new here

[maui]

new here, first post etc.... Just bought a contemporary classic Cobra a couple days ago and someone recommended this site.

I really don't know much about the manufacture of this car. It seems reasonably well built. The car has what seems like a very stock sounding 428 and a top loader. An educated guess would be the 3.31 in the rear end.

I'm not totally confident with the brakes. I think the first place I should start is getting a better understanding of what parts were used, upgrades etc. Any advice on upgrading is appreciated.

[xb-60]

Welcome maui.

Congratulations on the CCX purchase. Tell us a bit more about the car, and as soon as you have enough posts, you could include some pictures.

Cheers,
Glen

[olddog]

Welcome to the insanity. It's wonderful!

[1795]

Congrats and welcome to the site. There are quite a few people with Contemporary Cobra's on this site.

[Seagull81]

Welcoe to the Cobra family! Where are you located?

[maui]

sorry, been having a hard time logging back in, no teen agers in my house anymore so computers are scary again.

thanks for the welcome.

The car looks like it has not been driven much. Someone took an abrasive disc to "clean up" the front disc which I was not too pleased with. Also by the state of the battery hold down (missing) my guess is that the car was not really driven hard or it would have tumbled the battery across the trunk.

I'd like to replace the front disc and pads asap. Are they a stock mustang part or..? I didn't get any real information from the last owner other than he had taken it as part of a trade on a previous car. He thought is was a basic 428, not a CJ or police interceptor etc.

I live in Maui (hence my name). I have a small shop here though I am mostly retired from that life. I also have a shop at Thunderhill in California where I keep a few motorcycles...for scientific reasons...

All things fast are good with me.

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by maui

sorry, been having a hard time logging back in, no teen agers in my house anymore so computers are scary again.

thanks for the welcome.

The car looks like it has not been driven much. Someone took an abrasive disc to "clean up" the front disc which I was not too pleased with. Also by the state of the battery hold down (missing) my guess is that the car was not really driven hard or it would have tumbled the battery across the trunk.

I'd like to replace the front disc and pads asap. Are they a stock mustang part or..? I didn't get any real information from the last owner other than he had taken it as part of a trade on a previous car. He thought is was a basic 428, not a CJ or police interceptor etc.

I live in Maui (hence my name). I have a small shop here though I am mostly retired from that life. I also have a shop at Thunderhill in California where I keep a few motorcycles...for scientific reasons...

All things fast are good with me.

Contemporary offered Wilwood brakes as an option, as you can see in these threads:
Brakes
Wilwood Brakes
Wilwood Brakes

If you don't have Wilwoods, you may have Jaguar brakes:
About to start brake upgrade project

You might be interested in this thread:
"Contemporary used Wilwood, Girling and Dunlop calipers. Depends on what generation the car is as earlier cars are usually Dunlop. I just replaced mine with Wilwood 4 piston aluminum calipers and stainless lines. 100x improvement over original as they are 2008 technology. They are about $150 for each caliper and the lines are around $15. The direct bolt on bracket can be sourced from http://actoncustom.com it is where I purchased mine."
contemporary front brakes

[maui]

thats super helpful information. I think a call to Wilwood may be in order. I ran a set of their disc brakes 30 years ago on a drag car and was underwhelmed. Looking back though it was probably a case of me not having the appropriate master cylinder.

given the choice between fixing the existing system, or upgrading it seems to be a no brainer.

[1985 CCX]

Yes, Wilwood was a great upgrade as I too did that.
Do you need a CCX handbook-manual, if so email me and I'll send it.

Also look through the CCX forum here, lots of good stuff.
Dropping rear spring rate also helped mine in handling.
Great cars, plenty of help here.....

You ever see Kei and Miki, think they have their Midstates on the island. They also have a 8000 car. Great folks, say hello if you see them.

[cycleguy55]

Perhaps everyone already knows this, but follow brake manufacturers' directions PRECISELY whenever bedding or breaking in new components like pads and rotors. Properly done it makes a huge difference. I've even performed the process on old pads and rotors and noticed a significant improvement. It's probably worth de-glazing them before doing it, but just getting them good and hot then letting them cool before stopping the car seems to really help.

Just my $0.02.

[maui]

Originally Posted by 1985 CCX

Yes, Wilwood was a great upgrade as I too did that.
Do you need a CCX handbook-manual, if so email me and I'll send it.

Also look through the CCX forum here, lots of good stuff.
Dropping rear spring rate also helped mine in handling.
Great cars, plenty of help here.....

You ever see Kei and Miki, think they have their Midstates on the island. They also have a 8000 car. Great folks, say hello if you see them.

I don't know the people you mentioned but there are a few Cobras here. I do have a friend Greg who drives an original 289 car. I"m a nube at the Cobra lingo so I don't know what an 8000 car is, maybe one of the ones Shelby released later?

I emailed you regarding the manual, thanks, again super helpful

I spoke to a Wilwood tech today for a little bit. Mentioned the possibility of the dunlop or jag front and calipers, he said if I took a picture he'd work with me on it. He was pretty sure he could get me set up with a 6 piston front caliper. He also said they don't offer much in the way to the rear end but that they do work closely with Hamilton Automotive and provided contact information.

I don't know if this site has restrictions on phone numbers for companies that don't advertise here. Some places do, others not so much.

Still having a difficult time logging in from home, evidently because its a different ip address?

[maui]

Originally Posted by cycleguy55

Perhaps everyone already knows this, but follow brake manufacturers' directions PRECISELY whenever bedding or breaking in new components like pads and rotors. Properly done it makes a huge difference. I've even performed the process on old pads and rotors and noticed a significant improvement. It's probably worth de-glazing them before doing it, but just getting them good and hot then letting them cool before stopping the car seems to really help.

Just my $0.02.

I agree

Proper bedding of brakes is important for sure. I have a little track experience and know the difference between street driving even in the most spirited version v track driving even if just doing laps.

It would be pretty difficult (impossible) for me to generate that amount of heat a track generates. Wilwood mentioned that the calipers they were recommending had 8 steps of pads in relationship to the amount of heat and driving style. On a scale of 1 to 8, I would probably start off at about a 3 for the way I drive on the street and go up or down from there.

[t walgamuth]

Before spending a lot of money I'd probably just drive it for a while. A bit of rust usually will wear off quickly.

[1795]

Originally Posted by maui

I agree

Proper bedding of brakes is important for sure. I have a little track experience and know the difference between street driving even in the most spirited version v track driving even if just doing laps.

It would be pretty difficult (impossible) for me to generate that amount of heat a track generates. Wilwood mentioned that the calipers they were recommending had 8 steps of pads in relationship to the amount of heat and driving style. On a scale of 1 to 8, I would probably start off at about a 3 for the way I drive on the street and go up or down from there.

Well thought out plan. As you know, most race application pads will be pretty useless in road situations as you will never buildup enough heat tomato them work. Good luck.

[maui]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Before spending a lot of money I'd probably just drive it for a while. A bit of rust usually will wear off quickly.

I was also considering turning them. Theres enough junk on them to make them not really work great.

Its got a JFZ 4 spot calipers right now with almost new pads. Looks like its pretty gummed up. A good cleaning might improve the situation. Still not really confidence inspiring though.

And thanks to 1985CCX for sending me the manual

[Danr55]

There is another option that was used on the CCX cars. The man who built the car and that I own, used the one piece hub and rotor from a 60 something Monte Carlo. So don't be discouraged if you find some strange critters at times.