1966 Cutlass front disc conversion brake hose problem

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Old Aug 23, 2010 | 10:08 AM
  #1  
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1966 Cutlass front disc conversion brake hose problem

hi everyone!

does anyone have a listing for front brake hoses that would fit a disc conversion kit on a 66 cutlass?

the drum hoses dont work and the front hoses i ordered from Rock Auto (for disc equipped 66 Cutlass) seem to be incorrect!

thanks
Old Aug 23, 2010 | 10:25 AM
  #2  
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Originally Posted by scubastever
hi everyone!

does anyone have a listing for front brake hoses that would fit a disc conversion kit on a 66 cutlass?

the drum hoses dont work and the front hoses i ordered from Rock Auto (for disc equipped 66 Cutlass) seem to be incorrect!

thanks
Considering that there's no such thing as a factory "disc equipped 66 Cutlass", I'm not surprised that you didn't get the correct hoses. You need the hoses that match the calipers. I assume you've got a stock A-body disc brake setup with the single piston sliding calipers, so just order hoses for a 69-72 Cutlass with discs. You'll need the correct frame brackets for the hoses as well. The drum brackets are different. These are available as repros.
Old Aug 23, 2010 | 11:36 AM
  #3  
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Was your problem the length of the hose or the type of fitting at the caliper?
I did a conversion on a '67 using the later single piston caliper.
Apparently, there are two versions of this caliper. One uses the "banjo" style fitting for the connecton at the caliper.
The other has a female threaded hole at the caliper with a matching male thread on the hose.

As far as the length, I determined the length I needed from the frame bracket to the caliper on each side,
then went to the parts house where we looked on there computer to find the correct length hose.
It was a trial and error situation where we just looked at random at the hose length of different vehicles
until we found one that used the lengths I needed.
(I found that the hoses that were listed for the '69 Cutlass didn't work.)
We started looking at '73 Cutlass, then '77 El Camino, then '70 Olds "98", etc. until we found the lengths I needed.
It was a fairly painless process. Didn't take long.
I needed two different lengths since both sides were not the same length.
I should have made some notes, but, I didn't since pinning down what I needed was relatively simple.

It sounds like a lot of trouble, but, I thought it was better to do it this way and get exactly what I needed.

Hope this helps.

Last edited by 67442nut; Aug 23, 2010 at 11:39 AM.
Old Aug 23, 2010 | 12:07 PM
  #4  
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Originally Posted by 67442nut
Was your problem the length of the hose or the type of fitting at the caliper?
I did a conversion on a '67 using the later single piston caliper.
Apparently, there are two versions of this caliper. One uses the "banjo" style fitting for the connecton at the caliper.
The other has a female threaded hole at the caliper with a matching male thread on the hose.
All of the 69-72 single piston calipers use the banjo fitting hose. The caliper still has female threads, but they are straight threads for the hollow bolt that goes through the banjo fitting.

As far as the length, I determined the length I needed from the frame bracket to the caliper on each side,
then went to the parts house where we looked on there computer to find the correct length hose.
It was a trial and error situation where we just looked at random at the hose length of different vehicles
until we found one that used the lengths I needed.
(I found that the hoses that were listed for the '69 Cutlass didn't work.)
We started looking at '73 Cutlass, then '77 El Camino, then '70 Olds "98", etc. until we found the lengths I needed.
That doesn't make sense. Every A-body uses the same front brake hose on both sides. The control arms are symmetrical, the frame is symmetrical, the calipers are symmetrical, the spindles are symmetrical. The only reason why the hoses would have been different would be if the hose bracket was not located in the original location.

I've done a bunch of 64-72 A-body disk brake swaps using factory parts. The 69-72 hoses work fine on the 64-68 cars. Use Raybestos P/N BH36691 or Wagner P/N BH73242.

Old Aug 23, 2010 | 01:30 PM
  #5  
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this is not my car lol
 
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From: Toronto
Originally Posted by joe_padavano
Considering that there's no such thing as a factory "disc equipped 66 Cutlass", I'm not surprised that you didn't get the correct hoses. You need the hoses that match the calipers. I assume you've got a stock A-body disc brake setup with the single piston sliding calipers, so just order hoses for a 69-72 Cutlass with discs. You'll need the correct frame brackets for the hoses as well. The drum brackets are different. These are available as repros.
duh! sorry, i meant i tried using the 67 disc brake caliper hoses!..no go. the hoses were too short when the wheel was turned all the way to one side.

thanks for the information, Joe! MUCH appreciated!
Old Aug 23, 2010 | 01:48 PM
  #6  
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Originally Posted by scubastever
duh! sorry, i meant i tried using the 67 disc brake caliper hoses!..no go. the hoses were too short when the wheel was turned all the way to one side.
OK, that makes more sense. The 67-68 four piston calipers are totally different from the 69-77 single piston calipers.
Old Aug 24, 2010 | 08:21 PM
  #7  
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Originally Posted by joe_padavano
All of the 69-72 single piston calipers use the banjo fitting hose. The caliper still has female threads, but they are straight threads for the hollow bolt that goes through the banjo fitting.



