Here are some upgrades to improve the power, handling and braking of the Fox3 5.0L body Mustangs without braking the bank! Results may vary. If you have questions or additions, please email me at : mjbobbitt@yahoo.com
Legal Stuff-- No warranties or guarantees on any procedure. Use advice at your own risk!
Where to Start your Upgrades with a 87-93 5.0I found this great link on the Apex Motorsports website: Mustang Upgrades
[TOP]For someone new to Mustangs, here are the sections that are basically a must have on the cars:
- Brake Upgrades, Stage 1
- Engine Upgrades, Beginning Stage
- Exhaust Upgrades, Stage 1 & Stage 2
- From there, your suspension should be addressed before any further engine modifications are done.
Check out my new Budget Brake Upgrades page!
Steel Brake Caliper BushingsTools:
Time: 1 hour max
- Lug wrench 13/16"
- 17mm socket and wrench
- Anti-sieze compound
- Large slip lock pliers
- String or wire to hang caliper
Parts:
Why?: The stainless steel brake caliper sleeves replace the factory rubber bushings. The stock rubber bushings let the calipers move during braking, so the pad doesn't contact the rotor squarely. This movement reduces braking effectiveness, and causes uneven pad wear from pad cocking under hard braking.
- Stainless Steel brake bushings. I purchased them from Maximum Motorsports for $30
Install: First, break the nuts on the front wheels lose. Now jack the car up and support it with stands. Remove the wheels.
Now you have the bushings out. Clean the area and check for any burrs or other imperfections in the caliper mount that might cause the new bushings to not fit. Once that is done, apply anti-sieze to the bushings.
- Unbolt the caliper bolts with the 17mm socket
- Remove the caliper and pads and tie them out of the way. Do NOT allow the caliper to hang on the brake line!!!
- Now you can see the rubber bushings that are caliper mount. I found the easiest way to remove them is to spray some WD40 on them first. Then with some pliers from the engine side grab the bushing and just try to roll the pliers towards the bushing.
I found the easiest way to install the bushings it to line them up and with the slip lock pliers press them in. Just make sure that they are straight in the hole and they go in easily.
Once the caliper bushings are installed, reinstall the brakes and wheels in reverse order. Be sure to drive slow and test the brakes before driving with any speed.
Bottom Line: These seem to help at freeway speeds to help slow you down. I would guess them help decrease your braking distance by 2-5%. Anything helps with the Fox-3 brakes! Good upgrade for the money, plus if you also install larger calipers these will help their effectiveness. Have not had the bushings on long enough to determine if they help for long term wear, but from others they increase the life of the pads.
73mm Front Brake Upgrade: This is written towards the 87-93 Mustang GTs and 5.0LXs.Tools:
Time: 1 hour for the calipers. M/C will take about half hour for the SVO master cylinder and conversion unit to be installed. 5-15 minutes to bleed brakes. You may need to bleed the brakes again after a test drive.
- Lug wrench 13/16"
- 17mm socket and wrench
- 3/8" wrench
- 10mm socket
- 1/4" socket
- 9/16" wrench
- 7/16" flair wrench
- 12mm flair wrench
- Brake Fluid
Why?: Since the weight bias of the Mustang is towards the front of the motor, installing larger front calipers, 73mm vs the stock 60mm, will help decrease your braking distance.
This installation assumes you have turned the rotors or installed new ones. Some other maintenance items that you can address while doing this installation is repacking/replacing wheel bearings and wheel seals. Grab a Haynes or Chilton manual for assistance and torque specs.
Parts:
- 73mm Calipers, steel piston. I found reman Bendix calipers at Carparts.com for $14.05 each. Get them for a '91 Lincoln Mark VII for a direct bolt in (other 86-91 Lincolns should all have the 73mm calipers ,86+ Crown Victorias and 86 SVO 4cyl Turbo Mustangs). Also get the steel piston units, not the phonemic. The steel pistons work better and are usually denoted in the part numbers with a "S". Here are the part numbers from Carparts.com for the remanufactured Bendix parts:
- Left caliper : R55247S ($14.05)
- Right caliper: R55246S ($14.05)
- New Pads - '91 Lincoln Mark VII (or get the calipers loaded). You could use your old pads if they are fairly new. For the 73mm calipers with the steel pistons, you will have to bend the forks on the inner pad OUT to fit. With the 73mm phonemic units you will have to bend them IN.
- Brake fluid - (get more than you need just in case)
- optional parts that are recommended:
- Steel brake caliper bushings ($30 from Maximum Motorsports or Steeda) *HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
- SS brake lines ($70-80 for front lines from MM, Jeggs or Summit. $110 for front + rear line from MM)
- new Sn95 or 93 Cobra master cylinder
- Adjustable proportioning valve (required for rear disc)
- FMS M-2450-A Plug for the Stock Proportioning Valve. Required with rear disc and adjustable proportioning valve.
