Boss T/A front brake upgrade (Lincoln/Tbird calipers) thread

bnickel, I was looking up rotors to use and I checked the LTD rotor. It is 11.72" in diameter. Did we ever find another rotor that was a full 12" in diameter ?

that is the correct size for the T/A big brake kit, same size as the 68 LTD rotors used in the original kit. the only difference is these have an integral hub and they cost a buttload less, they are also the exact same rotors the one guy who you contacted about the brackets a while back used for his kits.

EDIT; also using a full 12" rotor would mean not beaing able to use a 15" wheel either. some of the late model Crown Vics used a 12" rotor (by less than 1" thick)....which is why they use a 16" wheel
 
  • Sponsors (?)


Yer right, I went back and looked before dinner but didn't post. I think I'll pickup a single one of these rotors for prototyping purposes along with a set of fresh pads. Hopefully this weekend. My goal at this point is to get it to work with those rotors and then try to get a 2 piece setup from wilwood that will bolt onto a standard drum hub and end up with the same dimentions. If I can make that happen, people will have a light weight option for the rotor and then if they want to get crazy, an aluminum hub and aluminum calipers. That would get very light and I doubt anyone would complain about unsprung weight at that point.
 
Yer right, I went back and looked before dinner but didn't post. I think I'll pickup a single one of these rotors for prototyping purposes along with a set of fresh pads. Hopefully this weekend. My goal at this point is to get it to work with those rotors and then try to get a 2 piece setup from wilwood that will bolt onto a standard drum hub and end up with the same dimentions. If I can make that happen, people will have a light weight option for the rotor and then if they want to get crazy, an aluminum hub and aluminum calipers. That would get very light and I doubt anyone would complain about unsprung weight at that point.


i've just found out that pads for these calipers aren't exactly plentiful, nor are they cheap. got a line on some decent semi-met pads for not a lot of dough? you can carbon metallic pads from Cobra for $150 or regular organice pads from Advance for about $40 but nothing in between. i suppose i can call my buddie at the parts place i used to work and possibly fnid something but if you already have something lined up i'd like to hear about it. i'm still a way's off from pulling the trigger on brakes yet but i like to keep up with this thread anyway.
 
Got a set of semi-metalic pads for just under 40 bux and 1 rotor for 55 and change plus tax. Its not a sloted one or anything fancy but it will for great for prototyping. I'll let you guys know what the part number is on the pads when I pick them up this weekend.

Bearins for compairison, don't have the ID on them tho....
LTD outer bearing
BCA/NATIONAL Part # A12 {Cone Length=0.475" Bore=0.8611" Outer Diameter=1.781" Width=0.61 Stand Out=0.135" Cup Length=0.475" Cone Radius=1.05"}
Taper Bearing Set; Front Wheel; Outer

LTD inner bearing
BCA/NATIONAL Part # A13 {Cone Length=0.47" Bore=1.3772" Outer Diameter=2.328" Width=0.625 Stand Out=0.155" Cup Length=0.47" Cone Radius=1.203"}
Taper Bearing Set; Front Wheel; Inner

67 Mustang drum outer bearing
BCA/NATIONAL Part # A2 {Cone Length=0.475" Bore=0.75" Outer Diameter=1.781" Width=0.61 Stand Out=0.135" Cup Length=0.475" Cone Radius=1.046"}
Taper Bearing Set; Front Wheel; Outer; Drum Brakes
Taper Bearing Set; Front Wheel; Outer; Disc Brakes; Exc. Boss

67 Mustang drum inner bearing
BCA/NATIONAL Part # A6 {Cone Length=0.465" Bore=1.25" Outer Diameter=2.328" Width=0.625 Stand Out=0.16" Cup Length=0.465"}
Taper Bearing Set; Front Wheel; Inner; Disc Brakes; Exc. Boss
Taper Bearing Set; Front Wheel; Inner; Drum Brakes
 
caliper brackets

Do you know of any other source for the caliper brackets besides cobraautomotive? I recently looked on ebay motors and could not find these caliper brackets. Any help would be appeciated.

Thanks

so let me price this out real quick....

aluminum big 'bird calipers......$375 pair
Rotor Pros slotted rotors........$120 pair
ebay caliper brackets..............$300 pair
Total........................................$795!!!!!

of course there will be other costs too, like brake lines, bearings and seals and brake pads but that's still not bad. hell once it's all said and done it will be cheaper than SSBC's standard 11" disc kit with stock mustang 4 piston calipers and way cheaper then Cobra Auto's big brake kit.

so i think i'll do this and use a set of MP 11" rear drums and have basically the same thing they ran on the early T/A cars before they started using the stock front discs outr back. i really wish i could find a rear disc kit for the small bearing rearend that has the internal drum parking brake that i could adapt a set of the SSBC aluminum mustang 4-piston calipers to then that would be the ultimate brake system for me but i'll settle for the drum rears for now.
 
Sweet. Thanks for the help. Do you think that these brakes will work with a 15 inch magunum 500 wheel using a 12 inch rotor?

i'm pretty certain they won't work with a mag-5 because of the center drop in the wheel, i know for sure they won't work with original magnum 500's , the aftermarkets would come closer to working but i still don't think even those would work
 
I don't think the LTD dust shields will bolt up to the drum brake spindle. I don't think there will be anything that matches up perfectly. The 65-67 Mustang disk brake dust shield will probably bolt up, but it'll be a little small in diameter.
 
I don't think the LTD dust shields will bolt up to the drum brake spindle. I don't think there will be anything that matches up perfectly. The 65-67 Mustang disk brake dust shield will probably bolt up, but it'll be a little small in diameter.



actually the standard 67 disc brake shields ought to work just fine, they'll need a little modification for the calipers to fit but otherwise there shouldn't be any real problems using them. there's only about 1/2" difference in diameter between the stock mustang rotors and the LTD rotors, the big advantage to using these rotors is that they are wider and have thicker surfaces than the stock rotors and more air gap in the center, plus of course the bigger calipers, the extra swept area from added diameter is really just a bonus
 
I think they might be a sub company of Centric parts but I'm not sure. You can buy them for like 35 bux a set from Freed Sales. These guys are awesome, I've been dealing with them forever.

Freed Sales
19743 Sherman Way
Canoga Park, CA 91306
(818) 998-0976

I don't know if they ship parts tho. I can take a few pics of the pads if you want to see them.

I still don't know what bearings to throw into the rotor I got. I think I'll have to wait until next weekend to try them out depending on how today goes.
 
Ok, so here is a little progress. I was able to get the inner bearing I needed yesterday to mount the LTD rotor onto the Mustang spindle. The part that works is the standard drum inner wheel bearing, Timken Set6. The outer was even easier, I had the wheel bearing for it already as it was the out for the Mustang drum. Rock auto lists that as A1 for the part number, BCA/National.

So I've got the rotor mounted on the stand now. I tightened the nut down on the spindle and the rotor spins nice and freely. I'm going to try and get the fasteners I need today to bolt the brackets up to the spindle and see why they want you to drill the caliper, grind it and face the mounting ears.

I'm also going to try and find a race shop that stocks 2 piece rotors so I can try and match the drum hub with a set that has the same measurements as the LTD rotor so that we can use 1 bracket for everything.

I suppose I'll pull the splash shield off of my 67 in order to mock everything up properly. I'll provably do that next weekend.