Aluminum non-metric brake calipers for use on 11" granada rotors?

With all the information floating around out there, it's difficult to simply find a decent piston sized caliper that is very lightweight, to use with an 11" Granada rotor. Brackets would be nice too, but I can fabricate them if necessary. I spotted a 1986 LTD caliper online, it appeared aluminum, but of course, nowhere is it listed. I basically want the lightest components possible, so weight is crucial, especially unsprung weight. I'd also prefer to use the stock mustang II brake hose style, not metric conversion hose, or some other strange piece that is impossible to find in the event of a failure far from home. Thus, all the parts I want available at the local parts store. The caliper doesn't need to be a massive 4 piston piece, just at least as strong as the stock II caliper, as the increase in brake leverage with the larger 11" rotors will increase stopping power, regardless.

So, my list:
11" granada rotors
Lightweight aluminum single piston caliper, with fitting for use with sae hose
brackets would be nice, so I dont need to make them. Going out on a limb, lightweight aluminum brackets would be awesome, but steel would do. lol

Anyone have any further info that might help?

LILCBRA said:

So if it's the Fox platform car, the LTD piston size is 60mm whereas the II is 66mm - at least that's what I'm finding on O'Reilly's site. If you're stuck making brackets anyway, you could go with an 87-93 5.0 Mustang caliper, which is the same as the earlier SVO caliper, at 73mm and fits an 11" rotor. You'll probably have to swap for a larger master cylinder and probably have to do something about a proportioning valve, just something to keep in mind. I've not seen anything in aluminum from everything that I've found so far though, but I'm sure there's something that'll work.

Well , they're all metric too..... nevermind.....

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My brakes work very well at normal speeds, even though the rear axle still has the original style 1959 t-bird 11" drums. So far, no need for an adjustable prop valve, during very hard braking, but when I upgrade the fronts, it may become necessary. The balance and overall weight of my car is different than stock, and will continue to change as I remove weight, such as from the strut rod delete, tubular arms, etc. Even the new exhaust I'm making for the car will locate the flowmaster mufflers further back toward the rear of the car to improve weight balance. One thing about the Mustang II coupe, even stock, they are super nose heavy on weight bias, which isn't entirely bad, it makes them predictable in corners. I'd rather the front tires break loose first and slide, than the rear end break loose and come around as is the case in a lot of other vehicles. It's certainly something to consider when figuring out proper brake proportioning and upgrades. In this video clip, right after going 136mph in a measured 1/4 mile in my test area, the front brakes are still pouring smoke. lol

LILCBRA said:

I remember that video! Didn't remember the brakes smoking though.

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You may have seen another similar video, where I got it up to 85mph during that same day of testing at my favorite remote location near the railroad tracks and the rock wall that reflects the exhaust nicely. lol Launch in 2nd gear and half throttle for traction. You can launch in 2nd, on regular radials, and it will smoke the tires at full throttle unless youre going 55+ mph, where it finally hooked up, then it will go 136 mph in that same gear. 3rd is rarely used except when cruising. Now with the sticky Toyo tires on it, I can actually launch in 1st at full throttle, and it's pretty interesting how hard it leaves. It ripped my new driver side engine mount apart, for one thing. lol I'm debating whether I should swap out the 3.10 gears for 3.73s since I have traction. hmmmm

65ShelbyClone said:

Is parts availability the only reason you don't want (Chevy) metric stuff? You're more likely to find brake hoses in BFE for an S10 than for a MII. Just get some brass fitting adapters so they mate up to the chassis lines. On top of that, there are lots of options for aluminum Chevy metric calipers. In addition, you would have a selection of piston sizes to match your current calipers, meaning you could keep the master cylinder you have now.

That's what I did with my Pinto. Granada rotors, modified GM caliper brackets for '74-80 Pinto/MII, and calipers + hoses for some late '80s Chevy small truck platform with adapters to fit the SAE hard lines.

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Thank you for that info! I guess the most important aspect of the brake upgrade is weight saving, the metric calipers are aluminum or iron? If they're lighter than the oem II pieces, that would get my interest. Losing weight from the car is almost as fun as adding power.