***Parts needed for 73mm calipers 87-93 (with stock master cylinder):
- 73mm calipers
- Adjust the brake booster rod out 1.5 turns
***Parts needed for 87-93, stock rear drums (with 2 port master cylinder conversion):
- Sn95 or 93 Cobra master cylinder
- 3-2 Port Kit
- 73mm calipers
- Adjust the brake booster rod out 1.5 turns
***Parts needed for 87-93 with rear disc brake upgrade (with 2 port master cylinder conversion):
- Sn95 or 93 Cobra master cylinder
- adjustable proportioning valve.
- Gut the stock proportioning valve, and replace the internals with this part from Ford Motorsports (FMS) p/n: M-2450-A
- 3-2 Port Kit
- 73mm calipers
- Adjust the brake booster rod out 1.5 turns
- Rear disc conversion kit
Proportioning Valve:Caliper Install: First, break the nuts on the front wheels loose. Now jack the car up and support it with stands. Remove the front wheels.This will be required if you are also converting/installing rear disc brakes. You will have to gut the factory proportioning valve that is under the master cylinder:
The reason you need to gut the factory valve is to defeat the proportioning action of the valve. You will use the manual unit to do this. You also have to install the FMS M-2450-A plug. The reason for the FMS plug is because the stock one has a hole in it filled with a rubber plug. If this falls out due to rot or pressure, you will lose your brakes! Cheap insurance for a $6 part!
- There will be cap at the front proportioning valve; towards the front of the car. Remove the cap with a 13/16" socket, take out what's inside, put the O-ring from the stock cap on the FMS one, and install the Ford p/n: M2450-A plug.
For selection, a new adjustable proportioning valve at Summit cost $40 (house brand but from the description it sounds like a Wildwood unit). Jeggs has the Wildwood unit for $40 and the SSBC unit for $39. This is installed in the brake line that runs along the firewall on the passenger side. You will see a female connector that you you will replace with the adjustable proportioning valve.Master Cylinder Install: For the master cylinder, installation is easy. Be sure to bleed, and then plug the ports on the old master cylinder before removal. Cover all areas of the paint on the front fender of the car. Brake fluid is very harmful to paint!
- Unbolt the caliper bolts with the 17mm socket
- Remove the caliper and the Banjo bolt - 10mm- from the caliper, this holds the brake line to the caliper. Be sure to have a pan below to catch the brake fluid.
- If you are already using steel caliper bushings in your stock calipers, you will need to transfer them from the old calipers to the new 73mm ones. If you have new bushings, install them in the new 73mm calipers. Be sure to lubricate them with anti-sieze for easier installation.
- Now install the new pads in the new calipers. You can cut the pads (and rear shoes) with perpendicular cuts in them to the direction of the rotor or drum. Use a hacksaw to cut these grooves to a depth of about 2/3 of the way through the friction material. Space these grooves 1.5" apart. This will help braking marginally.
- Install the new washers on the banjo bolt and attach the brake line to the new caliper. Tighten the banjo bolt to spec:
- 87-92: 17 to 25 ft-lbs
- 93: 26-44ft-lbs
- Install the caliper bolts, torque to 40 to 60 ft-lbs. Repeat for the other side
- If you are only doing the calipers, then proceed with adjusting the brake booster rod and bleeding the brakes. Otherwise, skip to the master cylinder installation.
- Once you have removed as much brake fluid from the master cylinder reservoir, you now have to unbolt the brake lines from the master cylinder. Next remove the nuts holding the master cylinder to the brake booster and remove. You now have access to the brake booster rod to adjust it out 1 1/2 turns via the little nut which looks like a tiny acorn --hence the name.
****A tip here is to get some whiteout and mark from the acorn nut all the way back with a thin line. This will give you a reference for how far you have turned. If you extend the nut on the push rod too far, your brakes will drag and lock up prematurely. If the push rod is too short, you will have excessive brake pedal travel accompanied by a groaning sound from the brake booster. Now reinstall the master cylinder and brake lines.
- To bleed the brakes, be sure to have a helper or a 1-person brake bleeding kit. Check this article on The Corral if you have never bled brakes or a Haynes or Chilton type of manual. Once all 4 wheels are bled, re-install the front wheels and torque the lug nuts down.
That is it for the install of the new calipers! Take the car and drive slowly to test. The pedal may be soft. If so, bleed the brakes again. Most likely you have air in the lines still. It will take some time for the pads to break in. If the pedal is still soft after bleeding the brakes a few times, then a master cylinder upgrade will be next. See above for the parts needed.
