Cobra Brake Fitment Question

[Husky44]

I'm planning to install the M-2300-Q FRPP Cobra front brake kit on my 95 vert. Does anyone know if there's any issues with wheel fitment clearing the caliper?

My TTIIs are close to hitting the stock calipers. I'm trying to determine if the Cobra caliper will extend farther out from the hub face than the stock calipers do?

I've had these wheels on my 67, which is running the 03-04 cobra brake calipers, but they have a different mounting bracket and different offset rotor to allow running older style wheels with less offset (like my TTIIs).

I'd rather try to sort it out now, than order the kit and have to send it back.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[blksn955.o]

TTII's are one of the very few 17in rims that will not clear cobra brakes without a spacer.

Its one of the big reasons I went with the 99+ v6/gt twin piston calipers for now. With the 275's in front I was already sticking out a bit (1/8-1/4in in front) so I have been kinda against a spacer. My TTII's are 9.5 in front and 11 in the rear. I almost traded for some Saleen hyper 18's a year or so ago...but the TTII's look so good IMHO.

That said I just got some 265/40/17 Mich Pilot sports and they are a bit narrower. I am thinking about putting my spacer for the welds on and see how they look. If they dont look bad I am thinking about upgrading to cobra/baer's.

 

[Husky44]

TTII's are one of the very few 17in rims that will not clear cobra brakes without a spacer.

Its one of the big reasons I went with the 99+ v6/gt twin piston calipers for now. With the 275's in front I was already sticking out a bit (1/8-1/4in in front) so I have been kinda against a spacer. My TTII's are 9.5 in front and 11 in the rear. I almost traded for some Saleen hyper 18's a year or so ago...but the TTII's look so good IMHO.

That said I just got some 265/40/17 Mich Pilot sports and they are a bit narrower. I am thinking about putting my spacer for the welds on and see how they look. If they dont look bad I am thinking about upgrading to cobra/baer's.

Did you mount them or see them mounted?

Did you go to a bigger rotor with the calipers you refer to?

Is there a noticeable improvement in stopping power over the stock calipers?

Did you need any kind of adapter? Did the rest of the braking system work the same?

Any other options out there for improved braking without changing my wheels or adding spacers? I'm with you, my fronts are right at the point of sticking out past my fenders, so spacers isn't an option.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[blksn955.o]

There is another member on here who has TTII's and did the cobra swap to get them to fit he had to use spacers. I want to say it cyther(sp?) but its been a while. The 13in rotor moves the caliper higher in the rim face and causes the interference. You could probably also get the rim machined to clear but how expensive and safe that would be is my only question/fear.

The 99+v6/gt caliper has the same rotor as our cars.

With the twin piston caliper vs our single piston I have noticed a better stopping car. Move to a good pad like EBC/Hawk and some steel braided line will also help. Its a good middle of the road upgrade. The 99+ deal uses a PBR caliper like the cobra/baer setups and actually has bigger pistons the downside is the smaller rotor and that is were the real leverage is regarding stopping power. All in all its still better than our cast iron stock single piston...also drops like 12lbs off the front of the car.

The only thing you have to do in order to get the 99+ stuff to work is grind down some of the spindle area were the caliper bolts. I did this with a dremel tool and drill with a grinding stone attached its just a matter of taking off as much as needed to clear and it not anywhere enough to weaken the spindle. You can pick up the breaks off any 99-04 v6 or GT I would get the lines as well and for probably around $100-150. If you dont get the lines and upgrade to braided your looking at around $200-250 for the upgrade with fresh pads.

here is a pic of the 99-04 setup, I also painted the caliper prior to installing.

 

[Husky44]

Thanks for the reply. I should have edited my post last night to state that I went back and did a whole lot of reading on the PBR swap, so I answered a lot of my questions there. Thanks for replying anyway, even though you were the one who answered a lot of the questions in your older posts.

The "search" button is my friend...The "search" button is my friend... The "search" button is my friend...

OK, so now I have another question: Finding used mustang parts up here is pretty difficult, as there aren't that many up here to begin with. Are the 99+ "remanufactured" calipers from NAPA, O'Reillys, Carquest really PBR calipers?

