Spent hours today removing the diff and inboard brakes on a '62 Lotus Elite. All fairly straightforward (for a Lotus) but had to resort to cutting through the brake hose to finally get the assembly off the car. Not a problem in itself as I want to replace the old hose anyway, but in the next couple of weeks I'll be refitting it all and the only bit I'm really dreading is refitting the brake hose (I wonder if Chapman ever had to do this kind of thing himself). The whole job would be fairly straightforward if I could connect both ends first and then have some aircraft type connector in the middle that would just push / lock together. Has anyone had any experience of something like this or might be able to suggest a coupling that would be reliable enough for a brake line?

Hi Leon

Try http://www.earls.co.uk/earls/quickdisconnects/earls.html

I have seen them on Race Cars but remember they receive a very high level of maintenance and cleanliness.

I would only use one on a road car if the car had split circuit brakes so the front remains safe if the rear lost fluid.

Dave

Which brake hose, I assume you mean the rear flexy, does it screw directly into the caliper ? The only connector I would use on a brake line would be a brake union.

Yes, the rear flexi. What with the diff, inboard callipers, handbrake brackets and prop all snugly fitted in the fibreglass mouldings it's going to be an absolute pig to get to. I think I'm going to have to get a slightly longer hose made up and bite the bullet. Thanks for the replies