Bottom Line: With just the 73mm calipers installed, the braking distance is noticeably reduced. I would guess that stopping distances decreased about 10% over stock. Be sure that you adjust the brake booster rod out to get the pedal back to normal. Also break the pads in prior to installation, or give them about 500 miles to break in for maximum braking. With the installation of the larger sn95 master cylinder with a 3-2 port kit, the brake pedal feel is about like stock. If you do not install a newer Sn95 MC, then the pedal will be very soft and spongy. You will also have excessive pedal travel. I would suggest the master cylinder upgrade if you embark on this project - or - if you have or are going to have rear disc brakes. Lastly, the hardest part of this project is rounding up the parts. It is much cheaper to put up with finding the right pats then buying a 73mm brake kit from a company.
Before mounting the new master cylinder, bench bled the unit:
- Bleed or plug the ports on the unit
- Remove the 2 bolts that hold it to the brake booster (9/16" nut). Also remove the "low brake fluid" sensor plug from the master cylinder reservoir.
- Remove all 3 brake lines from the master cylinder. Use the flair wrenches on the fittings so that you do not round them off.
- Remove the master cylinder carefully from the brake booster.
- Remove from car with a towel underneath for extra precaution
Now the whole brake system is ready to be bled. To bleed the brakes, be sure to have a helper or a 1-person brake bleeding kit. Check this article on The Corral if you have never bled brakes or a Haynes or Chilton type of manual. Once all 4 wheels are bled, re-install the front wheels and torque the lug nuts down.
- Insert threaded plugs in the ports (or use your fingers) and fill the reservoirs with brake fluid.
- Loosen one plug at a time, starting with the rear outlet port first, and use a large phillips screwdriver to push the piston assembly into the bore. To prevent air from being drawn back into the cylinder, the appropriate plug must be replaced before allowing the piston to return to its original position.
- Stroke the piston 3-4 times for each port to ensure that all air has been expelled. Be sure to tilt the master cylinder during installation to expel all the air from within the bore.
IMPORTANT: Before bolting the master cylinder in, extend the push rod from the booster about 1-1/2 turns via the little nut which looks like a tiny acorn --hence the name. A tip here is to get some white out and mark from the acorn nut all the way back with a thin line. This will give you a reference for how far you have turned. If you extend the nut on the push rod too far, your brakes will drag and lock up prematurely. If the push rod is too short, you will have excessive brake pedal travel accompanied by a groaning sound from the brake booster.
Take the car and drive slowly to test. The pedal may be soft. If so, bleed the brakes again. Most likely you have air in the lines still. If you have problems with air trapped in the calipers, consider purchasing some speed bleeders. They go for about $10-20 per pair and work excellent! It will take some time for the pads to break in.
One last thing, these are great brakes for the street!!!. For Autocross you will need rear disc brakes as well.
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Rear Brake UpgradesStock drums on the Fox3 Mustangs are 9".
T-Bird Turbo Coupe Rear end complete with disc and calipers:
These axles are 8.8" 4-lug rears with disc brakes. Since the T-bird Turbo Coupes (87-88) rear disc brakes are small in size (10"), they will fade more when compared to larger disc. But they will be an upgrade to the stock 9" drums for sure and since most of the Mustang's weight is on the nose, they will work great! The T-bird complete rear axle would be a good upgrade if you get the whole axle assembly including brakes, calipers, and cables at a cheap price (~$150) since you may need to turn the rotors and rebuild the calipers. Also if you are also looking to install lower gears, the manual transmission TC has 3.55 gears and automatic transmissions use 3.73 gears stock. Keep in mind the T-bird axle is .75" wider than the stock Mustangs and 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 the e-brake cables from a '84/'86 SVO if your car is '92 or older. You can also use the FMS cables, p/n: M-2809-A. If you have a '93 vintage, you need to use the '93 Cobra cables. Ford made the '93 e-brake cables specific to that year for some odd reason. 93 Cobra ebrake cable, Wagner part #F1324400 ($15).
If you want to keep your stock mustang axle and internals, then get these parts from the Turbo Coupe: axles, calipers, caliper brackets, rotors, splash guards, all brake lines and all the bolts/nuts there. You can swap all this into the mustang rear end, see below for axle removal/installation. It will still be .75" wider per side. If you want to keep your stock axles, then get everything but the caliper brackets, and order the correct calipers brackets from SSBC. Part numbers #A2418 and #A2419. They are $75 each. For e-brake cables, you need the e-brake cables from a '84/'86 SVO if your car is '92 or older. You can also use the FMS cables, p/n: M-2809-A. If you have a '93 vintage, you need to use the '93 Cobra cables. Ford made the '93 e-brake cables specific to that year for some odd reason. 93 Cobra ebrake cable, Wagner part #F1324400 ($15).
