I have the body off my 70 442 convertible and am in the middle of putting new brake and fuel lines on it. I wanted the original look so I bought the OE "tin" lines from ILT. Now, after reading some of the high end build threads on this site I'm wondering of I made a mistake. It looks like most used the stainless steel. I want these to stay good looking as I don't want to have to do them again. Should I start over with stainless steel? Is there some kind of coating I can put on these to protect them before I put the body back on? Or, am I just obsessing too much?

 

Either sell the steel lines and buy stainless or get used to the idea that they will eventually rust. You can try coating them with clear, but the clear will yellow and chip over time. I just bought complete stainless lines for everything for my 69 H/O. Unfortunately, the line clips are not available in stainless, only original steel, so I will have to coat those.

 

Lets look at this logically. The lines on the car has lasted 47 years with the initial majority used as a daily driver, you won't have to change them again in your lifetime.

 

I read the OP's concern as one of appearances vs. functionality. You are correct that the steel lines will likely last the OP's lifetime for a car that is a weekend cruiser not driven in snow and salt.

 

Joe is correct. What I am concerned about is appearance, even in the short term. I'm building a show car not a driver. I live in hot steamy Georgia and am really concerned about the humidity and dampness just doing a number on the tin in pretty short time. Looks like I will be ordering stainless. Anybody want ta deal on a complete new set of OE style brake and fuel lines?