Brake setups

[2006GT]

This weekend I install my new Wilwood front brake kit. First off… very nice kit! I was very impressed with the quality for the price! I with the wheels had biger holes in them so that you could see the setup better!

While it was an decent improvement over the stock (Mustang II) set up, it's still not there. It still requires a decent amount of foot force the get the thing to stop. Keep in mind… the rear has a 8.8 setup with drums (which will be changed to a disc setup soon) and a base master cylinder with no booster (manual) probably out of either a Mustang II or Fox body.

I was wondering what you guys are running and if any of you have a power brake setup. I've heard several people comment that power brakes are not needed for these cars since they're so light. Is there a master cylinder setup (no booster) that is recommended?

Thanks!
Paul

[Juggernaut]

Paul, I'm running a Tilton set-up on mine (manual brakes). They work pretty good, if I slam on the brakes going about 25 / 30 mph, anything on the passenger seat will end up on the floor.

Under normal braking, they are ok but what I want to trash the original cheap disc brake pads that came with the car & replace them with good ones.

I wouldn't think these cars need power brakes but I'm no expert.

Randy

[bobcowan]

I use Wilwood 6 pistons in the front, 4 pistons in the back. Along with a CNC dual manual MC, and a manual pedal. Excellent braking power. Car will almost stand on it's nose.

Your MC is fine. Are you using a power brake pedal, or manual brake? The manual is a little longer, and gives better force appliction into the MC.

What pads are you using? Some pads are designed mostly for track use, and have to be warm to work well. Others - like the BP-10 - work well at much lower street temps. On that same note, do you have cooling ducts?

When you switch the rears to disc, you'll need to change the MC to match. You might consider the CNC part. Mike Forte has also grafted a booster to the CNC MC for people who insist on PB; but I don't really see the need for it.

[951mat]

I have a dual master set up and it was hooked up backwards I believe. I have a 1" and 3/4" MC I believe. I moved the smaller one to front brakes to get higher pressures.

What size MC do you have? Maybe you need a smaller one to get higher pressures. Down side it that the pedal may move further to push the same amount of fluid.

I'm sure there's lots of posts on MC sizes.

Mat

[2006GT]

Thanks all! I have the stock fox mustang setup minus the booster. The Ford style dual reservoir type. The pedal assembly is also Fox Mustang (1979-93). So... It would be a power pedal setup. That could be part of it.

The front pads are what came with the Wilwoods. The back are probably just bone stock. I would compare the wilwood pads to the Hawk HPS. They tend to work better with a little heat in them.

I'll look into the CNC and Tilton setups. I wondering however, if I just add a booster if that wouldn't get me where I need to be.

[bobcowan]

Actually, if you shorten your pedal to the manual brake length, you'll get where you want to be.

Manual brakes certainly take more leg pressure to work, but they still work well. It's not an excessive amount of pressure; just more than power.

On my car, I also did a dog leg mod. With the stock shape of the pedal, the pivot point is at the bottom of it's arc while at rest. The more you move the pedal, the less actual foreward motion you get. By changine the angle of the pedal, the pivot point starts out on the back side of the arc. As you move the picot point foreward, you get the maximum amount of foreward movement. I don't have any pictures of this. But I got the idea from Richard Oben.

[2006GT]

Excellent thought!