- ½ socket and wrench

- 5/16” wrench

- 10mm wrench

- 3/8” hex allen socket

- needle nose pliers

- 9/16” socket and wrench

- 7/16” flair wrench

- Fluid pump

- Drill and drill bits.

Fluids:

- 2 large cans of brake fluid
- Spray can of brake cleaner

- 2.25 pints of rear gear lube

- 1 bottle of Ford Friction modifier ($4.50 at the dealership)

- black gasket maker silicone

Parts:

-Steel Tech Solutions custom rear brackets [pic]

-Thunderbird 87-88 TC 10" vented rear Rotors for 4 lug bracket. You can also use the SN95 Mustang GT or V6 rear 10" solid rear rotor later to convert to 5 lug with the 4 lug bracket.
- SVO/Lincoln Mark VII 11.365" vented for 5 lug [pic]
-Rear calipers from 85 Cadillac Seville with all lines, springs, pins, etc.

The casting numbers on the calipers are 020 and 021. This is an easy way to determine if they are the correct units. The calipers come with steel, aluminum or phonemic pistons. Steel is the best, but any will work for the street. Just be sure to get the same material pistons in both calipers.

-Rear brake pads
-FMS M-2450-A plug for the proportioning valve (under $10 from FMS dealer)
-Adjustable Proportioning valve ($37.99 for the SSBC unit from Jegs)
- (2) FMS M-2809-A Ebrake cables & (1) FMS M-2810-A Cable
-rear soft lines from 87-88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
-3-2 port conversion kit with new master cylinder

Installation:

*** this assumes that you have a basic knowledge of disc braking systems. I wrote this page towards the 87-93 5.0 cars since that is what I have. Also that you have rebuilt the rear calipers or bought new ones. You will need to have a larger Master Cylinder than the stock Mustang GT or LX unit for the rear disc conversion. Check [here] for installation notes.

I would recommend a 94-98 GT/V6 or 93 cobra master cylinder with a 3-2 Port conversion kit . These are both easy bolt ons with the conversion kits.

You also may not be able to run the factory quad shocks. I don't run them since I have aftermarket UCA and LCAs.

1. Choke block the front wheels
2. Loosen the rear lug nuts
3. Jack up the rear axle of the car and support both sides with stands
4. Remove the wheels
5. Remove the rear differential cover. Be sure to have a drain pan below.Remove all the fluid in the rear pumpkin the best you can.
6. Remove the 5/16” bolt for the carrier pin and remove the carrier pin.
7. Remove the rear drums, shoes, springs, levers, everything!Kiss them good bye now!
8. Push the axles in, remove the C clips and remove the axles. Be careful not to score or nick the axle seal.
9. Remove the E-brake cables from the backing plate. Needle nose pliers or a 12-13mm wrench will help to bend the prongs in.
10. Use a 7/16” flair wrench to remove the hard line from the rear cylinder. This will allow you to remove the whole backing plate now once you unbolt the old wheel cylinder.
11. Bend the brake line VERY carefully towards the center of the car.Do this at the FIRST bend in the line to make a 180 degree turn . Use a 20mm or similar sized socket to bend the line around slowly.
12. Install the axles, the C clips and carrier pin.Install the retaining bolt for the pin.
13. Clean the gasket surface of the axle cover and the pumpkin. (if you are installing an aftermarket rear end cover or want to, now is the time to install that) Put silicone on the pumpkin and on the axle cover to make a gasket. Let it set up for about 5 minutes and then reinstall the cover and bolts.
14. Next you need to set the backspacing for the caliper brackets.Since the brackets only come with the bolts and nuts to attach it, I took a trip to the parts store and picked up 12 washers and 6 more nuts.Get Grade 5 or 8 hardware. Put the brackets up to the axle flange; they will go in back of it for the stock 87-93 offset. Position the brackets as to put the calipers in the 2 o’clock position drivers side, 11 o’clock on the passenger side. Now here is the offset I used: I put the bolts with 1 washer through the bracket so they are facing towards the flange, then a nut, 1 washer and then mounted them on the flange. I finished up with the last nut to bolt the bracket to the flange.Bolt both sides up and make sure they are tight.[Here] is a crude drawing for the 4 lug brackets, and not to scale. *** due to production variances, you may have to shim the bracket more inward or outward than me. This may also change depending on what rotors and axles you are using.
15. Mount the rotor with 2 lug nuts to hold it in place.
16. The piston in the caliper has a deep notch in it. This should be pointed in the 12 o'clock position in the caliper. The inside pad has a ridge on it that locks into this notch. Be sure they line up!
    
17. Mount the loaded caliper to check the offset & clearance with the quad shocks! You may have to flip the quads or remove them.
18. You will know when you have the offset correct when the caliper is centered on the caliper slide bushing.
    
