Got the job done - gawd what a PITA routing the line. I cut the hard line at the connection to the flex hose. That allowed me to get a 6 point socket on it and break it free. Either I need a better set of flare wrenches or I will pick up another one and grind the sides flat. The actual engagement surfaces of the wrenches are fine the issue seems to be that they are set in from the bottom surface - kind of like they are countersunk. This means that your engagement of the nut is not on the full height of the nut but only the upper part. Grinding away the countersink on the wrench would eliminate this. Incidentally sockets are this way as well but it is not nearly as pronounced. Removing the rest of the line was relatively easy as I was free to cut it and I toll it off in three pieces.

I would suspect that this job quoted at a dealer would be somewhere in the $2K range, I think they would drop the whole rear suspension - route the line then put the suspension back in.

Putting the new line in can be done without moving any of the suspension. Obviously my bends are no where near as crisp as the factory, but you can snake a single long line up over the rear suspension and follow essentially the same path as the factory. I was able to run from the right rear wheel past the transmission and engage two of the factory clips - this route was went very well with no contact points between the new line and any other hard points. Routing over the suspension was a major challenge and that is where you basically have no hope of following the exact factory route. Just keep working to minimize any contact points.

What I did do on any part I was worried about contacting a piece of metal or another hard point is slit some flexible tubing (I used clear tubing that I use for brake bleeding and running very low pressure CO2 for home brew because I had it around) and run it over the brake line. This is similar to what was on various parts of the original factory line. Low pressure rubber hose from the auto parts store may work better but I didn't have any handy.

Once over the suspension, routing to the front was really easy (its a straight run).

I think I will work on the homemade flare tool - I now have the die and tube holding blocks for 4.75mm din flares. I figure a small arbor press - one or two ton - to make the flare. Once I have that worked out I'll look at how to make one that can be used on the car.

Paul