welder029

Hi basically wondering what tool you guys use to flare the rear steel lines on the Subaru ? Have to do a repair from the brass connector block then join it under the rear seat , problem is I can't find a decent tool that will flare the steel lines on the Subaru without giving a rough flare. Tryed 1 off Amazon that cost £35 and it's garbage got 1 flare out of it now it just makes a mess

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

Buy a decent one, dont get a monkey metal one, it needs to work hard flaring the OE pipes, they are harder to flare than copper.
hth

welder029

That's the problem finding a decent tool that will fit in before the bend , think a might need to splice it further down the line on the straight where it runs under the plastics towards the front of the car

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

Make the joint on a straight, you can unclip the pipes to give a little more room, don't make the job any harder than it needs to be.

welder029

Am sure further down you go the pipe has plastic coating on it suppose I can always cut that back with a knife

John 37

I use one similar to this
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hand-Held-O...2-382cdb5bf04f
I've had it for about 40 years. It's only used diy but has copletely repiped at least 3 cars. Only thing I've done is to flash the clamp faces on a surface grinder occasionally to tighten up their hold as it's worn.

welder029

Thats the one I bought off Amazon , it's giving a rough flare on kunifer and on the OE steel pipes it won't even look at them , when a first got it , it did about one flare on steel then just gave up ,sending it back to Amazon

welder029

Maybe I just got unlucky with the tool I bought off Amazon being defective ,tho I bet your tool from 40 year ago is made of better steel , mine will be a tawain or China job

John 37

Don't want to be too obvious but...
If you're doing a trumpet shape flare, you have to do a bell shape flare first.
The other thing to watch is that the tool hold the pipe firmly. If not, the pipe can slip through the clamp. Clean the faces of the clamp with emery to make sure they're perfectly flat. Sometimes the plating can be a bit rough stopping the 2 halves clamping tight.

welder029

I know that lol , it's an Sae double flare I'm doing , flare with 1 first turn it around flare with 2 , also use grease or brake fluid , my tools just leaving a really rough flare , as a said first ones were ok now it's just making a mess , and yes have a deburring tool and a file , a was just hoping someone would have a link to a tool that you can buy today that they've had success with cheers for the reply