manual 11" brakes, booster or bigger rotors?

[kctexmex]

Factory Five, MKII
New Ford brakes with original build,
Recently bought the car and plan on taking it on the road course. Can immediately tell that the car will need much more braking.
Sufficient to add a brake booster and later add bigger rotors as I see more of a need on the track? It was suggested to me to keep manual brakes and upgrade 4 corners to big rotors and 6 piston calipers (at least in the front).
Thanks for your input. It's appreciated!

[LMH]

My opinion and I'm sure there are lots of others but power brakes are a waste. Buy a bigger system that has matched parts made to work together. IE: rotors, calipers, master cylinders, bias adjustment etc. Wilwood makes nice stuff as do other company's.
About 12.19" is as big as you can make fit if you're using 15" wheels.
Larry

[bobcowan]

You are correct. The stock brakes won't last very long on the track. You'll burn them up pretty quickly.

For the road course, avoid the power booster. You'll get a lot of variance as the rpm's change, unless you use a large reservoir. Big brakes couple to a booster makes the brakes very difficult to modulate. The pedal becomes more like an On-Off switch. It will be almost impossible to modulate.

Dollar for dollar, it's tough to beat the Wilwood kits. Good quality and performance at a reasonable price. Replacement parts are easy to come by. Contact Gordon levy for a complete kit. And I do mean complete. The only thing not in the box was the safety wire.

[bobcowan]

double post

[kctexmex]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!

[Dirkdaddy]

I have endurance raced a few heavy stock cars in the 24 hrs Lemons series, we did not have brake fade but then again the speeds were not cobra speeds with the big HP. Anyway, a good set of pads, slotted rotors and fresh brake fluid was all we used.

I recently upgraded a hot rod to a hydroboost system using the power steering pressure. Pressure will do a lot more than $$ for larger calipers and bling in my and many others opinions who have used hydroboost. If you have power steering, I'd look into it. The whole setup can be about the size of a vac booster system. The one I installed was remote with a slave/master driving it outside the engine compartment.

Hydroboost article super chevy

[lastdime]

It sounds like a great system. Has anyone actually used it? If so, what can you tell us about your experience.

[CHANMADD]

Well..........Even the stock Ford brakes where deigned for a car much heavier than the Cobra.
Ventilated discs....like the Ford .plus a vacuum booster...(my booster and master cylinder from a Ford Tempo .are available at any parts store)........should be more than ample....unless you plan to hit the track every weekend....... I even have solid rotors and only had fade after a lot of hard driving and then only after it sits in the pit for a bit......a half lap of cooling and back to normal......
Also .....depends on your pocket ......

[bobcowan]

Hydroboost systems are pretty common these days. Many factory cars use them, even the Mustang. Although I can't remember when Ford started installing them.

I'v used stock Mustang brakes on the road course. It doesn't take a lot to burn them up. Yeah, they're designed for a car that weighs 1,000# more than a cobra does. But they are street brakes, not track brakes. Just because they work in LeMons or Crap Can, doesn't mean they'll last on the road course one week end after another.

Spend the bux on Wilwoods and don't look back. It will save money and time in the long run.