Removing Teves II - have some questions

I’m in the process of removing the Teves II unit on my 88 to swap in a vacuum assist set up. I have a couple of questions:
1) does anyone have any tips on getting to the top two bolts inside the cabin at the firewall? The bottom two weren’t that bad but I can barely get to the top two.
2) I wasn’t paying attention and started to round the flare nut on the hard line closest to the front of the car. This is the hardline for the driver side brake caliper. Does anyone have any tips on removing this thing? Or should I just cut/break the line and then make a new one after I get the Teves II unit out?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated

My opinion on stubborn brake fittings is that while you might choose/have to use vice grips, etc. to get the fitting loose and off, by doing so you’ve likely also made it very difficult to properly retighten that fitting. Since this is the brakes we are talking about, that’s not something you’d want, obviously.

Gather together what you’ll need to remake the connection—new fitting and flaring tool—and just cut the line. Be certain that you have enough of the existing line to reconnect the new fitting (since it will now be shorter).

In the mid 1990s I thought It would be a good idea to replace all the brake lines on my TC, which I did using the best steel tubing I could find, bending it and where needed making my own new fitting connections. In retrospect it was probably a wasted effort (not really needed) but I did learn a lot about this stuff.

The best replacement brake line is NiCop (Nickel - Copper) line. It is super easy to bend and flare, and will never rust or corrode. I have used it many times on many cars with great success. The down side is it costs about 50% more than steel line. I buy mine on Ebay in bulk rolls for a decent price.

Yes, now that I think about it that’s probably what I did get.

What made me rethink it was Jeff’s comment about it being “super easy to bend and flare.” I recall thinking at the time how what I thought was going to be a difficult job (I’d flared steel tubing before) was actually pretty easy.

One more thing I remembered about the experience: Harbor Freight has an inexpensive tubing bender for $8. Don’t do what I did then and use one of the simple ones—i.e. just a disk with a groove in it attached to a handle. There is a stop near the bottom of the handle where the rest of the tubing is supposed to fit against. I didn’t know any better then, but it made the job more difficult than it should have been.