I'll be looking at my brake hoses soon as I''ve just about run out of adjustment on the front shoes so will be replacing those (and probably the cylinders too while it's all apart). I see there are braided versions available as well as the standard. I imagine the braid is supposed to resist bulging under pressure from the fluid within?
Is this actually an issue with the Minor's little brakes? It looks to me like the braid wll just obscure the condition of the rubber and rust away? What's the point?
I make my own braided lines with a kit I bought yeeeeeears ago. It uses a rigid Teflon liner with a stainless outer braid. There is no rubber in it to rot out so it doesn't bulge. You can feel the difference in the pedal. Very hard by comparison.
Firstly there is nothing wrong with good quality rubber/fabric brake pipes as fitted as original equipment to the Minor.
What does happen with the Minor brake hose is that the inside material of the pipe breaks down and the outside starts to crack over long use.
The internal breakdown cannot be seen but manifests itself in bulging brake pipes and can restrict the flow of brake fluid to the cylinders.
The external cracking can be seen and if in any doubt or more serious the fabric centre can be seen the pipe should be replaced.
The braided stainless steel brake pipes are better than the standard Morris minor issue in that they do not expand under pedal pressure and the braid stops any flying stones etc from damaging the pipes.
The down side is that the internal tube material (PTFE Goodridge) cannot be examined.
I would suggest that the installation date is written down and the hoses replaced after a pre-determined period. The date of manufacture is given on the Goodridge box. I have installed Goodridge hoses on my Minor fitted with Marina disc brakes and use Goodridge kit SAH0501-3P.
I also use a braided hose on the hydraulic clutch release mechanism as the clutch fitted to my Minor takes a lot of pedal pressure to disengage.
