And the winner is... Mark Sirota! He came closest to getting it right.
Back in the old days (80s for you non-geezers) SS brake lines were
allowed in all classes. In fact there were the rage. But there were a
lot of problems. For one, there were no DOT-approved ones - those are
the ones that have swivels on the ends. Tbe only kind you could buy were
really for racing only. You had to be very careful how you installed
them otherwise they would either bind or come loose as the wheel went up
and down. They would also abrade if they came in contact with anything
so you had to be very careful how you installed them. They are still
considered an expendable part on race cars and should be replaced on a
reegular basis. There were also lots of cheapo suppliers who sold you
substandard parts where the ends would actually pop off after some
period of use. But the ones from Earl's were fantastic! I had a set on
my '84 944. When I tore the LF wheel off in an accident the only thing
holding it to the body was the SS brake line. I never replaced them and
put over 100K miles on them without any kind of problem.
When the SEB decided to make the stock class more stock in the early 90s
they were tossed along with 040 over engines. But there were still a lot
of autocrossers who had them installed so the allowance for existing
cars was written into the rules.
Personally, I think there is nothing wrong with them given you purchase
them from a reputable supplier such as Earls who actually tests each and
every one of them under pressure to ensure they are manufactured
correctly, you install them correctly, and you keep an eye on them and
replace them when they start abrading since there is only a thin tube of
teflon under the SS covering. They are great for racing because it is
much much harder for you to lose a brake line in case you go
agricultural, you take a hard hit, etc. etc. They are also not as prone
to swelling due to the SS covering so they typically give you a firmer
pedal.
Paul Foster
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