Lincoln Mark VII 8.8" in a Foxbody?

Mar 15, 2011
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So I've been looking at piecing my 5-lug swap together, and ran across a Mark VII 8.8" with discs for a cool $100. I know they are wider, possibly too wide. Anyone running them? Worth the hassle, or should I look for a SN95 unit?
 
I'm looking at doing the same swap. The Mark VII components are the same used in the SVOs. I've been doing a lot of resource because I picked up a 91 MarkVII with a cobra swap and supercharger that I was going to put into my 91 vert. Then I found out that the brakes and most of the suspension parts are a direct swap. The Mark rear end is a little wider but thats because of the abs axles. You can get some axles off of a ranger to bring the width back to stock fox. The SN95 is also suppose to be a direct swap but its narrower. I've got some good literature on swaps if you want it I can email or send it to you some how. Good luck with your swap.
 
Ancient brake design, heavy, too wide, expensive, e-brake sucks.

Sn95 is the way to go


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this... my rear tires rubbed with a 245/50/16 on them

i still have the lincoln brakes and all that but ive flipped the caliper brackets and all that BS. still dont have a parking brake though
 
This is simply Fox Saleen rear brake settup, also used on the '84-86 SVO's.

You have to run different wheel offsets from front to rear to compensate for the wider rear track.
 
There are 2 mark 7 setups....which isn't commonly known.

The 84-90 Mark 7 setup is the type used on the 84-86 SVO (11.35" rotors, 54mm calipers), but the 91-92 setup is the rear brake setup used on the 1993 Cobra R. It's 10.5" vented and uses 45mm calipers.

VERY unknown brake setup considering it was only used 2 years on a production vehicle and on 107 Cobra's.

Unsure if the 91-93 Saleens used this rear brake setup, or stuck with the 84-86 SVO rear brakes.
 
1984 - 1986

For 1984-1986 Mustangs, Saleen used the standard Ford brakes for almost all production vehicles. At least a one owner DID request and receive an upgraded braking system in 1986. In addition, there was some in-house R & D that occurred with different systems and pads on "company cars". Other than those few exceptions, 1984 - 1986 Saleen Mustangs used the barely-adequate stock Ford 10" front disc and rear drum brakes.


1987 - 1993

In response to consumer and racetrack demands, Saleen upgraded the braking system for all 1987-1993 Saleen Mustangs. The brake upgrade used a combination of Ford-sourced parts and included an upgrade from a 4-lug to a 5-lug configuration. In addition, there was an upgraded Alcon-based system offered on 1993 SC's and SA-10s, as well as a running change for 1992 & 1993 rear brakes.

Saleen also changed the master cylinder due to the greater fluid volume requirements. Most sources say the SVO Master cylinder with 1-1/8" bore was used, however some claim that the Saleen master is a 1" bore size...


87-93 FRONT

On the front, Saleen used the 5-lug 11" rotors and larger capacity 73mm calipers from the SVO / Lincoln Mark VII. The center hub & dust cap are larger on these rotors, and will not clear most wheels that use a flat center cap.

The Bendix "rebuilder" part numbers for the front calipers are:

Left Caliper : R55247S and Right Caliper: R55246S

(The S suffix denotes steel pistons - may be tough to find, but perform better than plastic)

Rotors are widely available, just ask for parts for an 84-86 SVO Mustang, or 84-92 Lincoln Mark VII. The 1989 SSC used special grooved rotors (pictured below).

For front pads, the FMSI Interchange # is 7802B-D200, which corresponds to:

Hawk HB125.650

Porterfield AP-200

PFC #1994



87 - Early 92 REAR Brakes

The 87-92 rear conversion used 11.375" vented 5-lug rotors from the SVO Mustang / Lincoln Mark VII. The rear is 1.25" wider per side (2.5" total) than stock, which can cause issues with rubbing on the rear tires and requires you to run special offset wheels. A popular upgrade is the SN95 (94-98) rear, which it is 1" narrower than the Saleen rear.

The Ford part #'s for the rear calipers are the following;
E4LY-2552-A Right Rear Caliper & E4LY-2553-A Left Rear Caliper

The rear pads are more readily available with stock-type compounds. For performance use, there's only a couple choices available :

Porterfield APD-204

EBC Greenstuff DP-21161

It's also worth noting that the 1989 SSC used special grooved rotors (1st picture below).

1989 SSC rear 87-early 92 rear



Late 1992 - 1993 REAR Brakes

In 1991, the Mark 7 rear brake setup changed to a smaller rotor and different pad. The change was phased in by Saleen for some 1992 and all 1993 Saleen Mustangs. For instance, #92-18 uses the early, larger brakes, while #92-19 uses the later small brake set. At a glance, it also appears that the later caliper mounts at a "true horizontal" 9:00 or 3:00 position, while the earlier caliper mounts slightly below horizontal (like 8:30 or 3:30).

The adapter plate, rear brake hoses, lines, line bracket, caliper mounting plate, caliper, and rotor were all from a 1992 Lincoln Mark 7. The brake setup appears similar to a 1993 Cobra or 1994 GT, but is slightly different.

The late 92-93 rotor measures 10.5 inches (as opposed to the earlier 11.375") and uses an FMSI 347 brake pad set.

 
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The biggest problem is the width.
We measured our 89 Mark's rear for a similar use, and it was way too wide.
That, and the gear ratios available for those Marks were not very good.
We found a Fox T-bird T/C rear for 100 bux on Craigslist, and I consider that a much better deal than 100 bux for a Mark rear.
The T/C rear is the 93 Cobra rear. It's 4 lug and same width as the SN95, but it does have discs you can use or re-sell, and they came with only 3.55 or 3.73 gears, and only in limited slip, which is hard to come by in a Mark rear. So the T-bird rear has far more possibilites for the same money... It all depends what you are doing.

