West Coast GearHeads - 2003 Cobra Brake Upgrade

As a kid, I was one of those that focused on going fast but, didn't spend too much time worrying about how to stop quick. My first car was a '66 Mustang 6cyl to V8 drive line conversion that put the car into the 12's at the drag strip. I was very lucky that I didn't need the brakes to perform! With today's cars, upgrading brake performance is pretty much standard practice for most GearHeads. Check this article by SVTRonDogg, who did a 4-corner upgrade and caliper paint. Nice job Ron!

Ron tells us what he did.

I did this Project last year, but figured I'd post up the Pics of what I did for anyone interested in a little more Style and Clampiness to their car. I really meant to do it as a complete How-To, but got a little wrapped up in everything and didn't take pictures every step of the way like I had planned. So this will be a general overview of things.

This was both a Performance and Aesthetic upgrade for me, as my stock Calipers were starting to look pretty ratty thanks to some, shall we say, 'excess heat'

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Before:

Blech

For the Front I went with the Ford Racing M-2300-X Brembo upgrade, which includes 2 Calipers, 2 Rotors, and Stainless Brake Lines.

Pretty simple taking things apart, pull the pins from the front calipers, remove the 2 bolts on the caliper bracket to spindle, and disconnect the rubber lines from the hardlines using a flare nut wrench. Disconnect the factory rubber lines when you are ready to install the news Calipers and Lines, as you don't want your brakelines 'open' for an extended period of time.

The Brembo parts go on easy, the caliper bolts directly to the spindle as one piece, and the stainless lines are attached between the Brembo caliper and the factory hardlines.

For the Rears I used the G2 Caliper Paint Kit (brush on, because I tend to make a mess with paint), Hawk HPS Pads, and Brembo slotted rotors to match the front.

The G2 Kit includes a can of Brake Cleaner, but I used a few more to clean everything as best as I could. There is a little vial of 'Activator' that is mixed into the paint can when you are ready to apply. Just stir it up and brush it on.

I decided to leave the stock Rotors and Pads in place, since they were going to be replaced anyways. It made it easier to apply the paint without having to mask anything off.

I let the paint cure for the length of time the Kit specified, then installed the new Hawk Pads and Brembo Rotors:

Bleed the Brakes and you're good to go!

Installation Notes:

-It would be a good idea to have a Torque Wrench that goes pretty low. For the fluid/banjo bolts on the Front Calipers, the torque spec was 14ft-lbs. (more on this later)

-Flare nut wrenches are a MUST for doing the brakelines. I don't have the size in my head, but I can check at home if anyone needs the info.

-The rear caliper pistons need to be screwed back into the calipers when installing the new pads. You can use the little 'cube' tool if you want, but that thing drove me nuts. I ended up buying a Caliper Tool Set from Harbor Freight. MUCH easier. These can also be rented from most Autoparts Stores.

-I never bled my own brakes before, and since it was a One Man Show I picked up a Bleeder from MOTIVE (it was maybe $40 or so from Summit). THIS bad boy makes things EASY. You fill the tank with new fluid, clamp it onto the brake fluid reservoir in place of the cap, pump it to pressure and that is it. Go to the caliper you want to bleed (farthest from the Master Cylinder each time) and the flow is constant. Just check to make sure you have plenty of fluid in the Bleeder every so often.

As for the Banjo Bolts, I learned the hard way regarding the torque spec. These little buggers are made of copper best I can tell, so my first attempt at installing one into the Brembo caliper resulted in a SNAP. Luckily I was able to back it out by hand. At the time I didn't have a torque wrench suitable for this application, WOOPS.

It actually worked out in the end, since the Goodridge Lines that come with the Brembos include fluid blocks, which adds one more connection to the equation, which I wasn't a fan of.

Brake Line -> Fluid Block -> Brake Caliper

It wasn't easy tracking down replacement Banjo Bolts for these things. I ordered a set from Brembo, and the ones they shipped were shorter than the originals. I looked up the Part # on various Forums and ordered some from a XRP Fasteners dealer, same thing.

At the recommendation of a few on the Cobra R side of SVTP, I ended up ordering a StopTech line kit from Maximum Motorsports. The banjo bolts were shorter than the original Brembo pieces, but the lines were one piece, and the bolt didn't have to pass through as thick of a piece.

Original Goodridge line/fluid block/banjo: