The brake lines on my 1968 Ford wagon are made of a substance that was probably metal once. I need to learn how to make new ones. This should be pretty basic single flare SAE stuff, but I'm shockingly ignorant about line sizes, fitting sizes, flaring tools, tips and tricks.
I know some of you guys have done this before and have some knowledge to share and I'd really appreciate it.
I can say from experience it's not as easy as it looks. Buy a quality flaring tool. My cheapo one broke the first time I used it.
Eastwood says it's easy!
If you're working from scratch, use wire coat hangers to pre-plan the bends.
This is a very satisfying project as long as you have the right tools on hand. I remade all new lines for my Spitfire last year and learned as I went. I had initially purchased the Eastwood flaring tool. It's a high quality tool but unfortunately didn't work well for the British "bubble" flares I needed for the Spit. I ended up renting a tool from Fedhill for making bubble flares. But the Eastwood tool should work very well for any double flare application. I used copper-nickle tubing. It's easy to bend and form, and available at NAPA. You'll need a sturdy workbench and vise for securing the flaring tool. You'll want to invest in a good tube bender as well (Eastwood). Coffee cans and soup cans might work for bending a radius, but kinks happen, so craftsmen use the proper tool. Having a perfectly square cut is critical to making a good flare, and if your tube cutter isn't making a satisfactory cut, then file it square and deburr it. Another important thing I learned is that the section of tube clamped in the flaring tool needs to be absolutely straight, otherwise the resulting flare won't always be symmetrical around the circumference of the tube. Hand straightening the tubing is difficult when you're unwinding it from a coil. I found that using a tube straightener like this works best: link
Rattle cans make good forms for bending, use straight and flush cuts for the flares. Take it one step at a time.
I'm sure you've seen my comments before of selling vehicles that need brake lines, but I've seen the grosh thread, you have far more patience than I do, you'll need it.
And buy extra, the bulk roll if they don't have ready made pieces available. You'll need it, but it also comes in handy with other projects.
Buy a flaring tool, a roll of 3/16 brake line and a 10 pack of normal old 3/8 fittings. That car should be pretty easy, use objects to rough in the bends, dont kink the line and if possible flare both ends before stuffing the line in the car.
Its usually alot of test fit, make next bend, test fit. Living in ohio ive become really prefecient in this art. Your cars old enough that every fitting should be your basic flare and standard 3/8 fitting.
It doesnt get weird until you get a chassis thats metric and standard all mixed together.
I think anything on a domestic '60s car will be inverted double-flare aka SAE flare. If you don't have to form a new flare on the car, I recommend getting a flaring kit that clamps into a bench vise.
Ha, I remember learning to make flares on our Formula Hybrid car in college. Frustrating at times, to say the least, and that was on a car where we could pretty much fun the lines wherever witness convenient. I bought pre-flared when I had to do the front lines in my XJ.
Like others have said, make sure the ends are cut PERFECTLY square. If you don't have a tubing cutter, buy one. Using a hacksaw or the like generates just enough heat to slightly harden the material, thus decreasing the ductility and making it much harder to form the flare. Check, double check, and then check again for leaks at the fittings when done and expect to find some. That's all I got, good luck.
I actually LOVE doing brake and fuel lines. I think it excites my OCD, and when I'm done, I love seeing those parallel lines and pretty bends.
Get a good bender. I have a snap on bender, nothing else I've tried work well at all. That being said, I'm betting OCT or Eastwood benders are among the few that work well.
Tools incoming. Clearly not going to do this by hand with stainless but I can get it done with the softer copper alloys. When everything is in hand I'll do some test flares on practice pieces and then come back for more tips. Another skill to learn. Sweet.
Put the fitting on BEFORE you make the flare. 
I love my cal-van inline flare tool set. It repeatedly makes a good flare because it clamps onto the tubing in a way that keeps the dies oriented properly. Much better than the bar style. https://www.amazon.com/Cal-Van-Tools-165-Non-CARB-Compliant/dp/B00AOTBVJQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475432080&sr=8-1&keywords=cal-van+master+in+line+flaring+tool+165
In reply to mikeatrpi:
looks like a good kit for not a whole lotta money
If you are spending the good money, mastercool flaring kit. Best tool I've ever bought.
Premade lines from Napa are coated with some anticorrosive plastic?
Ditto on the Mastercool kit. Best $300 you will ever spend. Makes the Eastwood kit look like clownshoes.
bentwrench wrote: Premade lines from Napa are coated with some anticorrosive plastic?
I like and use the pre made lines also. NAPA has assorted lengths and unions of all types and sizes. However you will still need to make some flares.
I just replaced all the lines on my RX7 and used the copper lines from NAPA, very cool stuff. I had planned on piecing together premade lines and it would have worked but having unions made me a bit reluctant. The roll of copper comes in 25' lengths so you can run front to back with no breaks. It was really easy to work with and looks so much cleaner without unions. I was able to take the old lines down complete and use them as templates, if you can't get yours out as a single piece at least try and get the tricky sections out whole to copy them. For the flaring tool, I borrowed one from a parts store and it worked well enough. Like you mentioned take a short section and practice a few before trying it on the finished run. Also remember to put the fitting on first and close to the end if you have any bends near the end. Sucks to think you are all set and the fitting is three bends back and you have to carefully unbend everything and then get it back to where it belongs. Straight cuts on the ends is important too, get a new/good tubing cutter, they are cheap. Good luck, take your time, this is one of those projects that seems really tough but is worth the effort and looks great when completed.
I just finished doing this myself. Biggest thing I have to add is be patient. It took me a heck of a lot longer than I expected but it wasn't difficult to be honest. The biggest issue I had was realizing that it was really a day long job .
Here is helpful hint, when removing the old lines don't bother with wrenches. Cut the line with side cutters right at the edge of the fitting then use a six point socket and you won't round off the old fittings. If it's not a standard fitting you can put it in a vice and knock the old line out with a punch to use on your new line.
In my earlier post I may have sounded a bit anal-retentive about each and every flare being perfect. When it comes to brake lines for my own car, that's how I feel. It's just me. I prefer to see every flare as perfect as I can get it. Especially if you're going to be in some type of competitive event. Having said that, if you've done the best you can do, here's the litmus test: after you've made the flare, wrench it into the union to around 80% tightness. Uncouple it and look for the tell-tale seal mark. If it goes around 360 degrees, then you'll have a good seal. I did that on every union on my Spit, and they didn't leak. 
A trick to get the old lines off without contaminating the system is to heat up the flare nuts, and touch both sides with bees wax. I do it twice and they come off like brand new.
I hate making brake lines. 
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I hate making brake lines.
Buy a Mastercool kit and you'll change your mind!
I have an old blue point flair kit. I have had it for 30 years. One of the first specialty tools I ever got. I also have a couple tube benders. They are cheap and I have found that some work well with small tube while others work better with larger tube.
The single best thing though is the copper nickle tube. It makes everything about making your own brake lines easier.
I have tried some of the fancy flair tools and they are nice but I still always go back to my old blue point.
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