Fox to Cobra 5 lug conversion (not as easy as it seems)

So Today,......I set out determined to start the conversion process by robbing a donor car of it's spindles and rotors. Car was up in the air, tires were off, I had it all off in under 45 minutes, here's your 125.00 sir, Done. If the rest of the stuff was as easy as that, then there'd be no reason for me to post this. ( Not that there ever is a reason for me to post anything)
I've read everywhere where everybody that has converted their fox brakes over to SN95 stuff that the rotors were cheap ( $50.00 ea.) I agree, the rotors I found were cheap 51.99 ea.

The same for the calipers, equally inexpensive, 50-60.00 for refurb pieces. Uhhhh where? You can find the "calipers" for 50.00, but the caliper bracket?.........NOT.

I spent the better part of 4-6 hours today web surfing, and parts store haunting till I was sick of repeating myself. Autozone, Advance, Oreillys, Napa: Rotors? (ck), Calipers? ( some yes, some no) But the bracket to hold the caliper the additional 2" off the spindle? NO, NO, NO, NO!

I found that LRS had a brand new set of loaded calipers w/ brackets for only 299.00

I found a used set w/ rotors from a "Mustang" yard for the same 299.00.

I found A refurb Caliper/bkt assy from Summit supplied by A1 Cardone At 44.99 (Left side only)
I Found the same Assy from CJ pony Parts from the same supplier for 114.00 ( allow 5-7 days for delivery, and they don't know that there is only a left side only left @ A1 cardone. ( That is until after you place the order, they order from cardone and they send you a backorder notice via email))

So maybe some of you guys have a " Cobra Caliper bracket hiding place", or know of a supplier that bought a bazillion of them and has them in stock ( Both of them) please tell me where they're hiding.

I go through this process every time I make a modification, Shock, Resistance, Acceptance.

WHAT ! 299.00? I Aint payin' 299.00!, Oh what the hell,... at least I'll be done and have them by Wednesday.

Vanessa91 said:

A-1 CARDONE Part # 18B4654 View attachment 162982 Reman. Caliper w/Installation Hardware & Bracket
with Metal Piston; with Mounting Bracket; Front Right
price core total
$42.79 $45.00
$87.79

A-1 CARDONE Part # 18B4655 View attachment 162983 Reman. Caliper w/Installation Hardware & Bracket
with Metal Piston; with Mounting Bracket; Front Left
price core total
$42.79 $45.00
$87.79

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I appreciate you directing me to this. I ordered it from Rock auto. Although I had no confirmation of part availability, or actual ship time, the price was exactly as you linked, so I assume this was where you got it.

Adams91LX said:

rock auto is a great place to buy parts.. I have used them twenty times or more, always fast shipping and great prices.

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Glad to hear that. That offers me some comfort knowing somebody can testify as to their experience w/ the place. I found the calipers w/o brackets, and the brackets sold separately at a place called auto parts warehouse online yesterday. I didn't buy them because the brackets were listed as fitting the Cobra, as well as the GT and something I've never heard of, GTS. All while Talking w/ some woman from what sounded like the place was in India.
And even if they were the right brackets, I didn't feel like I'd ever see them again after I placed the order.

Adams91LX said:

Below is a long reading... short version : The 1995 GTS was a stripped down bare bones Mustang GT, cloth seats, no spoiler...

If you are interested, however, the following is for you:



above text was c/p from themustangsource.com

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Huh. I never knew that you could buy basically a stripper w/ a V8 after the LX. I knew they did it in the "olden days", but I just assumed if you wanted a V8 in later years You had to option delete a GT to get it that way.

Vanessa91 said:

No, I get all my parts from my local parts guy, I use rock auto to track down the part numbers. Generally paying cash gets me my parts MUCH cheaper then rock auto.

Click to expand...

Well the calipers w/ brackets came from them none the less. Took about 4 days w/ shipping. Although not painted red, They do say Cobra on them. Now all I gotta do is send back the cores (which aren't cobra cores, actually 95 GT stuff) and hope to get back the 51.00 ea. they charged for the core charges.

