The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Copper-Nickel brake tubing

I ran across an article discussing different materials that brake line tubing can be made from, and copper-nickel tubing seems to be the winner. One name that stood out was Cunifer brake line. and it’s made in England. It’s supposed to be very malleable, so much so that you can bend it with your hands instead of a tubing bender. It is also rustproof. Apparently, Fed Hill Trading company is the American distributor for this product. Does anyone know if you can buy it at a local FLAPS? I just need a 2—3 foot piece with fittings.

Thanks

You can purchase Copper-nickel line at any auto parts store.

I am a fan of copper-nickel brake line after using it on two frame off restorations ('37 and '50) along with a couple lines on the '42. After I found out that NAPA had it I bought a 25 foot roll of 1/4 inch line from them. It seemed to have a thinner wall than what is sold by Fed Hill so I called Fed Hill and they sent me one of their rolls for free in exchange for sending them the one I got from NAPA. Weighing both rolls I found the NAPA roll was 40% lighter.

Now, I have no idea whether this affects the usefulness, safety, bursting pressure or anything else. The Fed Hill Cunifer is more costly than the product from NAPA but I don't remember how much. I do remember it was about 3 times the cost of ordinary steel brake line but for the low volume of my work I am fine with that.
Kent

Kent, thanks for sharing your experience with what you bought from NAPA. When you go to the FedHill website you’ll see pictures showing the difference in wall thickness between their version of Cunifer tubing and what you can buy off the Internet, or in your case NAPA. They make a strong case for buying their version based on safety and durability, and after looking at the pictures it’s hard to argue their point. I guess you get what you pay for.

Note…. They probably used the tubing you sent them for the picture!

Thanks

I bought a 25 ft. roll of 1/4" from Summit Racing, bends nicely, flares nicely, it took all 25 ft. for my 5700 LCF.

Auto zone sells it but when I worked there for 10 years not many bought it.

I use it for my brake line and I just replaced a gas line with it. Easy to work with and won't rust.

O'Reilly's has an excellent selection of pre-made lines in different diameters and lengths. I've had to replace a few in my pickup and the stuff is very easy to use and inexpensive. Plus one brand they had was made in the USA. The last line I had to replace was the one going up to the driver side front and it was $6 and change.

Do they carry the nickel copper stuff? Last I knew around here, you had to go to autozone to get the NiCopp and Oreilly carried steel.

Bought a 25’ roll of NiCopp from OReillys 2 years ago. Very easy to work with.

I can't speak for all O'Reilly stores, but the one I go to here does. Actually the lady who managed it at the time told me it cost a bit more but it was much easier to work. As I recall, "a bit more" for what I needed was less than a dollar.

The last line I got was made by AGS (American Grease Stick) and was labeled made in the USA. There were some other lines that had labels with what looked like a cartoon-like alligator on there, but that wasn't what I bought.

Europe started using Cunifer back in the 70's. I started buying it in the 1980's. It was expensive then. But It has become relatively cheap now. It will last any person's lifetime even on salted roads.