Anyone done this yet. Ive got a extra 8.8 that im building with a Eaton locker with 31 spline and new moser axles for a sn95. I want to go with cobra brakes? can it be done easy or do I have to find a cobra donor for the backing plates dust shields and caliper brackets?
I did it on my '83. I don't have pictures of the rears, just the fronts. Yes, you need the rear caliper brackets from a Cobra, but the rear calipers themselves are actually the same as any other SN95. The front dust shields are no longer available from Ford but the rears are. You can go without them or find a donor Cobra.
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2/grizzly_011/DSC01063.jpg)
You'll need the Cobra axle plates if you want to use the Cobra rears. They are different from the smaller V6/GT rear axle plates.
I have the Cobra brakes on my 83 and the 93 and you will be absolutely floored at the braking improvement. I had the SN-95 GT brakes on the Coupe which was a dramatic improvement over the SVO 73mm front brakes and the stock drum brakes. On that setup I ran a set of 99 V-6 calipers as they are two piston calipers and they only required a little grinding on the spindles to get them to clear. I also ran the Hawk HP pads which definitely helped with the stopping power. I switched to the Cobra setup about two years ago on that car and installed the Cobra brakes on the Bird a little over a year ago.
The dust shields for the SN-95 GT cars work with the Cobra brakes just fine as that is what I used on both of my cars. You can get them here:
http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/products/Mustang-Brake-Dust-Shields
If you have not ordered any of your brakes yet then look for kits as they typically come with all of the stuff you need including the dust shields.
If you want to keep the stock Fox length axles then you will need to get a set of these rear caliper brackets:
http://www.northracecars.com/Brakes.html
Its the bracket only and the one for the Cobra. This is what I used on my T-Bird with a Fox Mustang 8.8 and Fox Mustang Moser axles. With the correct offset on the wheels it allows a 305 width tire with no sheet metal work.
I have a ton of pics of the installs if you want to see them.
Darren
I book marked both sites for future reference I need to part the sn95 stang of got then go from there. As far as the pics go everybody loves pics Thanks
FYI
http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthread.php?t=105149
Those should be the "proper" Cobra brackets.
If I go with this kit can I use the calipers from my 87 T.C?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FMS-M-2300-M/?rtype=10
I believe the TC rears are 43mm psitons and the SN95/Cobra rears are 38mm pistons. Physically it appears that they will both bolt up and work but you will definitely need to install a brake proportioning valve so you can get the bias correct.
Pics -
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/DSCN1803.jpg) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_0043.jpg) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_0189.jpg)
I did not have one of the front with the wheel off but they rotor hats are now black.
Darren
Don't think so. The calipers are different, as are the pads. I know there has been some discussion about such a thing, but I think in the end, it's a no-go.
Chuck,
I worked over the Mustang sites and it appears by all measures one should not use the T-Bird 45mm Varga calipers when doing the Cobra rear conversion. The SN95 mustang rear calipers are all the same from the V6 cars to the GT to the Cobra and the are the 38mm Vargas. What is different is the caliper bracket and it gets a bit more confusing so let me try and explain what I had to do on my Coupe. I had originally converted the car over to the base SN95 GT Mustang brakes with the booster and MC and ABS out of the same car. Brakes were awesome for several years. I decided to move up to the Cobra brakes for those times when I could actually get to a road course and need the larger brakes. The front conversion was swap rotors, bolt on loaded calipers, and install new SS braided lines. The rear was not too bad as I had heard you could reuse the rear calipers but needed to swap over to the Cobra brackets. I bought the same kit the OP is looking at and found only one problem. There are actually two brackets in the rear. There is the one in the kit that bolts to the axle and then there is the one the caliper is fastened to on the sliders which bolts to the brackets in the kit. It is the ones on the caliper that are different to compensate for the larger diameter of the Cobra rotor. Fortunately these can be had at Autozone for about $12 each. I will post some pictures of each when I get home to point out the differences. The other difference is that the Cobra pads are thinner than the GT/V6 pads and some of the parts stores show them to be the same only for you to get home and swear that something is all jacked up. I know several guys have simply ground the stock GT caliper brackets to clear the Cobra rotors but I opted for the Cobra caliper brackets.