After you are done buying suitable gears, limited slip unit, doing the mods to shorten the rear, and the setup, you will have a high dollar rear that is expensive to service when it needs repairs like rotors, pads, calipers, etc... I have priced the common maintenence parts, and they are high on the Mark.
 
The width comes from the ABS reluctor ring on the axle. There are several candidates for axles, rangers, broncos, explorers, crown vics, which would solve the width issue. The reason I'm gona go with the Mark VII swap is simply because I have a complete donor car. The tracloc was just an option on the Mark VII and most of them only came with 3.27 gears for highway manners, which does suck. Mine is a LSC w tracloc, if you look on the door sticker for an E in the ax section, it is the the option for the tracloc. I also live in a small town in NE Montana so my options for picking parts is really limited. Here's some lit I come across on the t-bird tc swap. I also have other lit on these swaps and interchangable parts for the fox mustangs if someone else would like a little more info. Send me your email n I'll send em to you.


Rear Disc Upgrades: '87-88 Ford ThunderBird Turbo Coupe/'93 Cobra Rear Disc Brakes:
These are 4 lug 10" vented rotors. This is a great swap if you can find the whole rear end! It is a 8.8" rear end, and the stock gear ratio is 3.55 for the manuals, 3.73 for the autos on the Turbo Coupes, and 3.08 on the 93 Cobra. Keep in mind the axle is .75" wider than the stock Mustangs, you will need to adapt the brake lines fittings. The easiest way is to use the drum brake rear hardlines and adapt at the caliper softlines. You need to drill the quad shock mounting holes 2" lower on the T-bird axle for the Mustang. For E-Brake cables, you need to purchase use the FMS cables. If you have a '93 vintage, you need to use the '93 Cobra cables. Ford made the '93 E-Brake cables like the Sn95 units with a center mounting in the tranny tunnel. 93 Cobra E-Brake cable #F3ZZ-2A635-A.
If you cannot get the whole axle or do not want it, get all the brake lines, calipers, bolts, rotors and axles. Then swap this into your existing axle. Here is a parts list that you need to do the swap from the '87-88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe or '93 Cobra:

  • 10" 4 lug vented rotors
  • rear calipers
  • rear caliper brackets
  • Axles -- if you use the stock caliper brackets. They are 3/4" wider than the stock '87-93 units.
  • soft brake lines
  • (2)FMS M-2809-A ebrake cables for '87-92 cars, '93 Cobra units for '93 year cars
  • (1) FMS M-2810-A center Ebrake cable
  • FMS M2450-A proportioning valve solid end cap
  • Adjustable proportioning valve
  • new 2 port 4 wheel disc master cylinder (1" bore for stock front calipers or 1 1/16" for the 73mm fronts)
  • 3-2 port master cylinder conversion.
  • 2 adapter fittings to use the stock drum brake hardline with the softlines -
The discontinued Ford M-2300-C kits uses the same calipers and rotors from the 87-88 Turbo Coupe, but stock length axles. SSBC and other companies have picked up this Ford kit and sell them for about $600. If you can get the calipers and rotors, but not the axles or axle brackets, call North RaceCars for these brackets! These will allow you to use the stock length rear axles with the TC rear disc parts!
 
Beau, thanks for emailing the info the other day. I plan on going over it in the next few days.

I'm looking to go 5lug on my 86Gt with 18x9 Saleen Replica wheels all around; not so diff from the 4lug. Got a lot of the SN95 Spindle stuff for the front already. Just making the final decissions on the rear, asknig around everywhere from guys with same yr. GT, running same wheels. This seems to be the most direct application apporach to massing all the parts together for a final purchase, wheels included.

I have an 8.8 from a 94 with the stock axle/ disc setup, but since reading some post about using the same 8.8 with Ranger axles to achieve stock wheel/quarter panel clearance I've been reluctant to purchase anything else til I concrete these fact for my 86GT. Found quite a comprehensive set of DIY instructions for the Ranger axle method that invloves cuttung the caliper bracket (North Race Cars) and inboard mounting them on the 8.8.

Just need to confirm which method out back will give me the best clearance while keeping the quad shock in place; I have a Vert. Found cool waay to roll the fenders, using a wooden baseball bat and couple buddies. Keeping my tires real caonservative all around for rotation purposes.

Be in touch. BTW, it's about 83 degrees and sunny here:doh:
 
No problem Dwayne. Most be nice to have weather like that. We've had a nice couple of days here too, it's sunny right now and its the warmest its been in almost two weeks. A nice toast 23 degrees. Thats almost short weather.
Do you still have those instructions on the ranger method? I can use it in my library. Could you send it or the link to my email if you still do. Thanks
I was watching a you tube video yesterday on rolling fenders where they used a wood bat too. I also saw fender roller that Eastwood sells for $50. Looks really simply, but I'm sure I'll end up grabbing the bat from behind the front door.
 
Ford 8.8 gears are Ford 8.8 gears. Doesnt matter what car they came out of or what was originally available in that car. You may have to swap the transmissio driven gear and sometimes the drive gear as well. 10 minute job including jacking up the car
 
So I've been looking at piecing my 5-lug swap together, and ran across a Mark VII 8.8" with discs for a cool $100. I know they are wider, possibly too wide. Anyone running them? Worth the hassle, or should I look for a SN95 unit?
. I might have Lincoln brake swap on my car but rear is not to wide .but I'm not 100 percent sure what is even on the car these are the rears in picture
 

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Is the 'flip' documented in the 5 lug brake swap stickie?

Nope. There used to be a website dedicated to it but it’s long gone. It was a great option when SN95 brakes were very expensive to get, but now they are cheap so the mark7/svo setup is the expensive setup. Those rear calipers are pricey
 
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