Brake Upgrade Q

[Laffs]

Well, thrown some miles on the old girl this weekend and boy it sure feels faster than I recall. Also feels wayyyyyyy less safe (perhaps I was bravery in my youth).

NEED to upgrade the factory stopping power from its current aged blank rotors and centric pads (shutup). Was going to go with some new Brembo blanks and Hawk pads but wondering if the Cobra front conversion is worth the cost. LMR sell the front conversion for $500 usd ($5000 cdn) where as a good pad and rotor setup is around half that.

Not sure I'm going to be doing any track days in the immediate future but want it to feel more capable slowing from highway speeds. Already did a full line flush with fresh fluid as well.

[RedSN]

Night and day different when I upgraded the GT brakes to the Cobra brakes.

https://photos.smugmug.com/94-Mustang/i-nbwfpvG/0/4589c123/M/newvsold-M.jpg

[RedSN]

I got some factory Ford rotors and pads from fastEd a couple of years ago (to replace the BAER rotors above) that work really well on the street.

edit: double post

[1BAD92LX]

Cobra stuff would be well worth it. I used OEM pads and rotors for the street, OEM rotors and Hawk HP+ on the track front and rear.

[Parkway Ford Lincoln SVT]

The OEM Ford Brembo rotors and Motorcraft pads that Don got are still available. The pads would be $95 + HST, rotors are $160 each + HST. Rotors are nice quality made in Italy Brembos that come with a coating on the non-machined surfaces. For calipers, the new OEM ones are discontinued, and no remans available from Ford. NAPA / CARQUEST / Parts Source / Rock Auto would be your best bet for those likely, unless you find someone selling a good used pair.

[1BAD92LX]

Highly recommend the ford brembo rotors. They take a lot of abuse

[Laffs]

The OEM Ford Brembo rotors and Motorcraft pads that Don got are still available. The pads would be $95 + HST, rotors are $160 each + HST. Rotors are nice quality made in Italy Brembos that come with a coating on the non-machined surfaces. For calipers, the new OEM ones are discontinued, and no remans available from Ford. NAPA / CARQUEST / Parts Source / Rock Auto would be your best bet for those likely, unless you find someone selling a good used pair.

Those are 03/04 Cobra rotors and pads?

[Parkway Ford Lincoln SVT]

Yes, OEM Ford made by Brembo rotors which are the same for 99-04 Cobra, 03-04 Mach I, and 01 Bullitt … those cars all had the same 13" front brakes. Pads are Ford's Motorcraft replacement line which fit all of the 94-04 cars with the 13" brakes.

[Slick_89_Hatch]

I got my calipers through American Muscle and they are Powerstop. Very affordable.

[2DXTRM]

IMO, a better braking setup with a 2 piston caliper/ 13inch rotor setup, Look into the Corvette C5/C6 Z51/Z06 calipers/brackets (PBR).
Larger caliper/pad and uses the entire rotor face. Uses the Cobra 13inch rotor.

BAER sold this as a kit a few years ago.
Slight modification required to the spindle when using the GM brackets (goodluck trying to find the BAER brackets).

[Laffs]

IMO, a better braking setup with a 2 piston caliper/ 13inch rotor setup, Look into the Corvette C5/C6 Z51/Z06 calipers/brackets (PBR).
Larger caliper/pad and uses the entire rotor face. Uses the Cobra 13inch rotor.

BAER sold this as a kit a few years ago.
Slight modification required to the spindle when using the GM brackets (goodluck trying to find the BAER brackets).

This sounds super intriguing, will have to investigate more.

[ZR]

More info here.

https://forums.corral.net/forums/general-mustang-tech/2385081-gm-calipers-corvette-sn95-spindles-cobra-13-rotors.html

[Mellow Yellow]

Laffs I know its a different year, but I upgraded the 05 to 2011 Brembos on front and Hawk pads all around...couldn't believe the difference. At track days there was no heat build up.

[Laffs]

More info here.

https://forums.corral.net/forums/general-mustang-tech/2385081-gm-calipers-corvette-sn95-spindles-cobra-13-rotors.html

Wow. So literally hog out the spindle holes an extra 2mm each, buy corvette banjo bolts, and go. That seems pretty straightforward. Bonus, our shop is full of Vette parts!

[2DXTRM]

Wow. So literally hog out the spindle holes an extra 2mm each, buy corvette banjo bolts, and go. That seems pretty straightforward. Bonus, our shop is full of Vette parts!

Make sure you use the correct caliper bracket as outlined in that thread.

If you subject the brakes to extra heat (ie. road course racing, auto X etc), DOUG RIPPIE Motorsports has a kit to upgrade the aluminum pistons to stainless steel.
http://dougrippie.com/products/drm-stainless-steel-pistons/

[Laffs]

I don't think Baer still makes the direct fit bracket, so looks like I gotta find the Z51 brake bracket and modify my spindle to accept bigger bolts.

[2DXTRM]

If you have 18s, here is one more "budget" big brake setup to consider.

S197 GT calipers and 14inch S197 Boss/GT500 Rotors on the 94-04 spindles using this bracket kit.
https://www.fullytorquedracing.com/mustang/sn95-1994-1998/sn95-brakes/sn95-14in-brake-kit.html

[dbovine]

I did the cobra brake upgrade last year. What I did was ordered the Calipers from Rock Auto, and Ebay for the pads and rotors. I was able to do the calipers, stainless lines, rotors and the G2 Paint kit for less than the kit from American Muscle. Though I could pick them up in Michigan, so I saved on shipping for the Calipers. Edit* Also my calipers showed up as new calipers, not remanned

https://i.imgur.com/PMVX5Hq.jpg

[ZR]

FYI, caliper brackets need to be flipped side to side. Installed like that, caliper can dislodge.

http://ddilts.net/mustangs/85_mustang/Cobra_Brakes/Cobra%20Brakes%20013s.jpg