'96 chevy astro awd brake line help

'96 chevy astro awd...

yesterday wife was heading to the store... hit the stoppers and the pedal went to the floor... nothing happend... she ended up blowing a red light... thankfuly it was late and no one was around... she ended up using the e=brake to slow down and get safely home...

went out to look at it when she got home and yup the pedal sunk to the floor... couldn't find a flashlight so nothing else I could do... this morning I verified it... yup empty brake resovoure... it's a Michigan van so I expected one of the lines may have cracked or rusted... or a cut hose... no nicks or cuts in the hoses (and replaced in the last year along with rotors, pads, calipers) but I found fresh brake fluid dripping along the front cross member... I assume it cracked the line that runs across there

I know I need to go pick up a shop manual before I do this but how much work am I looking at to get down to this line?... am I going to be better off rolling my own line or buying a factory replacement (figure it'll be a lot cheaper rolling my own)

any insight? thanks mark

PS on the plus side... this gives me a good excuse to buy a vac brake bleeder :)

$10.00 in parts and some manual excersize.

Cut the ends off the old line and remove it.

Remove the old fittings.

Get an appropriate piece of new line, get fitting adapters if needed as well, also get a quart of brake fluid.

Bend the new line to closely match the old line.

Install new line.

Pour brake fluid in reservoir.

Bleed brakes

In reply to donalson:

I'd be surprised if you can even buy a OE replacement line. Even if you could getting it in place would probably be a bear. Take your time and do a nice job on the inverted flares.

thansk john ;-)... biggest thing i'm wondering is how much will I need to remove? to get down there? lol...

Go from the bottom up.

... got under the van... looks like the rear line is also leaking... right next to the fuel tank... looks like it's going to be a fun few days...

gm sure made this a PITA to get to... gota love vans...

i creatively rerouted the rear brake lines in my 94. Did wheel cylinders while I was there.

Our AWD safari of the same model blew the brakes, but it blew the lines right before the master cylinder. Same deal.. stop sign, no brakes, E brake pull + curb for the stop.

lol... the e-brake pull is the key... as it is a pedal... that I can't get to with out opening the door... good thing my wife was driving it had it been me i'd have to drive, get the door open... and get my leg up there... part of the fun of beeing a leggy 6'4 guy lol