Other Rear Disc Options:
You can also purchase a SSBC kit for ~$500 without master cylinder, or another $100 more with the master cylinder. Considering the SVO master cylinder is only $15 rebuilt and the MM 3-2 port adapter kit is $45, purchase the kit without the master cylinder.
For other rear disc brake options, I have seen different kits in HotRod magazines for the Ford 8.8". They use GM calipers from the Cadillac Seville or the Corvette with 11" rotors. Price was $499 for the Cadillac caliper kit or $479 for the kit with the Corvette calipers. The two companies that I saw this listed was:
DIYS Rear GM Disc! - Yes, GM rear calipers! This will cost under $300 to do! The main parts that you need are the caliper brackets. You can purchase these from SteelTech Solutions, Inc. from David Levesque. They cost $75 for the pair off Ebay and work with either the 10" rear Thunderbird Turbo Coupe rear rotors (4 lug) or the 11" Lincoln/SVO rotors (5 lug). In addition to the brackets you will need a pair of rear calipers from a 80-85 Cadillac Seville. The trick on the calipers is get casting numbers 020 and 021. The bolt holes are 5.5" apart from each other. Get the calipers with all the lines, ebrake hardware and springs. Then you need new pads, and two 3/16" couplers to mate the Mustang line to the Cadillac hard line.
- ECI - 860-872-7046
- BM - 303-668-6882
See my Budget Brakes Page for the information you need on this. They work excellent!
Art Morrison had listed in one advertisement a SVO 11" rear disc kit. What was unique about this was that the inner diameter of the rotor housed a drum setup for the parking brake! It looked trick. Prices started at $395.00! I did not see this kit listed on their website. You may need to call them for application information.
Aerospace components makes a nice rear brake kit. $450 for the kit, with GPs about $375. They include 11" rotors and 4 piston calipers!
Also, if you want a 8.8" 5 lug rear end with disc brakes using the rear Mustang SVO disc brakes, check this link for more information.
Be sure to also upgrade the master cylinder to a larger bore unit like the SVO unit with an adjustable proportioning valve if you install the T-bird rear end or rear disc brakes.
Disc Brake Troubleshooting Guide
A defective master cylinder:
If the bore in the master cylinder is pitted or the rubber seals have decreased in size then some fluid will bypass the seals under pressure giving a lower pressure to the wheels and a softer spongier brake pedal.
To test for this condition remove the brake lines from the master cylinder and plug the outlets (obtain outlet plugs from a local auto parts store). When you apply the brake pedal it should be high and firm. If it is spongy or slowly goes down then either the bore of the master cylinder is pitted or the rubber seals are bad.
Incorrect booster pin length:
If the pin that goes from the booster to the master is too short then you will get a spongy pedal. With the master cylinder mounted on the booster the pin should be 1/64" from touching the master cylinder piston. Too long a travel before engaging the master cylinder gives the soft pedal feel.
Air in the system:
This is obvious but sometimes all the air has not been removed after bleeding. One reason is the incorrect orientation of the bleeder screws in the wheel cylinders. If the screw is not at the highest point on the cylinder chamber then a pocket of air will always remain. Check the screw orientation.
Master cylinder piston diameter too small:
If the diameter of your master cylinder piston is smaller than required by wheel system volume requirements then you will experience a long pedal travel. Determine what the original master cylinder bore diameter was and replace the master if too small. Remember with an old vehicle the master could have been incorrectly replaced by a previous owner.
Wrong master cylinder:
When you add disc brakes to the rear you must use a true 4 wheel disc master cylinder. The pressure and volume requirements to the rear are much greater than that required by drums, disc brakes require more pressure and volume. A four wheel disc master will have a longer stroke and will provide more pressure to the rear disc brakes.
Air in rear calipers:
Rear calipers are very hard to bleed properly. Sometimes they can be bled only when removed from the car. Try taking them off, place a block of wood between the pads and bleed while tapping and orienting the bleeder screw up.
Rear caliper problem:
If you are using Cadillac ElDorado rear calipers there are some important things you should know. One of the biggest advantages of a disc brake system is the fool proof self adjuster. Not so with this rear GM system. The rear calipers adjust off the parking brake. The parking brake is incorporated into the caliper. You must set the parking brake every time you park the car. The rear caliper pitons utilize a one way clutch inside the caliper piston. When the parking brake is applied the clutch senses when there is .030" or more clearance between the friction material and the rotor on the inboard side. When there is more than .030" the clutch turns inside the piston adjusting it out keeping the rear brakes adjusted. If you do not set your parking brake every time you will start to lose brake pedal (low and spongy) and the adjuster mechanism will not work any longer. Also: never use rebuilt calipers on the rear because the rebuilders use the old pistons and the pistons were the reason the caliper failed in the first place.
