The brakes are in!

[azbruin]

And working after a few trips to Autozone for different connectors. I used the donor calipers on the front but switched to the matching 5 lug rotor. I used Forte's rear disc conversion, a '94 Cobra M/C to get more pressure and a Ford Racing proportioning valve on the fronts. I also cut and repositioned the pedal. I changed out the front flexible hoses since I noticed a bit of cracking.

The most brake work I had ever done was changing the pads on a Jeep 20 years ago but I'm pretty happy with the results. The tube bending came out pretty well. No kinks and I got everything where I wanted it without too much difficulty.

Tried to add some pics but getting a file too large message. They're abot 3.5MB jpgs. I'll have to shrink them later.

[ksamson]

Congrats, great job. Can you post pictures. I ordered my base kit yesterday. I have harvested all of my parts, now I am ready to plug and play. Question, I have the normal 97 mustang brakes, do you recommend switching to Cobra brakes for a few more dollars?

[azbruin]

I'm no expert but I think it depends on what you are planning to do with your car. Mine will be a street car only so my braking needs were pretty modest. I hated the idea of drums on principle more than anything else and made the changes to get into a full disc setup. The car is so light, I think almost any brakes would work in my application. I'll defer to others more experienced on racing and autocross. I'm sure you are also thinking about power while I'm going strictly quad (as in quadriceps!). The Cobra M/C was just to get the larger (15/16) bore needed by the rear disc conversion.

[ksamson]

ok, thank you. I will stick with my original brakes as I have already painted them up. What type of pedal bender did you use?

[MPTech]

If you're just getting started, I'd advise vacu-boosted (power) brakes or hydroboost if you still have the '97 donor parts.
Power brakes and steering are 2 of the most popular mods and this is a good time to do it and really not that expensive to do.
Also there's been a lot of talk about tossing the proportioning valve (you probably don't really want to restrict the front brakes, the rears are better balanced with more aggressive pads.)

[edwardb]

X2 on both of MPTech's suggestions. Lots of discussions on the forums about power steering and power brakes. Many will say they don't need. No one who has them says they wished they didn't. I put vacuum power brakes on my build, with new Cobra 4-wheel disks. Pins you against the harness. Very strong brakes with very reasonable pedal pressure. Even for street driving (same as me) you want the best brakes you can within your budget and build plan of course. Adding vacuum power brakes (the Whitby kit is excellent) is a piece of cake during the build, and very difficult afterwards. Regarding the proportioning valve, on these cars most put them on the back brakes if at all. I have one in my circuit, and it's wide open. Never had to adjust it.

[ksamson]

Thank you all, I am going with the 97 donor brakes, with the Whitby m/c package. My car will be street only so this will work just fine. I have all of the parts for my brake build. The only thing I need is a tube bender and brake fluid. This is exciting. My kit should be here 2nd week in June.