**RESOLVED**

Just looking for guidance on flaring. I bought a standard flaring kit by k-tool--not the most expensive, but reviews were decent at the time. It's obviously flawed and can't make a straight flare. So, I bought a Napa flaring tool, a $100 kit which you can make flares on the vehicle. It made beautiful flares for the 3/16" line. The 1/4" were ok--the adapter got stuck a couple of times causing distortion, so I sanded the end of the adapter and that's ok to connect the rubber hoses. I had a little trouble with the 5/16" inverted flare--it slipped the first time, but the second time was a flare to be proud of. I figured I just didn't tighten it down enough the first time. I installed all the lines to the front end, to the line cage, etc, and that was a major pain. I had left the lines a little long so I could just flare the other ends on the car so I could make sure the bends were in the right spot and everything was lined up. I flared the brake lines, no problem.

But this 5/16" line...I've wasted so much tube trying, there's not much left before I have to take the line out. The Napa tool refuses to hold. I wasted a couple of inches trying, but then in the course of trying to get it tight enough, bent the line in a manner that the tube nut wouldn't fit over it, so I had to cut that off. I then tried with a different flaring tool--not the k-tool, but one which clamps well but doesn't have adapters (was my dad's)--makes good flares off the vehicle using the adapter from the Napa set, but two times of trying that on the vehicle, and no, it's just smashing them at an angle.

The Napa is a special order tool. I could take it exchange it, wait for the new one and hope the next one works. I'm wondering if there's a different idea. Would loc-tite work? Another adhesive? Do you know of a foolproof tool?

I really don't want to have to remove these lines that I already fought with and risk bending them up. They are ni-copp.

 

I ended up ordering adapters for the mastercool hydra-flare tool, as I have the yoke, and those will be in next week. I'm going to take the Napa flaring set back. I found there are a lot of companies that make inline tools for the 3/16 line, which is the only one that actually worked well out of the Napa set, but not for the 5/16 to be purchased separately.