BEST AND CHEAPEST 4 LUG FOXBODY BRAKE UPGRADE??

Nope-it's not a big deal...

Thats what I have in the rear...the SVO and MK VII calipers, brackets, discs, pads are the same pieces. The m/c on the other hand, are likely different due to weight and balance differences between an SVO Mustang and a Lincoln MK VII..

I used an '85 Lincoln Town Car master cylinder, gutted and plugged the factory p/v, then installed an adjustable p/v at the union on the right corner of the engine bay. I used '95 front spindles and brakes just so you can compare. If you're planning on staying four lug though, you might have to find a way to drill the rotors to fit...if you buy rotors to fit an SVO, they'll be 5 lug...just do the whole 5 lug swap-you can buy 5 lug front rotors that will fit your spindles and MK front calipers...just search the threads and you'll find everything you need.

IMO you either go baer (if they are still available) or just do the pin sleeves in the front with good pads and braided lines. Not much else is worth the trouble with the fronts in 4 lug.

Don't get too elaborate with it.
If you really would like to spend more money, convert the rears to discs and use a 93 cobra MC.

For the record, the stock brakes are not as bad as people make them out to be for normal driving. It's repeated hard stops and consistency that they aren't good at.

I have the TC calipers with the baer power slot rotors and they did make a difference

See http://home.comcast.net/~mjbobbitt/mustang/page1.html for the best and cheapest brake upgrades and 5 lug swaps. The site doesn't sell anything but some fittings, but the tech notes are great. It tells you what junkyard or remanufactured parts to use to upgrade your brakes. It has almost everything you could want to know about Mustang brakes on it.

If you want to know my favorite setup, here it is:
Been there and done that! With success!

Do the 87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe rear end swap!

Auto trans 87-88 Tbird Turbo Coupes come with 3.73 gears and manual Turbo Coupes come with 3.55 gears. Cost is $125-$300 for the rear axle. Add another $100-$200 or so to complete the brake upgrade.

I choose 3.55 since I do more highway driving. Both ratios have 10 5/16" disk brakes with vented rotors as standard equipment.

It takes 2 guys the first day to get the old rear end out and the new one bolted in place. It takes 1 guy another whole day to do the brakes.

You will need a several sets of fittings, I recommend that you get them from Matt90GT's website, http://home.comcast.net/~mjbobbitt/mustang/page5.html. Read Matt's instructions thoroughly, everything you need to know about the brakes is all there. You need to be patient and follow all the internal links, and there are many of them. You will need 2 fittings in the rear to adapt your old brake tubing to the TC disk brakes. The fittings go between the steel tube and the caliper brake hose. You will need another set of fittings to make a 2 port to 3 port adapter. To make life simpler, just buy the kits from Matt. You could piece them together, but it's not worth the time unless you work at an auto parts store with all the fittings ever made.

You will need to drill the quad shock mounting holes 2” below the holes drilled for the Turbo Coupe mounting points. The bolts are metric, so don’t loose them or the nuts. A 15/32” drill should be about the right size unless you have access to metric sized drill bits. Going without quad shocks is not an option unless you have aftermarket parts to soak up the wheel hop.

You will need a proportioning valve, Summit has one for $40 + shipping.
You will need a kit (FMS makes the part) to gut the stock proportioning valve, Summit also has that, about $10.


You will need a new master cylinder, see Matt's site and make you choice. I used a 94-95 Mustang master cylinder. Note that rebuilt 94-95 Mustang master cylinders do not come with a reservoir. That means a trip to the junkyard and some more money spent.

Your brake pedal may be very hard and almost impossible to lock up the brakes. I had to replace the front calipers with 73 mm calipers from a 91 Lincoln Mark 7 to get the braking performance up to par.

Bleeding the brakes will require 2 people and some coordinated effort. I don’t recommend using you wife or girlfriend to pump the pedal – they get offended when you yell at them. I used a homemade power brake bleeder constructed from a garden sprayer and some fittings from Home Depot. It cost about $25 and was worth every penny. See http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?p=6143048 for details and pictures.

See http://www.mustangcentral.net/tech/brake.html for help with the emergency brake. The red words link to some very useful photos on how to modify the handle. The stock setup tends to lock up and not release properly.
All in all I have been very pleased with the results.

Turbo Coupe parts list:
87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe Rear axle
94-95 Mustang Master Cylinder with reservoir
Brake line Adapter fittings http://home.comcast.net/~mjbobbitt/mustang/page5.html.
3 line to 2 line brake fitting kit http://home.comcast.net/~mjbobbitt/mustang/page5.html..
Proportioning valve, Wildwood 260-8419 Summit or Jegs
Kit to gut the stock proportioning valve Ford Racing M-2450-A Summit or Jegs
Reuse stock brake booster – no changes needed with the parts in this list
73 mm front calipers from a 91 Lincoln Mark 7 (two calipers) local auto parts store
Emergency brake cable parts: Summit or Jegs or Late Model Restoration
79-92 Mustangs use: M-2809-A* Parking Brake Cable (need 2)
93 Mustangs: use 93 Cobra Ebrake cables.
All years use: M-2810-A* Parking Brake Cable (short cable that attaches to the parking brake handle)

I recommend that you use reman calipers and use the calipers from the Turbo Coupe axle for cores to return. The parking brake mechanism and the caliper slides tend to lockup and freeze

Identifying a Turbo Coupe rear axle:
1.) Measure the rotors - a TC disk brake uses 10 5/16" vented rotors.
2.) Measure the length of the quad shock mount arm and compare it to the mount on your existing stock axle. The TC quad shock mount arm is about 8" long if I remember correctly.
3.) Measure the distance between the axle flanges and compare it to stock. The TC rear axle assembly is 3/4" wider per side, or 1 1/2" wider for both sides.

Five lug Turbo Coupe conversion:
Use the 94-98 axles Mustang axles. Use 1990 Mazda MPV 3.0 V6 front rotors (10", 5 lug x 4.5" pattern, 2 7/16" offset ). While you are at the auto parts store, set a TC rear rotor side by side with the Mazda rotor and they are the same except for the offset.

The next step fixes the offset problem:
Use a Maximum MotorSports 1/8 spacer (MMWS6, Maximum Motorsports, the Latemodel Mustang Performance Suspension Leader! ) between the inside of the rotor and the axle flange. The spacers may need to have the OD machined to fit properly. The stock rotor offset is 2 5/16" and the Mazda rotors are 2 7/16" offset. The 1/8" spacer puts the rotor back dead center alignment with the calipers.

The Mazda rotors are under $30 each, and I have seen them for $20 each. The MM spacers are two for $30 + $9 shipping. So the entire package costs $99. That saves $41, which most of us could find a very good use for.

OiDALE said:

Is it really necessary to change the rear to disc if im keeping the 4 lug? I was leaning towards the SVO front calipers with some Hawk pads, stainless lines front and rear and metal sleeves for the caliper bolts(not sure where to buy these) and changing over the master cylinder, again not sure which would bolt right up to the stock booster of my 1991 GT. Wouldnt these upgraded parts get me better stopping power???

Click to expand...

It's tough when you mess with the front calipers only to find the right master cylinder for the job. Most were designed for 4wdb.

If it were me I would do the Turbo Coupe rear.. Get the gears and 4 wheel discs and its practically a bolt in. I've seen them on Craigslist for only 250 for the whole thing, brakes and all. You think with the price of gears at 150 or so plus the labor to install them, the Turbo coupe rear end is a no brainer.. Gears and rear discs all in one package.