NikwoaC said:

Isn't that pathetic? That's why I refuse to ever buy anything from those Mustang salvage yards like MPS or Prestige Mustang.

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Yeah, I started doing business w/ Prestige and bought a complete 4cyl turbo system out of a 86 SVO that he had for 1000.00. Had what looked like a new 57 trim turbo, new a to a intercooler, BOV and wastegate. The motor had what sounded like a blown head gasket.

When I got it home and found that it was complete junk (all pistons were new, but cast, rods were so out of round that the bearings "fell out" of the big end, and the blown head gasket turned out to be a spun rod bearing AND a blown head gasket.
While I didn't know it then, the turbo ended up having enough in/out movement on the impeller that it was suspect, so I ended up looking at 1000.00 worth of crap when I added it all up. When I confronted the owner w/ my findings, all I got was "too bad".

FobraR said:

Let us know how the core charges work out...

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Do I detect a slight hint of "yeah,...fat chance" from you?

As heavy as those calipers are, the freight to get them back will probably ADD another 20.00+ to my investment in these calipers, and I really dont wanna see them back on my doorstep refused or returned. I was kinda expecting the core inspection to be the same as what you get from any parts store, (open box, look inside, see metal object, Check! core is exchanged) Guess we'll have to see what happens.

FobraR said:

Let us know how the core charges work out...

Click to expand...

It's always two steps forward,......one step back. Almost two months ago, when I started scrounging up parts for the swap, the first thing I did was find a donor car ( wrecked 95 GT) Hit on the right side, It was determined by the scrap yard that the spindles "might be alright"
They looked OK, so I bought the entire front end for 125.00 rotors/calipers/ hubs/spindles. I threw away the rotors immediately. I found Cobra calipers and brackets for about 100.00 thanks to vanessa91's suggestion to use Rock Auto; I bought new Cobra rotors from the Zone, 100.00;
I bought ceramic brake pads for those calipers, 55.00; and I didn't trust the old hubs, so I bought another set for 40.00 (also from Rock auto). Bought some fittings and braided lines, another 25.00; so all in all, I got a little over 420.00 in the front set.

So I set off this morning to install the front brakes.
First issue: The spindle is 1/4" narrower than my 4 cyl struts. So I make some spacers out of 1/8th" plate x 4. 1 hour.
Second Issue: Drill the tie rod end out to 5/8 on the spindle for the 5/8 bolts that hold the rod ends I use instead of tie rod ends. 20 mins. Done.
Mount the spindle on my LCA, tighten the lower ball joint, put the spindle into the strut, spacers on both sides, bolt it together, done w/ that. Put the hub on the spindle, use that crazy nut to bolt it down, torque it, and throw that big assed rotor on it. Caliper's next, two bolts later it's on. Put my heim end through the spacers on my 5/8" bolt, and the drivers' side is done. 15 minutes tops.

We all know what it looks like, but for me it's the first time I've seen it so you'll have to humor me.




For those that pay attention, I dropped the rack 3/4", and the front end is as low as I could get it,..so I had to use a few........spacers.

I go to the other side, and start to assemble it, and it moves along just the same way, until I attempt to attach the steering to the tie rod mount point. It's bent like a b itch.


Guess it was hurt from the wreck after all. Now I gotta try and take it back to the JY and get another one two months after the fact. Fat chance huh?

Moved on to the M/C. I bought this Wilwood unit to get more clearance because the lines exit on the shock tower side as opposed to the engine side like the stock unit did. According to Wilwood, there was no other benefit to upgrading to this unit from the stocker NikwoaC recommended. Well, ...It does look good,...so I got that going for me......... Which is nice.



As for getting additional clearance, I got some.



A little .
The thing cost 189.00, so lets add that to the total, now just a little over 600.00 in the brakes.

I got my rear end, back from my friend this morning, and will be adding the NRC kit I got for it in the next few days. New loaded Cobra calipers, 11.65 rotors, all the fittings and doo dads, new E brake lines and the requisite brackets to allow me to mount the calipers to the housing and use stock length Ranger axles ( which I also bought a new set). I'll add that progress as it happens.