A defective power booster:
When a power booster goes bad the pedal will get extremely hard. Like stepping on a brick! To check your booster, turn off the engine and step on the brake pedal 5-6 times to empty the booster. Put your foot on the brake pedal with moderate pressure and start the engine. Your foot should fall slightly. If not the booster is bad.
A low vacuum condition:
Low engine vacuum will give you a very hard pedal. For proper function the booster will require at least 16-18" vacuum minimum. Check your vacuum level with a vacuum gauge.
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5 lug conversion optionsThis seems to be a popular topic.
If you want to use a Cobra "R" rim (5 lug) you need the 5.95 offset (94-up) for front and back with this combo. If you convert to disc brake in the back using Motorsport parts you need the 5.95 in front and the other in back (6.42?) -- anyway it's in the catalog.
The Cobra R wheel comes in two different offsets, 24mm and 36mm. The original Cobra R wheel, the R58, has a 24mm backspacing which is good for all four corners of an SN-95 car. The R58 also fits well in front of a Fox body car that has the Cobra brake upgrade. But the rear of a Fox / 2300-K car requires use a later model, the M179, which has 36mm of backspacing, and therefore places the wheel 12mm further inboard to clear the fender well.For all options listed, you can use for the front rotors from a mid 80's Lincoln Continental, Mark VII, or '84-'86 SVO. This will keep the cost down and allow you to keep the stock front brakes. You can buy the rotors for about $40-60 each. You an also purchase aftermarket front rotors like the Power Slot brand in 5 lug. These cost about $99 each.Important note here! The SVO/Lincoln front rotors will NOT work with the Ford 98+ Cobra wheels and 97+ GT wheels. The wheels will mount up, but you will not be able to mount the center cap due to the large dust cap on the rotor. To run these wheels, you need to convert to the SN95 front brakes.
Here are the options that I have seen for the 87-93 5.0L Mustangs :
Keeping rear drums:
1) '83-'92 Ranger/Bronco II Left (driver) side axles (29-5/32") from a 4cyl or 3.0L V-6 with the 7.5" rear end, or '86/'97 Aerostar right side axles (29-5/32"). They are the same rear axles, the center section is just on the opposite side when you compare the rear ends. You will need the drums from either of these vehicles also. The 7.5 axle Rangers & Aerostars use 9" drums. These parts are direct replacements for the stock 9" rear drums on the 87-93 5.0Ls.
Important: Don't get the drums from a Ranger with the 4.0L as they use 10" rear drums with the 8.8" axle, unless you want to convert to larger drums!2) Most of the larger mail order companies have kits. They are expensive! The front running $180-199 for the front 11" rotors (which you can buy for about $40-60 each) and the rear axle and drum for $180-199. Here are the part numbers:Converting to Rear Disc in the process:
- Rear : D9MS-0001126A-M
You will need the 5 lug axles to do this conversion. For the stock Mustang 5.0 (GT or LX) rear end, you will need the Ranger/Aerostar axles or FMS kit axles (see above). This applies to options #4-6.
* Note: with rear disc brakes, you will have to install a larger Master cylinder (like the 86 SVO unit and Maximum Motorsports 3-2 port conversion kit), an adjustable proportioning valve, and the FMS M-2450-A plug.
1) You can use the 8.8 5-lug MarkVII (LSC) rear rotors. You can use the axles out of the Lincoln Mark VII but they are longer (1.25" per side) because of the anti lock brakes. If you use these axles, you'll need the brackets, calipers, all nuts and bolts as well as all the brake lines. For emergency brake cables, you need the e-brake cables from a '84-'86SVO if your car is '92 or older. If you have a '93 vintage, you need to use the '93 Cobra cables. Ford made the '93 e-brake cables specific to that year for some odd reason. 93 Cobra ebrake cable, Wagner part #: F1324400 ($15).
2) Also, you can get the following parts from the rear of a 84-86 Mustang SVO (yes from the 7.5" axles):
- axles, caliper mounts, rotors, calipers, etc
- You will need to drill some holes in the housing ( directly behind where the shocks bolt up ) where the e-brake cables and the flexible lines needed to bolt up.
Check this link for more information: link
*Note: The calipers and rotors for the SVOs are side specific!3) SSBC rear 4 lug kit:
From what I have read there are no bolt on replacement 5 lug rotors for the Ford or SSBC kits. Call SSBC to be sure of this, but they are now advertising 5 lug 10" brake kits. I have read that some people took the 4 hole rotors to a machine shop and had them drill new holes to match the 5 lug pattern. You may be able to buy new PowerSlot rotors or other aftermarket rotors for the 87-88 Tbird Turbo coupe with 5 lugs instead of the stock 4.
