Debating '05 GT vs. Cobra brake upgrade

coolblue65 · Nov 23, 2010

I am planning on upgrading the front and rear brakes on my '65 to either the '05 Gt or the Cobra set-up. Aside from the most obvious difference in rotor size, 12.5" vs 13", what are the pro's and cons of either set-up.

I know the cobra calipers are basically the same as the C4 corvette. At a quick glance the GT's seem similar to the C5 corvette calipers. And if that is the case then the brake pads on the GT's should be significantly larger then the cobras, which I would consider a huge benefit, i just have no up close experience with the GT's to compare.

Anyones thoughts?

tweet66 · Nov 23, 2010

I run one of each on both of my 66 coupes and really don't see much of a difference in overall performance (at least on the street). I haven't tried either in a track environment but the few panic stops I've had to make they both worked REALLY well.... I think the '05 and up setup is slightly cheaper when it comes to finding parts (used or new). I made my own brackets for the '05 setup and used Street or Tracks for the Cobra's. Hope this helps.

coolblue65 · Nov 23, 2010

tweet66 said:
I run one of each on both of my 66 coupes and really don't see much of a difference in overall performance (at least on the street). I haven't tried either in a track environment but the few panic stops I've had to make they both worked REALLY well.... I think the '05 and up setup is slightly cheaper when it comes to finding parts (used or new). I made my own brackets for the '05 setup and used Street or Tracks for the Cobra's. Hope this helps.

Thanks, it helps, I am leaning towards the GT's right now because I can get a set of take-off calipers and rotors for under $200. have you ever had a chance to compare the brake pads?

What did you do for your rear brakes on each of car?

tweet66 · Nov 23, 2010

Haven't really messed around with brake pads. Both Mustangs are running high metallic stock replacements. I am running stock pads on the 05 setup on my 65 Falcon. She stops well but not quite as much bite from high speed as the metallics.
Both mustangs are running rear discs (homemade brackets) Cobra rear calipers on both with cobra rotors on one and 05 GT on the other. The Falcon has Aerostar 10x 2.5' rear drums.

Rusty67 · Nov 25, 2010

If you are like me and hate slide pins, the Cobra calipers are the way to go.

On the other hand, the no slide pin design hasn't been the most bullet proof thing I've ever seen. The clips that hold the pads onto the caliper tend to brake after a while. This is no bueno for safety because that is basically what holds the caliper to the rotor.

If you don't care about caliper type, go with whats cheaper and dump the savings into a good set of pads.

coolblue65 · Nov 25, 2010

Rusty67 said:
If you are like me and hate slide pins, the Cobra calipers are the way to go.

On the other hand, the no slide pin design hasn't been the most bullet proof thing I've ever seen. The clips that hold the pads onto the caliper tend to brake after a while. This is no bueno for safety because that is basically what holds the caliper to the rotor.

If you don't care about caliper type, go with whats cheaper and dump the savings into a good set of pads.

To be honest besides the way it looks, meaning that it says 'cobra', I pretty much hate the Cobra caliper design. I have a C4 corvette in which the clip/pin holding the caliper together did in fact fail while I was driving. I promptly upgraded to the C5 corvette brake system (which seems to be the same basic design as the GT's) and the braking is dramatically improved. I know there are plenty of people who run cobra style calipers with no problems but I think it is a flawed design.

So I suppose my mind is made up about which system I want-the GT's, the only issue will be if they will fit with no issues.

Rusty67 · Nov 25, 2010

One other thing. If you get the Bullitt version of the caliper they come painted red with a running pony on the caliper. It looks really cool =)

I don't like the design of this caliper as much as I use to after owning a few cars with this caliper. I'm looking to upgrade my daily driver to the 4 piston brembos to get away from floating calipers all together. My 67 has the K/H fixed 4 piston calipers on it right now too.

gikort · Nov 26, 2010

Hey, I was just going to post up a new topic about this very thing. My 67 has factory 4 caliper disks in the front, and I want to upgrade them to larger, possibly slotted or drilled disks. I don't want to spend the 600+ on a kit. What is needed to get the newer gt or cobra brakes to fit? I have a mill and can make the adapters for the calipers, my main concern is if there is anyway I can keep my stock spindles. Is it as easy as putting the new disks on my stock hubs and building an adapter to hold the caliper? Could you guys shed some light on what it took?

Thanks.

Rusty67 · Nov 26, 2010

What do you mean by the newer GT caliper ? If you are talking about the SN95 calipers don't bother with the GT/V6 calipers, the K/H calipers are just as good if not better.

I think Mustang Steve and Vintage Venom both sell a set of adaptor brackets to bolt the SN95 Cobra caliper onto your stock spindle. I think you use the newer rotor with a drum hub but I'm not 100% sure on that.

gikort · Nov 26, 2010

Yeah the sn/95 gt rotors are only 11" as well which are actually smaller than the stock '67 setup. I was wondering about the 05+ stuff that use the larger 12.5" rotors. I have looked at those kits you mentioned, 5 to 6 large, and they don't come with the rotors or calipers. I want to do something similar, and could build the adapters, I just know I'm not going to be able to find any cobra stuff. I'm in a local club and just about all the guys have late model cars, and I could probably get some pull offs from the 05+ GTs, so I was wondering what it takes to get these to mount up on the stock spindles/hubs. Do you know if they use solid calipers?

tweet66 · Nov 26, 2010

The new SN197 GT calipers are a two piston design (plastic by the way) that are much different than the SN95's. I think that's what is meant by "new GT".

tweet66 · Nov 26, 2010

I have a set of SN95 calipers on a set of granada spindles and rotors.

coolblue65 · Nov 26, 2010

gikort said:
Yeah the sn/95 gt rotors are only 11" as well which are actually smaller than the stock '67 setup. I was wondering about the 05+ stuff that use the larger 12.5" rotors. I have looked at those kits you mentioned, 5 to 6 large, and they don't come with the rotors or calipers. I want to do something similar, and could build the adapters, I just know I'm not going to be able to find any cobra stuff. I'm in a local club and just about all the guys have late model cars, and I could probably get some pull offs from the 05+ GTs, so I was wondering what it takes to get these to mount up on the stock spindles/hubs. Do you know if they use solid calipers?

I think you might want to do a bit more research, 5 or 6 large?-not sure where you got that number from. You can buy the adapter brackets for either Cobra brakes or '05+ brakes for about $200 from Street or Track or MustangSteve. Then source the calipers on your own, you can find Cobra stuff all day long on ebay.

I highly recommend you check out the vendors I mentioned because they have good websites that detail how to get these late model brakes on our cars.

gikort · Nov 27, 2010

oops yeah meant 5 or 6 hundred, sorry about that. I was looking at the vintage venom or something like that. looked like good stuff, but like i say like 5 hundred for just the adapters. Thanks for the info, I checked them out, that's exactly what I was looking for!

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