Hi all,

I've just had Hedman's headers installed into my 82 by an exhaust shop, and on the left hand side one of the primaries is making physical contact with the brake line that's on the cross member. I'm a little worried about this heating up my brake fluid and causing it to be ineffective or causing damage to the brake line.

Should I be worried and get something done about it?

 

Definitely be worried. If the brake fluid gets hot enough to boil you may lose your brakes altogether on that particular wheel.....this means when you stomp the pedal, the car will pull HARD to the opposite side. Not good when you're trying to avoid a collision.


Bend the line away from the header. Be careful not to kink it.

 

Thanks for that.

How much clearance should I try and achieve to be safe?

 

I wouldn't be happy with anything under 3/4" but really it's a "more is better" situation.

 

I bent mine to the opposite side of the steering column. I happened to have the motor out at the time so I was able to push them over easily. The front most line touches the plastic cover but that doesn't turn any so I'm happy with it.

 

My situation is a little different because my car is right hand drive, so there's only the cross member brake line that's a problem.

How forgiving are brake lines at being bent?

 

I bent mine over an inch and they were fine. It is a bit nerve racking since I get horrid visions of having to get a new line and bleeding the system if it breaks. If you are still concerned after getting a little clearence from bending, you can get some heat sheath to put over the lines. That is what I am going to do since mine still get very hot. Claims to reflect 90% of radiant heat.

HTH

 

Can you install the heat sheathing with the brake line in place? In other words, can you install it without having to disconnect one end of the line and slide the sheath over?

 

They do make some kinds that can. One is a kind of tubing (look at Summit for DEI's "Cool Tubes") that you can cut lengthwise and then put it over the brake line. However that kind is advertised as only blocking 43% of heat. Also there is a heat sheath version that uses velcro, but I would wonder about the plastic "hooks" melting on the velcro if it was really getting cooked (and if it wasn't, why would you use it in the first place?). Then there is a reflective tape, but that looks like a mess waiting to happen and I wonder if it would really be all that effective. As for myself I will be servicing the brakes on my car soon, so I will just disconnect the lines and slide some sheath on at that time. Anyway, have a look over at Summit.

 

You can get some self-adhesive heat relective tape that you can wrap around lines from Summit. I did that on my fuel line where it ran right next to my headers.

 

Thanks guys!