4) Baer makes several kits for the rear of the Mustangs:
* from Baer Price guide 1/00
- Rod & Drag (PBR single caliper, 11.35" rotor) -- $795.00*
- Touring (PBR single caliper, 12.00" rotor) -- $745.00 ($765.00 for the 93s)*
Will require 16"+ wheels- Touring + (PBR single caliper, 13.25") -- $1395.00 ($1415.00 for 93s)*
Will require 17"+ wheels5) Aerospace components makes a nice rear brake kit. $450 for the kit, with GPs under that price. They include 11" rotors and 4 piston calipers. Looks very high quality! The only down side is that you have to use C-clip eliminators with these rear brakes.
6) For other companies that produce 8.8" rear disc brake options, I have seen kits in various Hot Rod magazines. They use a GM calipers from the Cadilac ElDorado or the Corvette with 11" rotors. Price was $499 for the Cadilac caliper kit or $479 for the kit with the Corvette calipers. The 2 companies that I saw this listed was:
7) Get the 8.8" axle from a V8 94+ GT or Cobra.
- ECI - 860-872-7046
- BM - 303-668-6882
For emergency brake cables, you need the e-brake cables from a '84/'86 SVO if your car is '92 or older. You can also use the FMS cables, p/n: M-2809-A. If you have a '93 vintage, you need to use the '93 Cobra cables. Ford made the '93 e-brake cables specific to that year for some odd reason. 93 Cobra ebrake cable, Wagner part #F1324400 ($15).
For the fronts, either get the brakes and spindle (94 or 95 only) and swap. Or get rotors from a mid 80's Lincoln Continental, Mark VII, or '84-'86 SVO to use on the stock front brakes.
Fronts 94+:
SN95 spindles (from 94 or 95 only!)You will need to attain a '94'95 spindle. If you use the 96+ spindles, the wheel will stick out because of the different dimensions for the modular motors and may cause rubbing issues.
94+ GT/Cobra rotors/calipers/hubs
94+ GT/Cobra caliper bolts/lines
86 SVO master cylinder
Maximum Motorsports 3-2 port master cylinder conversionFor the '99/'00 brake parts, it's identical to the '94+ parts (excluding spindle), but it has a two piston aluminum caliper. It weighs a lot less, and it dissipates the heat a lot better than the cast iron pieces. Use the whole '99 braking system - spindles, hubs, rotors, calipers, axles, rear rotors and calipers, all the brackets.
Remember since you are going to the modular design that uses a hub and rotor type system, if you ever want to upgrade to the 13" Cobra set up, all you have to do is slide the rotor onto your, bolt on the four piston caliper and hook up the brake lines! You will also need to run 17" wheels with the cobra parts, 16" for the GT parts.
Suspension UpgradesFirst, let me say that I have found a lot of good information and fabrication blue-prints from William Mathis' book, Mustang Performance Handbook 2. I would recommend this book for anyone that wants anything from fabricating a full out race car to bolt on suspension kits.
So far this is my plan: stiffen the chassis, lower the car correctly, replace specific rubber bushings with urethane or firmer bushings, and upgrade the shocks/struts/quads/springs. I want the car to still have a nice ride for use as a daily driver, but allow a good handling suspension for the twisty road or occasional track use-- thus the adjustable struts and shocks. The car came with Monroe blue shocks, stock struts and stock quads on the car.
Chassis Braces:
Shocks/Struts/Quads:
- 3 point strut tower (bought a used Steeda brace for $50 off the Corral auction block)
- 2 point G-load brace (PPI has them for $20)
- subframe connectors with cross braces (Maximum Motorsports has them for $69 unpainted. Be sure to paint them after welding to prevent rust)
The nice thing about the Konis is that they have a lifetime warranty and are rebuildable. If you have a problem with the shocks and have the sales receipt, it is at no cost to fix them. To rebuild struts the cost is $135, and $95 to rebuild shocks through Koni. Also the SVO mustangs came stock with the Koni red shocks/struts/quads (the struts will not fit, but the shocks and quads will). You may be able to find them used or in a wrecked SVO for a good price.
- Koni Yellows for the shocks and struts, and Koni Quad shocks:
- For the struts, PPI & Shox.com seems to have the best price on the Konis. About $135-140 a strut. ( I purchased all 4 off the auction block used)
- For the rear shocks, these are the same Koni replacement unit for 79-93 Mustangs (excluding the 87-93 4cyl). If you find some good used units for the rear and quads this may save some money over new.
- For the Quads, these are the same Koni replacement Unit for 79-98 Mustangs. Remove the quads if you have aftermarket LCAs. This saves money and weight!
There has been a lot of discussion on the Corral Message boards about shocks and struts and their ride qualities. Here is my experience with the most popular ones and how they stack up from best ride quality and control to the worst:
I have ran both the Koni Reds and Yellow with stock springs on the car. Both the Koni shocks are only single adjustable - you and only adjust the rebound. The compression is the same always. The Reds need to be on full stiff otherwise there in not enough rebound to control braking and acceleration. The Yellows on full soft are about the same as the Reds at full stiff. I like the way the yellows feel, and would not hesitate to use them on the street for a daily driver. They are no to stiff. The Tokico shocks are also very nice units and I would recommend them also. My advice, save the money for the Koni Yellows or the Tokico Illuminas. Don't buy anything less.
