[garage_engineer]

Catching up on some more updates:

Next up was cleaning up the spaghetti mess that was my brake lines. I am running a Wilwood proportioning valve, which requires different threads than the stock third gen lines. My plan was to re-bend the stock lines to mate up with the proportioning valve and then use an adapter to convert from a metric to a standard flare:



I was able to get them reasonably organized, but in the end they were just too stiff and too long for what I needed. I ended up kinking one which was the nail in the coffin for these stock lines. And so began the rabbit hole of bending up custom brake lines... little did I know this would be one of the most challenging parts of this whole project!

I bought some standard steel brake line from my local auto parts store and a couple of different bending tools:


I first made some templates using an old metal clothes hanger and then tried to match it as close as I could in the real brake lines. This took me many tries to get right, but once I got used to the bending tools I got the hang of it. The lines definitely are not perfect but they seal up OK and will get the job done:








I bled the whole system using ATE TYP 200 high temp DOT4 brake fluid. I've been using this for a while and really like it... I've never boiled and it's pretty cheap!


Next I made some custom spark plug wires using a kit from MSD:






Lastly for tonight, I finally got my fresh set of front Koni shocks delivered so I could button up my front suspension. I paired those with some new caster/camber plates from UMI and a new set of bolts from Spohn. I've been trying to be good about using new bolts in critical areas wherever I can, like the strut bolts, control arms, etc. For those new to this thread, my control arms also have Delrin bushings and QA1 tall ball joints installed and my brakes are C6 Z51 13.4" rotors I installed using a kit from bigbrakeupgrade.com. I also upgraded to larger 1LE front bearings. There are certainly a lot of nicer parts out there like tubular control arms and expensive struts but I think my set up is a pretty good compromise of budget and performance. As I get better as a driver I can always upgrade later!











That's it for tonight, more updates soon. Getting close!