Progress Thread Father Time: High-$ anti-dent defense system

Decision made.... As I alluded to in Black Jack's thread, I'm financially focused on non-mustang stuff for a while. I have been reviewing pics of '86- taillights & the 93 Cobras, and I do not like the offset that Larry pointed out; they also make the hatch overhang. I'd frankly forgotten that I had them on Black Jack the first time I purchased the car:

Definitely needed the blacker trim, but now that I see how they're recessed, I can't unsee it.

So, it's gonna stay LX tails, which Ive always loved. I happen to have a set that ain't perfect, but are a definite step up from the OEMs currently on the car.

Set timing right, today. The shop didn't know how to with the Big Stuff 3.

The car is burning oil, and after pullling the upper, and sticking a borescope down the ports, I'm pretty sure the lower intake needs to be angle milled and/or I need to use some silicone to make sure it seals.

I put some OEM LX tails on the shelf a year or two ago, and they're the best I can do for a while. They are a bit cleaner than the old ones, but at least the lenses don't have the minor cracking, anymore.

Also found an old cargo net in my pile o' stang parts and stuck em in there:

I've been polishing my weld wheels trying to restore them a bit using this stuff, and it's not really getting there. Just wondering what's the right way to restore a wheel after corrosion has left pitting?


View: https://youtu.be/cV-yC_V1juc?si=riJJkICqSD6Dojbe

Baer Track Kit (interesting development):
I can't believe I've owned this car for 20 years, and never really figure this out. I basically drove it every day for about 3 years, and even tracked it a couple times without ever needing to replace the rotors. I have a more experienced eye for these things than I did back in '07 when I radically changed the combo.

Anyways, I couldn't tell you exactly what year the Baer kit was installed on Father Time, as it happened before I purchased the car in '04, but I always thought it was the "Baer Brakes Track Kit," and any research I still do points to the fronts being equivalent to SN-95 Cobra 13" discs. However, that turns out to be wrong in Father Time's case. I suspect, and perhaps a phone call to Baer will clarify, that their original kits for foxes came with 88-94 C4 Corvette/Gen4 F-body Brakes all the way around. My theory is that they were not just the 12" rears, but also the 13" fronts fronts with deeper hats (not sure about my terminology there, but see pics). Baer was definitely redrilling the rear 12 rotors for 4.5" lug-spacing (thinking GM is 4.75").

When I sent the car off for paint, I asked Manir to paint the calipers, too. And, I picked up a complete old school Baer Track Kit along the way. So, on went the "new" calipers, which were cleaner than my old ones. And, for good measure I gave him some Cobra fronts, which obviously didn't work. Check this out:



And look at the cut and rewelded tabs to mount the calipers deeper on this spindle:




The good news is that there's not an urgent need, as there's plenty of rotor left, and they frankly appear thicker, albeit with narrower veins.

Swept Area:
One thing I’ve never liked is the wear pattern on these rotors. A lot of the inner radius is untouched. Now I can see why: looking at the top caliper tab, there’s almost no room to bring the caliper inward without cutting dangerously deep into the spindle. On the bottom, I might be able to have a fabricator reweld the tab to shift the caliper inboard—but then I’d risk putting the pad at an angle relative to the rotor, with the top sticking further out than the bottom. I’d need to take a closer look to see if the caliper itself has room for that adjustment. And, from the top-looking-down picture, you can see that there really isn't any room left for the rotor to go further into the caliper, regardless.

Another option might be to swap to stock SN95 spindles. That way, all my cars would share the same front rotors, and with Father Time likely never being too far from the trailer, I’m not overly worried about being able to do emergency swaps from a parts store.

Here are a couple extra pics I took for good measure:

Here's an OEM 88-94 C4 Corvette front rotor for comparison, and the 'hat' looks about the same depth as mine on Father Time:

Dragging brake is on Black Jack. I probably just moved the caliper by hand. I'll pay attention now thar you pointed it out, though. Thx.

Edit: Looks good to me, bracket is just close:

Noobz347 said:

I would start looking for and pricing out a 2-piece rotor.

Their might be an expensive pinch up front, but subsequent replacements would be easy.

Click to expand...

Exactly what I sent to Baer, last night, in addition to asking if my suspicion about the front is right.

Edit:
Had a chat with Rick P from Baer. He's piecing together the replacement parts I'll need. And, yes, they are 88-94 C4 Corvette equivalent rotors. So, I'm going to order 2-piece fronts for $795 + the rears. After that, I will only need to order the outer ring. I'm not in a hurry on this. I just wanted to know my options.

Today, I decided to load FT up in the trailer to clear up garage space, while keeping it out of the elements. Just wanted to say that I LOVE the fog-light anchor points. So convenient!