Just had an MOT fail on corroded rear brake pipes, so need to buy some pipe and a flaring tool. When I looked at what was for sale on eBay, the flaring tools were about equally metric and imperial. I measured the OD of my existing pipes at 4.71mm which is only a whisker off 3/16". Is this right? Does a thoroughly metric Polo have imperial brake pipe sizes? Thanks in advance.

3/16" is fine, pretty much standard size for all cars.

As far as flaring tools go, you get what you pay for. Mine was about £30 but I can't fault it.

If you buy this sort of thing http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7PC-NEILSEN-DOUBLE-P...=item5d2b6fb0bd it will piss you off.

Good man, thanks for the tip. Cheers!

most car shops will make a pipe for £5-10 ..measure with string and ask for 10x 1 mm ends

3/16" copper pipe is what you want. Steel pipe will work but it's harder to work with and will require a more expensive flaring tool. Unless you plan on doing this often you'd probably be better off getting a motor factor to make the pipe up to the correct length, then bend and fit it yourself.

3/16" is fine, pretty much standard size for all cars.

As far as flaring tools go, you get what you pay for. Mine was about £30 but I can't fault it.

If you buy this sort of thing http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7PC-NEILSEN-DOUBLE-P...=item5d2b6fb0bd it will piss you off.

Any recommendations on a good quality flaring tool? I've got a cheapy set and as you say it's pretty crap; the 3/16" die is a slightly loose fit in the copper pipe and the flares end up off centre half the time. It took me ages to make up a couple of lines I was happy with.

another option is to buy the brake pipe from the vw dealer, it will come supplied cut to length with flares and nuts etc and it will be pre-bent to the correct shape, they are approx £10

'Fraid you wouldn't get anybody to make up pipes for £10 in London! I thought of the dealer route but on balance, I reckon the easiest thing would be to cut both pipes as they pass the fuel tank and make up add-on bits to fit the whole of the back end. The MOT guy was absolutely right - the pipes are in a terrible state and I just hadn't noticed. I need new brake hoses and clips as well so I've bought a medium-priced flaring tool (which I can put on eBay afterwards), 25' of cupro-nickel pipe and loadsa male and female connectors. Probably going to do it all on Monday or Tuesday - will report back. Thanks for the input.

Nice to see you're still running your silver loon Labougie,haven't seen you about here for some time.

Well i went to my nearest back street garage and bunged them a score to replace the rear brake lines. They used copper so it wont need doing again. I saw no point buying the tools to do it myself when i was unlikely to use it again.

where have you been ...any progress on the weber tuning etc ?

3/16" is fine, pretty much standard size for all cars.

As far as flaring tools go, you get what you pay for. Mine was about £30 but I can't fault it.

If you buy this sort of thing http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7PC-NEILSEN-DOUBLE-P...=item5d2b6fb0bd it will piss you off.

Any recommendations on a good quality flaring tool? I've got a cheapy set and as you say it's pretty crap; the 3/16" die is a slightly loose fit in the copper pipe and the flares end up off centre half the time. It took me ages to make up a couple of lines I was happy with.

personally, I'd avoid the type that look like this:

I've never been able to get on with them, half the flares end up being lop sided and therefore useless. Although it may be more down to user error than the tool

Vice mounted ones are the best for making new pipes off the car. But when I did all the lines on my polo I borrowed one of these off a mate:

but they are about £100 to buy new.

another option is to buy the brake pipe from the vw dealer, it will come supplied cut to length with flares and nuts etc and it will be pre-bent to the correct shape, they are approx £10

my dealer says they sell you the pipe and ends... that's all. Or will make you one to the quoted length, but it wont be bent or anything.

Etka that i've seen only has 1 part number for the piping itself with various lengths.

Mine's a Sikes Pikavant (bet I've spelt that wrong) one, handheld job, so you can use it under a car. It's like a pair of pliers that you grip the pipe with then the former spins round and sits dead centre over the pipe.

another option is to buy the brake pipe from the vw dealer, it will come supplied cut to length with flares and nuts etc and it will be pre-bent to the correct shape, they are approx £10

my dealer says they sell you the pipe and ends... that's all. Or will make you one to the quoted length, but it wont be bent or anything.

Etka that i've seen only has 1 part number for the piping itself with various lengths.

ah that's interesting, they must have changed it then.. for the new models you buy the brake pipes pre-formed ready to fit. might be that they've just cut down the amount of parts they will supply for older cars

Thinks that's exactly the case.