Would I get the same result picking up some of those, or should I try to find someone in the lower 48 that'll sell me takeoffs? I'll go to new braided lines regardless of which way I source the calipers, and definitely will be getting new rotors and pads.

One last question:

How long have you had your rotors painted now? Do they still look good? I'm always leary of rattle-can paint on anything I want to look good and stay that way, especially something that has to deal with as much heat as brake calipers do. Will the paint job hold up well over several years (assuming I use the good "brake caliper" paint)? Or should I spring to get them powder coated? I'd rather not do anything at all, than have them flaking paint in 6 months so I have to pull them again to clean them up.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[blksn955.o]

The reconditioned ones probably just have new seals and what not. It is really easy to tell if they are real PBR's or not as they actually say PBR on one of the corners of the caliper tops, I want to say round the fins on top? I dont know how much they are at NAPA and such but I know you can pickup take offs for around $100 down here...problem is going to be shipping of course and then do they need new seals? So remaned may be a good choice in your situation.

I used the VHT caliper spray paint. It holds up very well. I wire wheeled the caliper and cleaned with some paint reducer I have laying around prior to painting. I also used several (7+) light (barely any coverage, like overspray almost) coats with 10-15min dry time between coats. Its been about 2+yrs and like your car is only on the road from March/April to November or so and never out in crappy weather. When I wash I generally use an old sock to just wipe off some of the break dust/grime and they clean up well. I have like one nik from when I pulled the front wheel and when putting it back on lost my balance (did not move some stuff out of the way in the garage and was at a funky angle) and one of the spokes was jammed into/across the caliper, took off a VERY small little piece and I just cleaned it up and sprayed some of the paint onto some cardboard and dipped a Q-tip into the paint pool to touch up. That pic is from last spring IIRC so about a year or so after painting maybe a little longer

Powdercoat would be awesome though and of course even stronger finish wise. I am happy with the paint though.

 

[revhead347]

Good think they don't clear. The Cobra brake set up sucks nuts. I don't know how Ford ever designed a brake caliper like that and put it on a street car. The brake pads can be a complete PITA to change, and they don't have a lubricated floater. It all just kind of floats by grinding up against a metal pin.

Kurt

 

[blksn955.o]

Ford did not design them PBR did and the pin should be lubed, there are boots that should hold lube on them. It is a common issue though with calipers sticking. All you really need to do is lube them every break job.

 

[revhead347]

There is no boot on the pin, which is why the stick. There is no way to put a boot on it either. The pin just sits out there jammed between the caliper and the frame with all the break dust kicking up on it all the time. Even if you gobbed it in, the lube would just get minked up in a few days of driving. I would save your money and find a decent set of 4 piston calipers to use.

Kurt

 

[blksn955.o]

my PBR's have a little boot to keep crap out and the cobra/baer PBR calipers I have seen have the same boot. I got my calipers off a buddy who I helped put his baer (exact same thing as the cobra setup) on his car for his stock stuff and a few bucks. Maybe a bum kit or the calipers had the boot removed as I even remember mine sliding off and at first I was like WTF...oh Sh! then I saw they just kinda press back on/into a groove. Confirmed this with my wifes uncle is a 30yr Sr. Master Ford tech (damn good one too). Now the seizing of the pins is an issue no doubt but the best remidy is to get the synthetic lube and check the breaks.

I check mine every spring before I pull mine out, pads, pins lube, caliper bolts, lines, tires, tire pressure, trq lug nuts on re-install of rims, check plugs, wires, vac lines, fuel lines, fresh oil, and filter along with a prime of the motor before first fire

 

[Husky44]

blksn955.0--thanks for all the good input, and for saving me from ordering the Cobras and finding out they didn't fit!

I'm going to do a little checking on powder-coat pricing before I go the paint route...now I just have to decide between red and yellow for the caliper color.

 

[blksn955.o]

No problem. Yellow would look good if the yellow is close to the cars yellow...and not some piss yellow. That is one thing I kinda miss with a black car, all black gets a little washed out and other colors stand out so I have to try and balance the two. Red and yellow cars have some nice options like RIO and RC's underhood shots...then Killers yellow bay is nice too.