Husky's 65 Restomod

[Charbel]

Sorry I missed this whole deal guys, but yes as the USvAU dollar starts to bite we are seeing a lot more guys come to use with Brembo & AP Racing calipers from OE applications to adapt.

Good job piecing the conversion together!

These cheap OE brake calipers are actually really good, yes the extra rotor diameter is a huge factor but, the calipers are also, nice and stiff and have a good size pad and piston volume isn't too dissimilar from the original caliper. The main reason they are cheap is they are mass produced with little machine detail and quite heavy.

So if youre not trying to loose unsprung weight they are a perfect upgrade. The only caution note is to try buying from reptutable place or even recondition second hand units as there have been some stories of "counterfeit" calipers around have not seen them myself but would hate someone to get stung on a critical part like this.

You can make these fit smaller wheels, you just need to look at two piece rotors to obtain the desired hat height, the biggest problem with wheel clearance & these calipers is the overhang. I'm currently trying to get a set of rear HSV AP racing calipers inside some 15" wheels, it seems doable just a royal PIA! Thank goodness this is going to run a 17" front at least.

Well done again on the conversion.
Charbel

[Husky65]

Thanks Charbel. Yeah later down the track I'm going to look at 2 piece rotors to try and keep the weight down now that I know what rotors fit. Yeah you're right, the volume is very similar to the PBR calipers. I'm assuming so OEM manufacturers don't have to swap master cylinders/ratios when offering the brembo upgrade.
Anyway now to see if I should get the rears bigger of leave them for 15" wheels

[Charbel]

Rears can be quite the ordeal. Do you have internal park brake mechanism? If you do a lot stars need to align to get the right dimension rotor that also works with the mechanism.

This is where a two piece rotor can be really useful as you make everything suit an off the shelf ring. You're best bet to match the rears but still fit 15s is probably calipers off an EVO Lancer which suit a 300mm rotor.

Enjoy the fronts for now at least!

[Husky65]

So I currently have the 05-14 mustang rear brake kit that Mustang Steve in the states sells. Uses a 298mm rotor with a PBR caliper which has an spring loaded park brake on it. A few seperate companies over there, including Baer, sell an offset bracket to fit 355mm rotors to the 05-14 mustang rear brakes. I think it would almost be bolt on. Granted I would still be using the same caliper, just with a much larger rotor.

[Edz66Vert]

Yeah I reckon it would be good to collate some information regarding different kits out there. Could just make a sticky thread with the info in it.

Took the car for a drive after bedding them in. The brakes definitely instill more confidence if that's a thing. It's not like you touch them and the front locks up. It just feels very strong but progressive in how it pulls the car up. I'm sure a lot of that is the 57mm larger rotors, and not the calipers themselves.

I took mine for a run yesterday with the new 320 mm rotors and BA calipers, beautiful is all I can say. With the old discs you could stand on it and it would just slow down which was scary when someone threw on the brakes in front of you in traffic. With the new big brakes you have the confidence it will stop and with very little effort. You can lock the fronts if you hit them quickly at low speed. I still have 9" drums on the rear but don't see the need to change them as it's a cruiser not a track car. BTW, I run a 1" bore master cylinder and an under-guard booster from Hydroboost in Victoria (Hydroboost website). They were great, I already had a booster of theirs from a mate but they traded it for another as they said the one I had would be too aggressive and would throw me through the windscreen each time I hit the brakes.

[ozbilt]

The one thing I struggle with is how you blokes have so many issues with stopping your cars.

I set up the brakes (standard) as per factory and they stop fine, even on huge downhill runs in the USA (like you never see in Australia). 70k miles in Mrsozbilt's Mach and it still stops on a dime.

Then again, both Mrsozbilt and I were taught to drive in all conditions (mainly dirt) and have it ingrained to manually abs on a pedal when needed.

Advanced driver education should be mandatory to get a license.

[Charbel]

Geez, Mr Ozbilt1 I hate to think what you thought of George's monsterous brakes then!

Modern cars have evolved so much, the perception is the old brakes don't function as intended and is exaggerated when you drive your weekend car after your modern daily drive.

I think in most circumstances you can get an OE system to work well, with QUALITY pads and rotors, and a good reco, but the most common missing ingredient I come across is engine vacuum...and you Mustang enthusiasts suffer the most because of the inherent tiny booster you start out with! George probably can tell you a booster story or three...without going to vacuum pumps or hydroboost the easiest solution is leverage, and bigger rotors equals more leverage with same useless pressure. And lets face it there is a degree of penis strutting with have big awesome brakes kez!

But back to topic, 355 rears is pretty over kill. You will probably want to have some adjustable proportioning ability if you went that far. In matching the rear are you talking about size purely or caliper too? If its size, adapting the caliper you have to another slightly larger rotor should not be too much of an ordeal as you mentioned. If you were to look at a matching brembo rear caliper you would either look at retaining the the existing caliper as a park brake caliper with brembo caliper (dual calipers essentially) or covnert to an internal park brake mechanism, that matches a rotor and calipers combo.

[ozbilt]

Oh yes, I forgot about those that have the need to compensate .......

[Edz66Vert]

Ozbuilt, my brakes were pretty worn out (remember I had to change over to the 9" rears I got off you as it was running worn out 10" drums) and the fronts were the old XF discs with VB single spot commondore calipers held on by flimsy 6 mm brackets that flexed under braking. The change to the new disks and external booster cost me $900 and it stops nearly as well as my 6 litre Statesman. I think that's a good investment. And yes, they do look sexier than the factory disc brake kits imo, but that's just a bonus.

[Husky65]

Kerry I had no braking issues when I first got the car. I'll be honest, I just like big brakes.

Charbel, yeah I have a wilwood adjustable proportioning valve. The kit is just 355mm rotors with the same calipers, literally just a backet that moves the caliper outwards. I wouldn't go to a brembo rear as I know the headache that would come from trying to make a park brake system work. If I did decide to go to a larger caliper I would go straight to a Baer rear kit with integrated park brake to save the hassle.

[ozbilt]

Just me spicing up the thread

Now that all have reacted, I can go have a nap .......

[malscar]

Just me spicing up the thread

Now that all have reacted, I can go have a nap .......

Did not take much of a cast to get such a good bite.

[Charbel]

I massively compensate Ozbilt! 15" Rotors, Forged Monoblock Calipers.

They look good, stop well. I see people spending 10s of thousands of dollars on engine and driveline all the time. Why not put a bit a side for steering, brakes & suspension?

Sounds like an easy upgrade husk, you can always buy a baer plate assembly and make a bracket to suit any caliper you want. At the moment have a C4 corvette using Baer backing plate, Ve/f 325mm rear rotor with AP racing caliper.

[nassi]

Oh yes, I forgot about those that have the need to compensate .......

Booster problems???? Don't recall seeing one on an original disc braked 66.
The leverage came from the pedal, something which closer resembles a penis than a large rotor don't you think?

[hybrid]

The leverage came from the pedal, something which closer resembles a penis than a large rotor don't you think?

In case of emergency, stomp on it?