I have a decent condition '66 GT coupe that needs better brakes. It currently has the stock front disk / rear drum / single bowl master cylinder, and doesn't stop very well. I don't really know what the problem is but the brakes don't seem to have much stopping power and if you try to stop moderately fast the rears lock up too easily.
I tried to bleed the brakes recently and found that the bleeder screws in both front calipers wouldn't budge at all. Ended up tearing up the bleeder screws and still couldn't get them to move.
So, I think it would be a good idea to replace the entire brake system. It is all very old. Some has been replaced over the years(I rebuilt the front calipers about 10 years ago), but it is all currently stock style, if not completely 40 year old stock.
I have an idea of what I would like, but am looking for comments from people on what has worked for you and where you got it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I would like a good working system that will fit in my 15" Torque Thrust wheels, but am not looking for a super high-end/high-cost system.
I've been looking a lot at mustangdepot.com and some of the SSBC stuff.
I was thinking of stock style front calipers and disks. I see remanufactured ones for $350/pair, new ones for $376/pair, and new aluminum ones for $538/pair. Anyone know about the quality of any of these choices? Sounds like the new ones would be the way to go as long as the build quality matches the original. I don't see many other options for disk/calipers unless I go bigger - and those won't fit in my wheels.
New dual bowl master cylinder. I need to do a little more research, but besides a slightly different bore diameter they look very similar. Something that looked interesting was the Power Brake Conversion I saw at mustangdepot. For around $310 they have a dual bowl MC and brake booster that they claim actually fits the car without pounding on the shock tower. This seems interesting - anyone have any experience with this.
New brakes lines everywhere, new distribution block. Don't know much about these, so probably just get whatever looks good and is recommended from where ever I buy the bigger parts.
Rear brakes - really not sure if I want to rebuild the stock drums or go with a disk conversion. Looks like a basic conversion kit is about $650. I know a properly adjusted drum system is supposed to work as well as disk, but the disk setup seems better and simpler.
I tried to bleed the brakes recently and found that the bleeder screws in both front calipers wouldn't budge at all. Ended up tearing up the bleeder screws and still couldn't get them to move.
So, I think it would be a good idea to replace the entire brake system. It is all very old. Some has been replaced over the years(I rebuilt the front calipers about 10 years ago), but it is all currently stock style, if not completely 40 year old stock.
I have an idea of what I would like, but am looking for comments from people on what has worked for you and where you got it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I would like a good working system that will fit in my 15" Torque Thrust wheels, but am not looking for a super high-end/high-cost system.
I've been looking a lot at mustangdepot.com and some of the SSBC stuff.
I was thinking of stock style front calipers and disks. I see remanufactured ones for $350/pair, new ones for $376/pair, and new aluminum ones for $538/pair. Anyone know about the quality of any of these choices? Sounds like the new ones would be the way to go as long as the build quality matches the original. I don't see many other options for disk/calipers unless I go bigger - and those won't fit in my wheels.
New dual bowl master cylinder. I need to do a little more research, but besides a slightly different bore diameter they look very similar. Something that looked interesting was the Power Brake Conversion I saw at mustangdepot. For around $310 they have a dual bowl MC and brake booster that they claim actually fits the car without pounding on the shock tower. This seems interesting - anyone have any experience with this.
New brakes lines everywhere, new distribution block. Don't know much about these, so probably just get whatever looks good and is recommended from where ever I buy the bigger parts.
Rear brakes - really not sure if I want to rebuild the stock drums or go with a disk conversion. Looks like a basic conversion kit is about $650. I know a properly adjusted drum system is supposed to work as well as disk, but the disk setup seems better and simpler.
