It's time for rear discs, got a few questions.

[BlackVic_P71]

I read through an older thread about putting a different rear on a box and just wanted to make sure I'm clear.
In the thread it said you can use the hard line that is on a box and flare the ends to connect to the flex lines for the calipers, what size/type is that flare?
I have never done brake lines before, but it doesn't seem that difficult(famous last words...).
I only noticed today that the lines are quite different when I pulled the rear out of my '89, the rear I have from a '97 has no lines on it(just the e-brake cable and ABS sensor wiring came with it).
My car had a single connection in the middle to both sides, would that be good to go with the rear discs?
I also rounded off the fitting to the rear, I guess taking something apart that had been connected for 27 years is not always gonna come out perfect. I want to replace that fitting too, it would just mean nipping the very end of the line off and putting a new fitting on then flaring it, right?

[His Royal Ghostliness]

The hoses attached to your disc brake calipers want to see 10mm fitting with a bubble flare from the steel line going into them. You'll have to buy said fittings from a parts store if you didn't grab some from your donor vehicle. The bubble flare calls for its own tool to make it, there are ways to cheat but you're on your own to figure them out, you can probably guess why that is.

How you hook the whole thing up is you indeed have to cut the ends of the factory '89 lines where they bend up near the old wheel cylinders, then you have to slide the 10mm line nuts onto the lines, and form the aforementioned bubble flare. Then you route the hoses from the calipers to where they can reach the steel lines. The hoses have brackets on the ends that take the steel lines, you can attach those to the axle tube or the lower control arm bracket in any way that works for you. Wish I had taken pics of the last one I did, it came out real nice and looked almost factory-like...

[jaywish]

There are also adapters to go from sae to metric/bubble if the lines are in excellent condition and worth swapping over. You probably need to just make new lines for the top of the new housing.

Assuming you are not planning ABS then just duplicate the old style factory setup. One line to center of housing. A hose into a "T" and a line to each end of the housing.

If you have not flared lines before, take your time and follow directions faithfully for good results. Don't forget to put the fitting on the line before you make the flare!

And yes HRG does make nicely curved brake lines.

You could get a coil of the the coated steel line which has good expected life or the more expensive Nickle/copper line which is easier to bend & flare plus it has longer life. You could also buy pre-made steel lines in various lengths which have fitting on the ends. Then use an adapter to go to the metric/bubble caliper. The down size of this is you need extra bends to "squeeze/shorten" the pre-made lines into the size you need. I have used the pre-mades and cut them to length after bending them in place and flared just one end.

Make sure there are no rub points on the new lines. Except at retaining brackets the line should be suspended in the air. It does take patience/technique to get it all to fit together well. One hint is, do not tighten everything down until all the connections are made.

It is easier to make the lines while the rear is out of the car.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Agreed that a full line replacement on the axle may be needed, depends on where the OP lives and where the car spent most of its life (the salt belt east them alive while down south even factory stuff can still be like new).

Definitely easier to make lines with axle out from under the car, but it's not that big of a deal nothing compared to the nightmare that is the Mk7 setup (1/4" line, tight bends, flattened from the factory in several locations, just horrible).

Green-coated steel line makes perfect metric bubble flares and decent doubles. Ni-Copp makes excellet SAE double flares, metric bubble can be a bitch even with a good tool. Pick your poison, for axle lines I'd go with Ni-Copp despite the bubble flaring PITA.

Just realize I actually can still get pics of the car I mentioned earlier, so tomorrow I'll show you a good way to route the lines & hoses.

[87gtVIC]

I used J clips and bolted the rubber lines to the axle at the shock mount and used the adapters to give me the metric bubble flare end for the hoses.

[gadget73]

Mine has no over the axle line. The rear lines are routed like a 90s car and the hoses go to the frame. Only 4 hoses on the car that way instead of 5. The whole rear line got replaced when that was done, and the center rubber line wasn't going to let go. Part of it is still there, with it's bolt rust welded in place.

[BlackVic_P71]

Agreed that a full line replacement on the axle may be needed, depends on where the OP lives and where the car spent most of its life (the salt belt east them alive while down south even factory stuff can still be like new).

Definitely easier to make lines with axle out from under the car, but it's not that big of a deal nothing compared to the nightmare that is the Mk7 setup (1/4" line, tight bends, flattened from the factory in several locations, just horrible).
s.

It's a New York car so the fittings are one piece now coated in rust and bound for life.
I will make a new line to go over the axle and have most of what I need to do this either here or on its way here, I'll get a long coil of tubing so I can replace more later when I do more stuff.

The center T bolts into the top of the housing and the '97 housing has no bolt hole for that so I'll make something to hold it using the top diff cover bolt.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

My solution to rust-welded center hose bolt or complete lack thereof is a '90s F150 4x4 rear brake hose. It clips into the frame bracket just like the panther hose, but it's long enough to where it will reach the top axle cover bolts without ever coming even remotely close to being stretched by the suspension. It's bolted to the truck axle via the vent tube, so in case of Panther use you just remove one of the cover bolts and replace it with a longer one that goes thru the block at the end of the hose, then thru a washer or two, then thru the axle cover, and into the axle housing. Since now your ports are right there on the back side of the axle making the new lines becomes a piece of cake as they no longer need to clear the mounting ears of the upper control arms. Additionally, just like the factory hose, the truck one also has a 3/8"-threaded left port and 7/16"-threaded right port - 3/8" is the thread for your standard 3/16" brake line nuts, 7/16" is typically used for 1/4" brake line but there are also semi-special (in that they are not used very often) oversized 3/16"-line nuts too, you can get both the standard and oversized line nuts in your parts store usually in packs of 5.