- Stock
- Cheap upgrade shocks like KYBs or Monroe or Sears specials
- Koni Reds (at full stiff)
- Tokico Premium
- Bilsteins, Tokico Illumina 5 ways, Koni Yellows, Bilsteins
- Koni DA
Springs:
I have picked up some Griggs rear springs that are rated at 300# and lower the car 1.25". I also got a pair of their rear LCAs. Nice units, hard rubber bushings in both ends and very light! I would have liked to use a unit like the Global West or Maximum Motorsports arms, but I got the rear LCAs for a great price! For the fronts, I have Griggs Racing front coil overs setup with 350# springs.Caster/Camber Plates:
I purchased some J&M CC Plates for $130 for the pair. They are great quality and look to be a suepr strong plate! I have them with coilovers and they are great!Bushings:
So far I have installed the front sway bar polyurethane isolator & end links on the front sway bar. Nice improvement for cornering with no effect on the ride.I installed aluminum center drilled steering rack bushings from Maximum Motorsports. I may need to get a bumpsteer or offset racking bushings to solve some of the busmpsteer with the sn95 spindles now.
Lastly, I replaced the transmission mount and isolators with urethane parts and replaced the stock motor mounts with ones from a 92 convertible.
Rear Control Arms:
I have some Griggs racing standard arms. They are rectangular steel with round bushings at both ends. They are designed for the flat wound springs that I am running in the rear.For the upper arms, I got some Bennet Racing double adjustable arms. They have a spherical bearing on the chassis side. So for they have worked really well and keeping the rear more in the center and without bind. I have only pushed about 7/10s , so maybe some bad things happen when pushed more as I have been told.
So far handling and getting power to the ground is greatly improved! The rear end tracks much straighter than with the stock factory arms. I have also removed the quads since the install of the new arms. Just extra weight back there. No wheel hop issues either.
Rear Pinion Snubber:
You will need to trim the stock unit in half or purchase an after market unit designed for a lowered suspension. I purchased one from Maximum Motorsports that is a progressive rate design for $9. Installation is simple.Guide To Higher Performance Handling:
Adjustments To Increase Understeer To Increase Oversteer Front Tire Pressure Lower Higher Rear Tire Pressure Higher Lower Front Tire Section Smaller Larger Rear Tire Section Larger Smaller Front Wheel Camber More Positive More Negative Rear Wheel Camber More Negative More Positive Front Springs Stiffer Softer Rear Springs Softer Stiffer Front Anti-sway Bar Thicker (stiffer) Thinner (softer) Rear Anti-sway Bar Thinner (softer) Thicker (stiffer) Weight Distribution More Forward More Rearward
Home-made Ram-Air
Tools:Parts:
- 10mm socket and wrench
Principle: First, remove the restrictive intake silencer. By using inner silencer, you can use this for a scoop for your ram-air setup. The colder, denser are will create more power. Also by having the air "rammed" in the intake, you can for more air in the engine for more power, of course at higher speeds only.
- Original Air silincer
- K&N Panel Filter (recommended)
- 4" dryer hose
- Duct tape
Installation: Remove the outer cover for the airbox and filter. There are 1-3 screws that hold the airbox to the fender. Remove them with a 10mm socket. Inside the inner fender, you will see the silencer. Remove the 10mm nuts that hold it to the fender. To remove this from the fender, get it from under the car.
When you remove the intake silencer, you will notice an inner cone. Remove that from the outer housing. You will use this piece for your scoop. For the GTs, I mounted the scoop in the lower bumper openening between the fog lights. For an LX, you would need to make a bracket for the scoop under the bumper.
I first test fitted it to where I want it to be and outlined it with a pencil. You will need about 3 feet of dryer hose. Fit to both the round end of the silencer and intake scoop. Secure with the duct tape (I am sure there are otherways to secure this, but duct tape is cheap and it works!). Make sure that you wrap the connection very liberally with tape to ensure a no leak fit.
You can use some misquito netting or finer chicken wire to cover the front of the intake scoop.
Next, insert the outer housing for the silencer back into the fender and secure. Now mount the intake scoop in the bumper. I used a glue gun to secure this to the bumper (again there is probably better ways, but this was cheap and it works). Then you need to secure the dryer hose up in the fender. There is some fender support there that I tapped the hose to for support.
The last thing that you will have to do is make a few holes in the upper section of the intake scoop for water to drain out. Make sure that the holes are at the bottom of the scoop.
