Ok, I have done a search and getting many answers. Here goes, I had a buddy swap in a TC rear into my 87 bird(5.0). It went pretty smooth minus a couple snags. 1st after bleeding brakes multiple times they still feel soft. He didn't swap the proportioning valve with a TC unit..Is there a difference since my PV is for drum brakes and the TC is metered for disc? Should I swap the MC next and if so what is a DIRECT swap? Last how can I get the emergency brake connected? He said its different on my car than the TC. Thanks, Ray.
Do you still have the factory master cyl?
Yes its the factory M/C. Ive read that changing to a 84-86 Crown Vic unit or a 93 Cobra M/C would be an improvement.
Yes,
With the stocker it's pushing too little fluid
Stepping up to a larger bore MC will push more fluid at the trade off of less fluid force so going too large will result in a stiff pedal
I would highly recommend tossing the stock PV valves and just get an adjustable one that way your rear bias can be tuned to your complete setup as well and handle any later brake/suspension changes
Mechanic called yesterday. Axle swap is complete. There was a collapsed line causing the soft peddle. I also had '05 Mustang springs installed front and rear so kinda worried how it looks. Also he said I need a new speedometer gear , MPH are way off now with 355 gears. That's a cheap easy deal tho. Just gotta figure out which 1 to order. Thanks to everyone with tips/advice through the swap..............Next up bigger front brakes.
Bigger front brakes and TC brakes in the rear will require you to swap to the 93 Cobra MC. There are several threads on here where we have discussed this as the setup on these cars is basically identical to converting over a Fox Mustang to larger brakes. Just search "combination valve" or "cobra master cylinder" or "SN95 brakes" and it will give you a ton of reading.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?36678-Need-some-advice-one-5-lug-swap-sn95-brakes-setup&highlight=combination+valve
Will changing the MC be enough or will I need to swap the booster as well? I have started collecting parts and have the Cobra MC on the list.
I want to see how the 05 springs ride height looks.
Most folks are good with the stock booster and a 1" bore MC with the 11" front fox brakes and the TC rears. If you are going to move up to the Cobra fronts and rears (just assuming both with a five lug conversion) then you would want to move to the 93 Cobra booster. Some have gone ahead and installed the Cobra booster antiting the full upgrade at a later date with good results.
Aerocoupe, I have collected the needed parts for upgrading the front brakes Spindles, rotors,calipers etc. Also ordered a 93 Cobra mc and booster just to be safe. My question though is dos the adjustable PV "replace" the stock unit or is the flow still directed through it and controlled by the adjustable? Also will the 3-2 port adapter from American Muscle work( already made=less headache lol) Thanks for your input as always. Ray.
To see what you need to do with regards to the proportioning valve go to post #36 here:
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?32920-4-to-5-lug-swap/page4
As for the 3-2 kit I could not find it on American's site. Can you post up a link to it?
Thanks for link on PV.... oh, after reading my post I believe the adapter is on Late Model Resto's., site...
If your '87 has the factory MC in it then you already have the metric threads on your brake lines like the 87-93 Mustangs and your stock MC has three ports in it like the 87-93 Mustangs. The difference between the 93 Cobra and the 87-93 Mustangs and your Bird's MC is that it has two ports of which are metric threaded. The 3-2 kit converts your plumbing to work like the 93 Cobra and 94+ Mustangs. LMR sells the Maximum Motorsports kit which is $5 less on Maximum's site. You need the following from Maximum if you have not already ordered the parts:
MMBAK-3 which is the 3-2 kit
MM-2450-A which is the plug you will need once you gut the proportioning part of the combination valve
BPV-1 which is the manual proportioning valve
Got my 93 Cobra booster today. Its a reman from Cardone... It looks much bigger than my old unit. Will it fit with out issues or will I need to "massage" the strut tower like some of the Mustang guys have to do to make it fit. Also got the line adapter. I now have everything to make the swap:)
Massaging the strut tower seems to be a car to car thing and I would blame that on the wonderful Fox Body assembly tolerances or lack of. I have heard of guys having much better success in not dimpling the strut tower if the motor is out.
I can confirm you will need to massage the strut tower to get it on or slot the holes
Its not bad though, after its installed you can't see it at all
My motor was out when I installed it too
This was on my 87 TC though
Ramos, By chance do you remember about how long it took you to swap the booster and MC on your TC?
I'm not sure
When I did my conversion I pulled everything out of my engine bay and did my best to degrease, pressure wash, prep an paint it before installing my brake MC and BB.
IIRC pulling the old unit out took the longest time
I've done about six of these and one did not require any massaging and a couple were very little. Again, it depends on the car and the wild ass tolerances they were put together with. The whole purpose of the 93 Cobra booster is to avoid slotting the fire wall.
I don't want to open another new topic, so I will use this one. I'm going to swap the 8.8 rear axle to my 85 TC. I'm not going to swap front brakes for bigger ones. Maybe in the future, but definitely not now. My question is, which master cylinder should I use? I really want to have two separate reservoirs for safety reasons, so I will probably need to use some stock master cylinder from a different model. I've taken a look on Crown Victoria MC, but it seems to be designed for drums on rear axle, not discs. Would you help me, please?
If you wan to run an MC with two independent reservoirs then use the '85 Lincoln Town Car MC. The 1" diameter MC will still be your best bet as the 10" brake cars use the same caliper as the 11" brake cars.
85 Town Car has drum brakes at the rear. Does the MC have some kind of pressure valve, which keeps a residual pressure in rear brakes, or not?
No. You do not want residual pressure on the brakes as that will cause them to drag. The combination valve which houses the proportion valve has a check valve in it which is supposed to stop a leak in the rear brakes from draining the MC. This is the brass block that the lines from the MC go into on the driver inner fender. Being that the TOwn Car MC has two reservoirs the check valve side of the combination valve redundant but does not affect how it works.
The MC does not care if the brakes are drum or disc. You are sizing the piston in the MC to displace a give amount of fluid at a pressure. The 85 Lincoln TC is a proven MC for disc brakes for either the Fox TC setup (also the 93 Cobra brakes) or the SN95 brakes.
Perfect, thanks!
I didn't know, where the valve is located. This is very positive info for me.
Glad to help but I am basically regurgitating all the research I did when I swapped out the brakes on my cars. Most of this info is very readily available on the Mustang sites but you have to wade through a lot of BS to get to the threads that have good info.
Good read. I am experiencing a low pedal on my 86 5.0 Elan after the 8.8/disc brake swap. Not spongy, just low. Was thinking a different master cylinder might be required.
If you are still on the stock MC then I would upgrade it to one of the ones mentioned and install a manual proportioning valve and adjust accordingly.
I am and will be upgrading.