Brakes. Stopping this thing

[Snek]

I have a Contemporary with Wilwood, non-power assisted brakes up front.
Let me just say that I’m not used to using non-power assisted brakes
So when I go to stop I really have to lean into the peddle and even then it’s not even coming close to locking them up.

I do down shift a lot to stop, but brakes would be nice.
I plan on bleeding the system and will look at the pad.

This car was raced so could it have some sort of racing pad that feels different then street pads?

Or are non-assisted breaks just harder to use?

Thanks

Dave

[twobjshelbys]

The Cobra has been termed "a man's car". No power anything means you have to really use the brakes and steering.

In the 0-100-0 record more time was spend slowing down than speeding up.

More than bleeding, a fluid flush and change is probably a worthwhile step

[Tommy]

I've driven my 63 Corvette with manual brakes since 1978 with no trouble stopping it. My Cobra stopped well from 140 MPH at the track with manual brakes. My Cheetah also has manual brakes and stops well with acceptable effort from this old driver. Something needs to change with your car's brakes. It could be pads or any of a number of other things. . . . To begin, I suggest you find a safe place where you can do an emergency stop from about 35 MPH. You should be able to lock up the front wheels before the rears. If you can't do that with acceptable pedal effort, or if the rears lock up first, come back and tell us more about your car.

P.S. If you are a DIY kind of guy, take the wheels off and inspect the brakes. Pay particular attention to any signs of fluid or glazing on the brake pads.

[incoming]

IMO, if your rims get really dirty really quick, the pads are probably doing their thing. My car stops just fine and has Bandits up front and inboard Jag in the rear.

How long you had the car? Mine did take some getting used to.

[saltshaker]

I have the same problem with my Contemporary I have Wilwood Dynalite calipers up front with b20 pads and the jag inboard brakes in the rear. I want to deglaze by front rotors, has anybody done this if so how did you do it?
Jon

[1795]

If the car was raced previously, you might have racing brake pads. While it would seem that racing brake pads would be better than street, they are not unless you get them real hot, like in a race situation. You may want to check and see what brake pads you have and if they are racing, switch to a street performance pad as you will never get them hot enough to work properly unless you are riding the brake all the time.

As other's have said, check to see if the brake pads are glazed as well. If they are not racing pads and glazed, they will not work well either. You can sand the glazing off of them. Manual brakes do take more effort than power assisted, but should still stop the car efficiently.

Jim

[Snek]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

The Cobra has been termed "a man's car". No power anything means you have to really use the brakes and steering.

In the 0-100-0 record more time was spend slowing down than speeding up.

More than bleeding, a fluid flush and change is probably a worthwhile step

Tony:
Thanks for the input.
I am just trying to figure out if it’s me or the car.

Dave

[Snek]

I’ve had my cobra about a month and only driven 100 miles.
It had some fuel issues that need to be addressed.


It has Wilwood up front and a jag rear end.

[eschaider]

Dave,

Your brake system performance can be attributable to any number of things, including everything is alright and what you are experiencing is simply the difference between power-assisted and non-power-assisted brakes.

For the moment though, lets assume something might be amiss ...

A good place to begin, because it is easy, is to determine the diameter of the pistons in your Wilwoods. The easy way to do this is to retrieve the Willwood Caliper number off the (usually) backside of the caliper. Once you have the caliper number you can either check the Wilwood website or call Wilwood and find out what you have.

Step #2 is to do the same thing for your brake pads. You want to know what the car is using. Here is a link to Wilwood's brake pads page => Wilwood Brake Pads. You may recognize the pads you have, or you may need to call Wilwood for help. Either way, you want to know what you are using because it impacts other decisions going forward.

The next thing you want to determine is the bore of your master cylinder. Master cylinder bores have a direct and very apparent impact on the pedal pressure required to stop the car. You might be able to do this by soliciting some Contemporary sites to noodle it out or by taking a part number off the master cylinder and using that to search out the specs.

Once you have this information, bring back all the goodies, toss them out on the digital decision table here, and let's see if we can make some sense out of what is going on with your brakes.

[Alfa02]

As Jim (1795) said, check the pads, I would bet it has "Racing Pads" and once their "glazed over", they are even harder to stop. That's the easiest thing to check, an emery cloth will take the glaze off any pad, changing to street pad will be your best bet, and then bleed the system (Air in the lines will add to your braking issues) I hope we have helped. Cheers Tom.

[Snek]

Ed:
Thanks for the advice.
They’re on my short list of car projects, because now that I’ve got it running it would be nice to be able to stop it.

Dave

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Hi,
I gave up with manual brakes. I put power brakes in and it stops and feels like a newer car. If you don't have room for a power booster put a hyroboost unit in.
Perry.

[ERA174]

I'm assuming your Contemporary Cobra is new to you? If it is, and still in it's race trim, the brake pads may be the extent of your issue. Race pads need a lot more heat to bite, not something that works for a street driven car. If before you aquired the car it sat for an extended period, you may have other issues you need to address. The full extent of the solution may entail, flushing & replacing brake fluid, rebuilding/replacing calipers & master cylinders, deglazing/replacing rotors & replacing brake pads. If when you put your best emergency stop brake force on the brake pedal it doesn't pull to one direction or lock up some wheels and not others, I would start with flushing and replacing the brake fluid, deglaze the rotors and replace brake pads with street pads. If, you have some wheels locking up & others don't, or pulling left or right, then I would also rebuild the brake calipers, cheap but a little more time intensive then buying replacements. I would rebuild, you may need to buy replacements farther down the rabit hole, if you find what you have doesn't work for your intended use. Your issue is probably not a complete re-enginering/replacement of your existing system. Take the time to evaluate what issues you have and what the solutions are to those issues, rather then re-inventing the wheel.

[Argess]

Not sure what type of calipers you have, but you might find this useful. Go to Post 66 at:
Brake LIne Pressure Question

[CobraResurrect]

I'm thinking the same as 1795. It might have racing pads.
I'm in the process of installing Wilwoods.
Prior to even a test drive I plan on installing Hawk street pads. I have had them on an Audi I had as well as my truck and I can tell the difference in street performance.