19. If everything is good, remove the caliper and rotors, and put locktite on the bracket mounting nuts.
20. Mount the rotors with 2 lug nuts to hold them.
21. Mount the loaded calipers
22. Install the caliper slide pins.Be sure to use caliper slide grease on the caliper bushing before installing the slide pin.
23. Now you need to bend the stock Cadillac brake line.Use a large socket around 20mm and bend the line around it very slowly.Make 3 circles in the line.Once that is done, tighten the brake fitting to the caliper.It will become clear once you mount the caliper how you need to bend the line. Bend the rest of the line, use the 3/16" coupler to mate the Mustang line to the Cadillac line.
24. Step back and take a look. WOW! No more poor man’s drum brakes!Hehe, starting to look like a sports car now!
25. Next thing you need to do at this point is to make sure the calipers are sliding on the caliper bushings.Move them back and forth a few times. They should slide easily since the piston is not snugged up yet.
26. Install the adjustable proportioning valve along the junction on the passenger side firewall. This is a direct bolt in with the fittings supplied with the valve. [pic]
27. Gut the front of the stock proportioning valve only! This is the juncture under the master cylinder. Use a 13/16" socket to remove the end cap. Then unscrew it, remove the spring and rod inside. You will need needle nose pliers to remove the rod. [pic]
28. Transfer the O-ring gasket from the stock end cap to the FMS plug.
29. Install the FMS plug.
30. Install the 4 wheel disc brake master cylinder along with a 3-2 port conversion kit and adjust the brake rod booster out .5- 1.5 turns from stock. Check here for installation instructions.
    
31. Time to bleed the brakes! Turn the adjustable proportioning valve all the way in. Start with the passenger rear, then drivers rear.Then the passenger front and finally the driver’s front. Make sure to keep fluid in the master cylinder! Speed bleeders will help bleed the rear calipers. Here are some more tips for bleeding the rear brakes: Rear calipers are very hard to bleed properly. Sometimes they can be bled only when removed from the car. Try taking them off (still connected to the brake line), place a block of wood or socket between the pads. Then bleed the brakes while tapping on the caliper and orienting the bleeder screw up -- higher than the banjo bolt!
32. If you cannot get good pedal feel, there is most likely air in the system. If you have to pump the pedal for good feel, that is a sure sign there is air in the system. Be sure to invert the rear calipers and to bleed the fronts also since you introduced air in the entire braking system with the proportioning valve modifications!
33. Don’t forget to fill the rear axle with fluid. Towards the front of the pumpkin on the driver’s side is the fill hole for it.Use a 3/8” socket wrench and extension to loosen it.Fill with gear oil and the Ford Friction Modifier.There is some debate if you need this with synthetics.I ALWAYS use it, even with Amsoil Series 2000 lubricants. Cheaper to use the fluid then rebuild the rear end!
34. Now before installing the e-brake cable, pump the e-brake lever to adjust up the calipers, not the brake pedal! Get them snug, just enough to where the rotors will turn freely. If the caliper is not centered in the slide bushing, you need to adjust the bracket backspacing accordingly! Be sure to double check that now the calipers are snugged up.
    
35. Now the e-brake cables. If you are using the FMS M-2809-A cables, you can swap these directly for the stock units. 
36. To install the center M-2810-A cable, you will have to remove the center console and ebrake handle to accomplish this. Refer to a Haynes or Chilton manual for additional instructions.  Once the handle is removed, you will need to modify the unit for best performance.  This involves cutting and welding the unit as per the M2300K instructions.  [pic ]
37. To install the M-2810-A cable, you will need to drill the center hole in the equalizer bar with a 5/16" drill bit.  You will also need two 8x1.25mm nuts since they are not included with the FMS cable.
38. Remove the bolts holding the cables to the side of the under body.Hold onto these clips and bolts.
39. If you look at the stock routing of the e-brake cables, they go around the torque boxes of the car.  With the FMS cables, you will just follow the same stock routing.  At the axle, you will go OVER the top of the axle and between the mounting ears on the quad shocks.  You may need to pick up some rubber insulated trailer wiring  clamps and bolt the cables to the under side of the torque boxes and the front sway bar mounts on the LCAs. 
40. If you have quad shocks installed, you will have to route the cable around them, but that may kink it too much. It would be better to enlarge the hole that is already there in the mount and put the cable through to the caliper.Otherwise route it over the bracket if you do not have quad shocks any more.
    
41. Now push the cable through the back mount of the caliper e-brake bracket.Put the caliper return spring over the cable, mount the spring and then route the cable through the guide there.Be sure to install the clips that hold the cable in place on the brake arm of the caliper. Test to make the E-brake is working properly. If the e-brake is working, just not well you have a you first make sure that the levers are moving about half way through their travel. If they are, then the cables are working freely and that is not the issue. So what you need to do, is remove the e-brake arm from the caliper (18mm nut) and reposition it. Basically if you screw the e-brake stud out, you can reposition the arm. This makes them work excellent!  
42. After you have the rear Ebrake arms working correctly, you can adjust the throw of the handle by tightening or losening the nuts on the M-2810-A center  cable.  
43. Use the clips that hold the e-brake cables and secure then in the inner fender well. Make sure you screw the bolt in facing the center of the car, not towards the wheel!
44. Adjust the adjustable proportioning valve all the way out, then in 4 turns. Use this as your initial setting. You want the fronts to lock just before the rears even in slippery conditions. You may have to readjust once the pads have broken in. I adjust in 1 turn increments to start with, then fine tune in half turn increments. Keep in mind that the rear caliper have large piston, almost the same size as the stock fronts (54mm vs. 60mm)! So it will take a lot of fluid to move the pistons, very close to the same amount as the fronts.
45. Well install the wheels, drop the car down, torque the lug nuts to 80-90 ft-lbs. and test SLOWLY in a safe area!Gain confidence in 5 mph steps.Be sure to check all the connections for leakage.Also give the pads some time to break in, at least about 500 miles. If the pedal is mushy or you have to pump it to get good pressure, there is air in the lines! Bleed them again with the caliper off the mounting brackets so the bleeder faces up!  The stock mounting position on the 8.8 will trap air in the calipers. Be sure to use a C clamp or pad spreader on the piston to keep it from moving while bleeding. Check the Master Power Brakes page for more troubleshooting if needed.