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/Car%20Stuff/21_caliper_brackets.jpg)
Here is a picture of the 10th Anniversery Calipers which show the same bracket as above:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/Car%20Stuff/IMG_0598.jpg)
Another thing to be very wary of is aftermarket axles. They tend to not be the correct length which can cause the need to shim the caliper brackets out if they are longer or as my case was mill the bosses on the caliper bracket mounting points to move them inward. I have a couple of pics of that I can post as well.
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/2zewh2o.jpg) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/2qbyrtc.jpg)
Darren
This is good info...perhaps it should be compiled into a sticky thread for future reference?
FWIW, I'm either thinking of swapping a complete rear from an SN stang, or at least the brake components from said...so if or when I ever upgrade from that, this would be some good info to come back to.
Well, I was more referencing the fact that it wasn't physically possible to use the TC calipers in lieu of the 94-04 Vargas. Not so much on whether it was wise to try and make them work some how.
The reason for the difference in the pads is the fact that the non-Cobras use a solid rotor in the rear, while the Cobra's is vented, and thus wider.
I'll have to verify your point on the rear brackets. As far as I know, it's the that's bolted to the axle housing that's different, and not the "cage" bracket on the caliper that accommodates the larger dia rotor. I actually have all the bits in the garage, so if I can get a free moment, I can put them together.
You can use the SN95 GT rear caliper brackets if you are okay with grinding on them so they clear the wider rotors as you pointed out with the pads. There are several threads on this topic on the Corral and Stangnet. I just was not comfortable with it so I bought the Cobra specific brackets.
Darren
Awesome I'm almost there I looked at my buddy's 94 cobra and it looks like the pictures. I looked at my 8.8 from the T.C and the moan braces are welded to the tube do I leave it alone or cut them off and use the new bolt on ones?
On the Mustangs the anti-moans have a U-bolt that is used to secure them to the axle tube. They also mate up to the inboard side of the axle bracket and are secured by passing the caliper bolts through the anti-moan bracket & the axle bracket to be threaded into the caliper bracket. Hopefully you are with me so far. As has been pointed out the axle bracket is different from the TC to the SN95 GT/V6 cars to the 94 and up to the 03-04 Cobras (IRS does not require the bracket). This is due to the diameter, thickness, and offset of the rotors which are all different. The bracket basically moves the caliper in space so it aligns with the center line of the rotor. This will cause the anti-moan brackets to be different as they will differ in a couple of dimensions but mostly it is the length from the CL of the axle tube to the LC of the caliper bracket bolt holes. Again, most of this is due to the change in diameter of the rotors but it also has to do with how far away from the axle tube the CL of the rotor is located. On my T-Bird I used the North Racecars axle brackets so I could utilize the stock Fox Mustang axle width to get more tire under the car and I am not going to run ABS on it. On the Coupe I ran the stock Cobra axle brackets as I have the ABS off of the SN95 cars on it and need the additional 3/4" the SN95 axles provide for the ABS exciter rings on the axles.
I cut the quad shock brackets off the Mustang rear end in the T-Bird with an air driven cut off wheel and then dressed the area on the axle tubes with an electric 4" grinder that had an 80 grit paddle wheel on it. I am not running the quad shocks and they were in the way of the Cobra anti-moan brackets. The SN95 GT/V6 anti-moans will fit with the quad shock brackets still on the rear end. This is just what my dad and I have at the shop so I made these work as I am sure there are all kinds of ways to do it. I would suggest you do the same with the anti-moan brackets on your TC rear so that you can install the correct SN95 anti-moan brackets for the rear brake set up that you chose to go with. You may also have to remove the quad shock brackets but I am not sure on the TC rear ends.
Probably more reading than you wanted but I wanted to pass on what I learned so maybe it will be easier for others.
Darren
Wow I've got it ,one more question what does a anti moan bracket actually do?
Helps reduce the flex of the bracket under braking. The flex can cause the brakes to "moan".
I left mine off the Coupe when it had the SN95 GT brakes on it and if you were backing up and applied the brakes it was terrible. Someone told me that they were a band aid so I tried them without the anti-moans as it was less on the rear. I had the car back on the lift the next day installing them. Every once in a while I can hear a bit of a moan with the Cobra brakes but I can only imagine what it would sound like without the anti-moans installed.
Darren
Awesome Thanks for the help from everybody I feel confident to start this project. I'm Gonna start this weekend with getting the Sn95 home and disassemble what I want from that then I've got to get ready for the four letter word here in the northeast snow.
Thanks Steven