It would be great to restore another car on this website! My E-mail.

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