Let me ask

[Carmine]

without angering anyone. Hi everyone. My question is about stainless steel products. Why is it that many people choose to go with stainless steel over galvanized or whatever else is available. This question actually pertains to restoring older cars that are not daily drivers. I personally never saw a need for SS products such as but not limited to brake lines, gas lines, gas tanks, exhaust, etc. The vehicles I have restored and still own, have never ever seen snow, salt or continuous rain; although I have gotten caught in it on occasion. They are garaged and driven seasonally. I just don't see the need for SS which cost about twice the price of regular parts. I also heard about how much more difficult it is to work with, especially flaring ends. I think the new steel on my cars will certainly out live me and a few future owners down the road, given the same care and concern it receives presently. Your thoughts?? Thanks, Carmine.

 

[yellow wagon]

Carmine, I just replaced 50+ year old GM brake lines on my car with stainless steel lines. Why? I'm not sure. Piece of mind I guess? I bought double annealed stainless tubing from Classic Tube. It flared pretty well, it bent well. Maybe I figured since I was doing it, why not put a better quality material in there. All the fuel lines etc on my car are all new steel tubing however. I figure if they last another 50 years that should be good enough

 

[bobs409]

I'm with you Carmine. I never use stainless lines myself. Even the vehicles that I keep outside and are used as drivers hold up pretty well. If you paint them, they will last. A garage car's lines will last all of our life times.

 

[1961 Bubble Boy]

Yea but think how much lighter you wallet could be... In engineering you learn to appreciate how there is no perfect material and each one has tradeoffs. There is no one right answer for each design. On a car, there is little need for stainless except for polished trim and the exhaust systems. In fact, stainless in contact with regular steel will make the regular steel rust at a fast rate. Stainless bolts are not as strong as plain steel. In processes such as drug and food manufacturing, stainless is critical to withstand highly corrosive chemicals and to be sterilized without the risk of coatings flaking off into the product.

 

[real61ss]

I agree with you Carmine. The only time I tried to use SS was on the fuel lines on my 61 Pontiac and I could never get the flared ends to seal. They leaked gas so I took them off and put the old lines back on. Only reason for using them was for apperance, I was going to polish them.

 

[jim_ss409]

If you're building lines from scratch, the copper/nickel line works great. It's a copper/nickel alloy designed for brake lines.
It's not as good looking as stainless steel, but you can polish it.
It doesn't corrode and it's a little easier to bend and flare than the regular steel line.

I gather that the thickness and quality can vary depending on who you get it from but I think any reputable supplier should have the proper DOT approved stuff.
I got a roll from my local CARQUEST Auto Parts store.
This stuff is very popular up here in the rust belt where factory brake lines can rust through in as little as 5 or 6 years.

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS-Performa...pp-Nickel-Copper-Brake-Lines/2111534/10002/-1

 

[Licensed to kill]

I like SS and do all my fuel lines with it. I use it because to looks good and will ALWAYS look good. I don't flare it (don't have anything that WILL flare it) rather, I use compression fittings. The fitting are EXPENSIVE if you have to buy them but I get my tubing and most fittings for free. I also use SS bolts in applications where they are visible and they do not require the strength of steel bolts, IE timing cover, intake manifold, headers, water pump, Distributor hold down (almost all exposed engine bolts except head bolts). SS bolts are not all that expensive. It's certainly not for everyone but I don't build/own cars for everyone, just for me and it's what I like.

 

[jwhotrod]

With all the alcohol in fuels today and the grief and aggravation it causes I would not use anything but SS for fuel components I've had enough crap peeled off of the old steel stuff clogging everything up. It just makes sense to me as to the brakes, same thing the brake fluid can cause rust in your steel system and do damage there. Use AN fittings and 37deg single flares and it works well. I am not trying to build numbers matching 100 point show cars so why not?