That doesn't make sense. Every A-body uses the same front brake hose on both sides. The control arms are symmetrical, the frame is symmetrical, the calipers are symmetrical, the spindles are symmetrical. The only reason why the hoses would have been different would be if the hose bracket was not located in the original location.

I've done a bunch of 64-72 A-body disk brake swaps using factory parts. The 69-72 hoses work fine on the 64-68 cars. Use Raybestos P/N BH36691 or Wagner P/N BH73242.

I haven't done a bunch, but, I've done a few (all '67's) and I've installed calipers that used both types of connections.

As for the hoses, when I bought the 69-72 hoses they were too short on the '67's.
I assumed the bracket location for the transition from hard line to hose was different.
As for the length, initially , I bought the same length for both sides and it just didn't work.
Maybe it's just me.
Old Aug 25, 2010 | 07:44 AM
  #8  
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Originally Posted by 67442nut
I haven't done a bunch, but, I've done a few (all '67's) and I've installed calipers that used both types of connections.

As for the hoses, when I bought the 69-72 hoses they were too short on the '67's.
I assumed the bracket location for the transition from hard line to hose was different.
As for the length, initially , I bought the same length for both sides and it just didn't work.
Maybe it's just me.
All I can say is that every single 69-77 single piston caliper that I've ever seen uses the banjo fitting. Again, we're talking about the later calipers, not the four piston calipers.

As for the hose length, I did a swap onto a 65 (which is identical to a 67) and used the 69-72 hoses with no problems.
Old Aug 25, 2010 | 10:42 AM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by joe_padavano
All I can say is that every single 69-77 single piston caliper that I've ever seen uses the banjo fitting. Again, we're talking about the later calipers, not the four piston calipers.

As for the hose length, I did a swap onto a 65 (which is identical to a 67) and used the 69-72 hoses with no problems.
Joe,
Not trying to dispute you.
What you describe is exactly how I expected it should be.
That's why I started out with the correct 69-72 hoses.
I'm just describing what I ran into. The last one I did has been several years ago.
The 69-72 hoses which should have been correct just seemed like they were stretched pretty tightly
when the wheels were cut all the way, so I decided to find longer lines.
I admit I tend to get **** with such things sometimes.

I still have that car. I'll try to get some pics and measurements to show you what I ran into.

I'm also currently finishing up a '67 CS convertible resto that I'll be doing the disc brake conversion on soon.
I'll try to get detailed pics of it as I do the conversion.
Old Aug 25, 2010 | 07:49 PM
  #10  
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this is not my car lol
 
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From: Toronto
these are the hoses i got from Rock Auto, (which i thought were incorrect, but instead seem to be incomplete)


im guessing i need to fabricate some sort of adapter that connects to the hose, and has a banjo fitting to mount on the caliper. i have the single piston caliper set up, and the problem is similar to the one 67442nut seems to mention above. i have tried a set of hoses from a mid-80's Chev Astro, but the hose is 12" long, and when the wheels are turned they get drawn too tight.


Joes recommendation to order the Wagner hose BH73242 seems to be the ticket..i just hope this hose is long enough..


Last edited by scubastever; Aug 25, 2010 at 09:11 PM.
Old Aug 25, 2010 | 09:18 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by scubastever
im guessing i need to fabricate some sort of adapter that connects to the hose, and has a banjo fitting to mount on the caliper. i have the single piston caliper set up, and the problem is similar to the one 67442nut seems to mention above. i have tried a set of hoses from a mid-80's Chev Astro, but the hose is 12" long, and when the wheels are turned they get drawn too tight.

It's been a while, but, I think I ended up using a 14" hose.
I'll pull the wheel off the car tomorrow and get a measurement to confirm.

I just found these on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/69-72...ts_Accessories

Last edited by 67442nut; Aug 26, 2010 at 09:26 AM.
Old Sep 24, 2010 | 11:33 AM
  #12  
scubastever's Avatar
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this is not my car lol
 
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From: Toronto
thanks for everyone's input.

the root cause of the hoses appearing too short was that i had mistakenly inverted the hose brackets left to right !

i removed them when i blasted the frame, and this was the problem.

after switching the brackets left to right, the hose length problem was solved.
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