rpg51

It is hard to imagine that the hard brake line from the master cylinder to the rear wheel is rusted out give the age, mileage, and manner of storage of this car. I still sense that something may be getting lost in the translation here, but, it does sound like that is what you are being told. The way the system works is that a metal brake line (seems to be referred to as "pipe" in your link) or "hard" brake line it is sometimes called, runs from the brake master cylinder under the hood on the drivers side firewall to a point near each of the wheels. From there the hard line connects to a short flexible hose or line (oem is rubber but you can also use braided stainless) and then the other end of the flexible hose attaches to the brake caliper at the wheel. The brake line needs to have this flexible part at the end to allow for the movement of the wheels up and down and turning while driving.

Re stainless v rubber (oem) flexible brake lines, (the short section that goes from the end of the hard lines to the wheels) my take is that for street driving oem (rubber) is the way to go and that is what I would do unless I was using the car as a track car. But yes, some folks do "upgrade" to braided stainless for the flexible brake lines. Either will work. See this video for info about whether to choose OEM rubber, or braided stainless:

Slowcrash_101

Changing out the hard lines is very difficult on this car. Much easier to use a coupler and another section of hard line, if in fact it is leaking.

rpg51

This is an odd story. I think it is best not to jump all over mechanics until we are sure that the message is being conveyed by the member accurately. Sometimes it feels like we are trying to diagnose a problem over two tin cans and a string. I just think we need to realize that the message from the mechanic does sometimes get pretty garbled by the time it reaches a post here.

To the OP - unless you have some experience, my suggestion is to let the good mechanic you found get the parts and do the work. You have to trust someone at some point. But, if it involves replacing hard brake lines it is not an easy job and it will not be cheap. I do a lot of my own work, I have rebuilt several engines in my life and put together old worn out vehicles to keep them on road, but I would not attempt to replace the hard brake lines on m S. i would find someone who has done it before and hire them. Also, you have what sounds like a great ap1 with low miles but it has been stored a long time and it may not have been put into storage properly etc. For what its worth I think you should be prepared for more troubles to pop up as you press it back into service. If it were me in this situation, I would not drive that car across the country until I had a long list of maintenance items done, and until I had driven it for a while to tease out problems. I would do these things:

Oil and filer change
Transmission oil change
Differential oil change
Clutch fluid change
Brake fluid change and careful brake inspection for proper function replacing parts where needed
New tires - (if over 6-7 years old)
Alignment if needed
Inspect battery and replace if needed
Replace spark plugs
Adjust valves
Flush and replace coolant
Replace engine air filter
Replace cabin air filter

Jay Li

Thank you everyone for your advice and input. The good thing here is that this mechanic is trusted by a close friend who has a vintage car and has had him do plenty of work on it. Apologies if any of my information got lost in translation, as I'm clearly not knowledgeable about the ins and outs of cars.

It does appear that one of the hard brake lines rusted out, and the other one isn't in great shape, so both are being replaced. He also recommended replacing the brake hoses (lines), rebuilding the calipers, and replacing the rotors. He also noted that my fuel line had a leak, and he's fixing that as well. He's doing an overall check on on the car, including fluid changes and refills, tires, etc. All-in, it looks like this will end up costing between $2-2.5k, for more work than the dealer had estimated for, which would have been around $4.5k after taxes. It seems as though the dealer's diagnosis was right, but also that their cost was massively inflated - more than I would have reasonably expected.

I'm happy to know that my car is in good, trusted hands, and can't wait to use this car on a regular basis soon! Also thanks for posting that video link, it was really helpful!

One last question - what tires do people like these days? I remember the OEM Potenza S-02s were expensive and it still seems like TireRack is the only place I can find them so I figured I would explore other options.

B serious

Today's equivalent to the RE050 and S03 is the current S04. But I heard that is on its way out too?

Firestone has something too. Indy...500...firehoval...firecreek...
the name escapes me.

rpg51

Sounds like you are on the right track.

The S04 mentioned above is not available in 16".

in 16" - consider these in no particular order - all are going to meet your needs just fine.

Conti Extremecontact Sport
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

I recommend avoid the S02 these days. Tires above are a LOT cheaper and probably better all around tires for street use.

Enjoy your car!

datadr

I second the Firehawks. For the price, there's nothing better.