Brake and Clutch lines plus the Booster

Hydraulics

So, this vehicle is not so old as not to have the most modern of brake and clutch systems:  Hydraulics.  I can only imagine what it must have been like to drive an early brass-era car with cables everywhere, stretching and breaking.

But, I digress.  My paint guy paid no particular attention to my brake lines, assuming I would (naturally) replace them.  But he was assuming that my truck would suffer the typical rusting of the American Muscle he deals with more regularly.  But this is Toyota.  And Toyota saved all the "bad" steel for the sheet metal.  The bolts and other miscellaneous steel parts must have been invented by Einstein because all of it is perfect.  This includes the brake and clutch lines.

As an aside (and a well deserved plug for Toyota), I've owned a few Toys and each and every one of them excels in this area.  It's hard to imagine a bolt coming out as shiny and clean as it went in, but it happens all the time.  I replaced many bolts because the plating was gone from the heads and I did not want to paint them.  Here is an example of bolts that threaded into the frame and were exposed at both ends.  The threads themselves were amazing!  This is the rule and not the exception, and of the hundreds and hundreds of bolts removed, I found two needing heat and penetrating oil.  One on the running board and one on the spare tire bracket.

So, the lines from the master brake and clutch cylinders have been hanging from my ceiling and I really wasn't too thrilled with the task.  I had already cleaned them and the steel looked pretty good.  But this is not just any restoration.  Do I paint?  No, yes, no... shit.  Then the light came on.  I had bought a series of "Duplicolor" automotive paints for another project a while back and they were varying hues of silver. maybe I had one that was a match to the lines!  Lo and behold, this was the case, so, a-painting I went.  To start, I applied tape over the threads, then I coated (twice) with my favorite self etching (gray) primer.  Then, using every last drop of the color I liked best, painted the three lines.  I did this at dusk and it was cold, so I was working fast, but to my surprise, I got it right!  Here are a few:

Brake booster

I had restored the brake booster several years ago and as you might expect there were a few spots of concern, so I went ahead and cleaned, sanded and repainted it.  here it is in process, and I'll record the installation next time.

Tape over the bellows and mounting threads

Chip Guard paint by SEM (great product)

Making a gasket 

Goes between firewall and booster

Thanks for reading the blog.  I still have no idea how or why someone in Brazil is reading this!!!  See you next time, when I hope to make progress toward firing up the engine by completing the wiring harness, installing the new electronic ignition.