My Question to the General Public, the Mustang Public----WHY???
We have a very good Braking System in the Original FORD Design, stopped all the Shelbys, all the 428 cars, all the Boss cars, WHY CHANGE IT???
Depending on your year model Mustang, you are looking at vehicles that are 30 something-40 something years old now. At the time these vehicles were built, they were on par with the stopping ability of all the other auto manufacuter's cars that were on the road at that time too. We move forward now to over 40 years later and vehicles of today stop in much shorter distances than what these Mustangs did back in the day. If, for example, you are traveling along on an interstate at 70 or 80 MPH and the traffic suddenly makes a dramatic reduction in speed, you are going to be in trouble if everyone else's car has the ability to slow down quicker than you can, and especially if this cycle happens frequently or repeatedly.
Adequate Stopping Power, Plentiful Parts supply (As these are Factory Brakes), Why in the World are we Wanting these Homemade parts??
Most people who are into modifying their Mustangs aren't interested in "Adequate". They are interested in making the systems [such as brakes] much better than what they were to start with, with an increased safety factor margin, over stock, to boot.
The Homemade parts Market changes with the Decades, Parts Wear with the same time Factor.
The only thing "Homemade" in the brake system conversions is the means to adapt the brake components [the adapter brackets]. --Which to that end, the "homade parts" of most of the brackets produced I know of are actually either CNC, laser or water-jet produced components by competent, professional machine shops.
The brake components, i.e.; rotors and calipers [produced by Ford], remain unmodified and there's really nothing on the adapter brackets to wear out --the brake components themselves are another story. I've heard of factory-produced rotor failures, caliper failures, and hose failures, but I've never heard of anyone's adaptive ["homemade"] brackets failing. --and if they had, you can rest assured that it would be all over the forums/internet by now if it did happen.
Now, Place yourself 20 years from now, Were will the replacement parts come from??
It's well past 20 years since the last vintage Mustang brake parts were produced by Ford, however Ford themselves hasn't sold their own brake replacement parts for these cars in many years now. The only place you can get them is through auto parts stores or Mustang parts suppliers. The Fox/SN95 Mustangs/Cobras are very popular cars and already there are manufacturers reproducing parts for those models, so I don't suspect there will be any more problem getting SN95/Cobra brake parts in the future than you would find trying to get 30-40 something year old Mustang brake parts like you can right now.
The Supplier of these homemade Parts MIGHT be there to furnish new replacement parts. Might not be there, then What.??
Again, the brake components are the same factory parts that were put on the SN95 GTs or Cobras. The only thing that is different is the adaptive means --and as stated, I haven't yet seen a failure of an adapter bracket --front or rear.
But you can bet your butt, the Original Disc Brake Application ---FORD--for you Year/Model will be in Every Auto Parts store, and on Line.
Actually, if I needed a stock rotor or caliper for my '68 Mustang, I would have to order it from my local O'Reilly parts store and wait 1-5 days for it to arrive, because it would not be a stocked item [too old, low demand part]. If I needed a Cobra rotor or caliper though, there's a good chance it would be on the parts shelf at the time I needed it right then.
We're approaching nearly 9 years now that my partner [Glen Buzek] & I have been offering "homemade" disc brake conversion brackets to Mustang & related Ford owners. In that time, I can honestly say that our customer's complaints of our brackets, and their performance, totals a whopping Zero percentage rate of complaints. This can only tell me that something doesn't have to come from an automotive factory to be of a sound engineering design. My conversion brackets have run on everything from Mustangs, Cougars, Falcons, Fairlanes, street rods, etc., to all out balls-to-the-wall race cars and with zero failures. Private individuals outside of Ford, GM or Chrysler can produce proven, "homemade", components that can [and do] perform without problem or flaw.
Dan
Classic Mustang Disc Brake Conversions and Power Steering