Bottom Line: Great low budget ram-air system! Best when used with a hi-flow filter such as a K&N one. I am sure that you could also modify this setup if you were using a conical airfilter. Be sure to clean your filter more often since leaves, pebbles, etc will get sucked up on the filter. I picked up this tip from an older version of 5.0 magazine.
*** After running this through part of the winter, the vent hose from the TB to the crankcase vent in the oil fill spout of the valve cover would allow water into the engine. If you are going to run any kind of ram air, replace this hose with a crank case breather on the valve cover, and plug the line on the TB
Manual Rack Conversion Partsfrom Eric Hartman (posted on the Corral message board):
Get it (Manual steering rack) out of a 78+ Fairmont or 79+ Mustang and save yourself some cash. You need the rack, the tie rod ends and the steering shaft coupler.
Halo Headrest for 87-93 Mustang GT seatsTools:
Time: 1 hour max to modify. Several hours for paint to dry. 10 minute installation
- Sawzall
- dremel tool
- Flexible bumper primer (optional)
- Interior vinyl paint (optional)
Parts:
Installation: This is from my installation of these in our 90GT. I would assume this would be similar for all 87-93 GT or LX Sport seats. To remove the headrest from the seats, you will have to tilt the seat forward. At the base of it, there is a black plastic strip. This is like 2 long J-shaped plastic pieces. One fits in the inside the other. Use a flathead screwdriver to seperate. Then for the lever on the back of the seat, remove the plastic trim by removing the phillips screw retaining. Now you can reach up the seat and feel where the headrest shaft retension mechanism. You have to move the headrest all the way down, and you can feel a piece of metal that lifts up a bit. Wedge your thumb between the metal and the headrest shaft and lift the headrest all the way out.
- 1 pair of halo headrest from 86-91 Escort GT ($10-20 each from a junkyard)
Once the headrest is out, then put the bottom of the seat cover back together and reinstall the plastic ring around the lever. Repeat for the other seat.
Now that you have the headrest out, compare to the ones from the Escort. The Escort headrest have a wider shaft, about 1/8" wider per side than the Mustangs. Also the Mustang's has a groove in the middle of the shaft.
Remove the plastic trim ring from the seat also. This is the part you need to modify! Try to insert the new halo headrest down just the plastic trim ring and you will see that you need to make it wider and cut it shorter. Modify both to fit the new headrest snug and then reinstall them.
If you want to match the headrest to the interior color, this is where the optional paint and primer comes in. The headreast that I pickup are a vinyl material. First wipe them clean with a cleaner to remove all the oils and dirt one them. Then use the primer and put a light base coat on them. Once dry, finish off so all the headrest is covered. After letting the primer dry, then put 2-3 coats of the interior vinyl paint on. Let them dry and you are done! Now install in the seat.
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Explorer Intake / Smog Pump Delete Notes:
Now with the explorer intakes, most all of them do not have the EGR passages. So you first need to cap the EGR passages in back of the head. Either cut and flip the stock lines there or get the Ford plugs for the heads from a dealer. I have also found that if you purchase a soft plug kit for the block, it will come with some screw in plugs for the intake manifold. These work great in the back of the heads! Be sure to locktite them in there!
Second, you can now remove the smog pump and run a shorter belt. Check the archives on http://www.fordmuscle.com for the short belt info there on routing and sizing.
now remove all the hoses that go from the smog pump to the cats. Cap/remove any vaccuum lines associated with.
Leave the EGR valve plugged in and to the vaccuum lines. You will need to cut a plate from thin sheetmetal or aluminum sheet for the intake to EGR spacer. If not, you will have a HUGE vaccum leak there. Just take your time and silicone it to the EGR plate.
If you want to eliminate the EGR, you can get a kit from http://www.ronmorris.com It will have a sensor to trick the EEC and a spacer plate. You may need a 1/2" intake spacer so the TB linkage will clear the heater core hardline on the manifold. You can also modify a Ford Cleveland fuel block off plate by elongating the holes to bolt to the stock EGR spacer in place of the EGR valve. If you remove the EGR valve completely with the Ron Morris kit or a EEC tweaker, then you can also remove the vacuum selenoids behind the passenger side strut tower. Be sure to leave the line coming from the vacuum reservoir connected.
For the ACT, I extended the wires and ran it into the airbox. There is a hole there for like a boss that never happened. Just drilled a hole, then screw in the ACT there with some sealer on the threads. Your other option is to drill and tap the #5 intake runner like stock.
Cap the coolant line off the hardline there. since you dont have the EGR working, you dont need the coolant.
Now you will not get CE light, but everytime you run the codes you will get a 44 and 94 telling you the smog system is not working.
I have that setup on my car now for 2+ years. Works great, lots of power and I can get 30mpg cruising 75-85 on the freeway.
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