Cobra Brakes on a 1G

[Halon]

Brake lines showed up today!

The end is the right diameter for the cobra banjo bolts. But there will need to be some tweaking of the banjo bolt required for it to work. With the bolt screwed down as far as it can go, it's still not tight down on the fitting. So I'll tap the bolt further, and that should hopefully take car of that. Might need to cut a little off the bottom if the bolt ends up being too long. I would have preferred it just fit correctly, but really is a fairly minor issue in the end.

Here's a pic showing what I'm talking about.

[Halon]

Hmm... Looking around some more, and I think that place I got the banjo bolts from is the cluprit. Here you can see how mine look. The threading stops, and then turns into some kind of worn down looking threading, that won't thread in, which is why it doesn't go down far enough:


And here are others I've found, that thread much higher, and would have worked perfect:


So lesson learned, don't buy the banjo bolts from that company I got mine from. Get them somewhere else.

They are M10 x 1.5mm banjo bolt, around 24mm in length or so. I'm going to go to Ace and Lowe's to see if they have any.

[Halon]

Went to Checker, and they had two M10 x 1.5 x 22.8mm banjo bolts on the shelf. A hair shorter than the standard 24mm, but they look like they are going to fit perfect for me. 4.99/ea (Checker/O'Reilly Part# - 13940). $10.65 after tax for two of them.

http://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductD...rtNumber=13940

So lesson learned. Don't buy the banjo bolts from that Ford Racing shop. Just get some from your local parts store

[viridionplague]

good to know about the banjo bolts, ill get some localy when i do my swap over.

nice to see things coming along keep us updated

[iceminion]

Another option that many GVR4 owners are choosing is the FD Turbo RX7 calipers



Mazda calipers are far superior, and can be found for about the same price.....no more greasing the sliders! Better selection of pads too, and installation of pads is a snap, pull the pins, swap in new pads, re-insert pins and clips, no tools required!

my $.02

[Halon]

It'd be real nice if people added any info they had on Cobra brakes, as that is what I'm doing and this thread was supposed to be about. And hoping this might be useful for people in the future, give them a step by step how-to if they decide to do the same without irrelevant clutter.

Anyhow, I ordered up the last things I need, which were Rotors. I decided against Ebay rotors. I decided to just pick up some standard blank rotors from Napa. They are right around the corner if there is an issue with them, and Napa seems to have the best quality (in my opinion) of all the standard parts store chains out there. I'm sure some PowerSlots or whatever are better rotors, but in the end I figure I'll probably end up warping anything I get. These are cheap so when they warp and are to the point where they can't be resurfaced, they can be replaced cheap.

Anyhow, no need to defend my decision, this is what I decided on after thinking about it for a long time.

They are normally around $45/ea, but they price matched Autozone who sells Duralasts (which I heard bad stuff about) for 39.99/ea. So I got the pair from Napa for $85.38 after tax. They didn't have them and had to order them from the warehouse. Should be here tomorrow morning. So, as far as I can tell, I have purchased all the parts neccessary to do this swap.

Total cost so far is $548.25, and that is including all shipping/tax. Compare that to the Baer kit which is $859.99 + shipping/tax from the cheapest place I've found (MAP). What's tax at now, 6.7%? That would put the Baer kit at about $917.61. That's a total savings of approximately $369.36 for the cobra kit, which should perform somewhat similar to the Baer kit since they share a lot of the same parts.

And if your a thrifty mofo like me, it's all worth the time and research and searching around for good prices, when you end up with a decent amount of savings like that

I am unsure when I'll actually get around to installing this as my schedule is redonk. Not even sure if I'll have them in by MAP's event, but I hope I do.

I'll make sure to keep updating this with install instructions/pics as well so hopefully it'll be a handy tool for any other thrifty peeps like me wanting to do this in the future

[GsXtUrBo98]

Up where MAP is its 6.9% for tax.. Just a tid bit..

Also, I want to add that I like the route that you went and have no other direction to point you in! lol I want pics of the new brake setup!

[Kracka]

What kind of pads are you going to run?

[Halon]

I'm using the pads the calipers came with, which are just some standard semi-metallic pads. Nothing fancy. I'll run them until they are toast and then start figuring out what to upgrade to. I've been reading a lot of good things about Hawk pads on the Mustang forums I've been visiting, but will dig a lot deeper when the time comes for me to actually purchase new ones.

[Halon]

Got the rotors and the mounting kit today.

One thing I do still need is hardware to make it all work. So a few more bucks will still need to be spent. I'll make sure to post up exactly what hardware I use.

[Halon]

Got to come home for a day. Here's what I've done so far. Had to modify the brake dust shield to accommodate the larger rotor.

[Halon]

Had to cut away a little more of the dust shield. I used M12 x 1.75 x 25 bolts and lockwashers to mount the brackets to the car. 25 seemed to be a good length where it wasn't sticking out the back. Ideally I'd say a 30mm length would be ideal but Lowe's didn't have 30. 35 seemed a bit too long. I'm going to stick with the 25mm ones as they still are in there a good 4 threads deep.

I bought M12 x 1.75 x 35 and lockwasher for the bracket to caliper bolts. They work but only thread in a couple threads. 45mm would probably be ideal. I left the 35's in, but will be getting some 45's next chance I get to work on the car.

Here's the pics.

[Kevin 1G Drummer]

Looks like a nice setup, but I would definitely be getting longer bolts for those calipers and brackets. Also, it seems like there's alot of wasted space on that rotor. Is there any kind of upgraded caliper for this setup that takes advantage of the space between the hub area and the inner edge of the pad?

[Halon]

No idea man.

[viridionplague]

any updates?

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by Kevin_1G_Drummer

Also, it seems like there's alot of wasted space on that rotor. Is there any kind of upgraded caliper for this setup that takes advantage of the space between the hub area and the inner edge of the pad?

That is very strange and will definitely cause some strange looking wear marks (and rust) as they get worn in along with some lips in the rotor surface. I don't recall my Baers being like that and I can't imagine they came from Ford like that on the Cobras.

[viridionplague]

just looked at my cobra brakes and they have the same extra space.

i dont think its such a big deal as the majority of your braking power is going to come from further out on the rotor.

but that is how they come on the actual cobras

[Halon]

Originally Posted by Kracka

I don't recall my Baers being like that and I can't imagine they came from Ford like that on the Cobras.

I beg to differ.

Here's the DSM 13" Baer kit:


Here's the Cobra brakes on an actual Mustang:



Some other DSM brake upgrades for reference, and you can see they're all similar...:

Willwood:


VR4 caliper / Cobra rotor upgrade:



Quit hatin on my budget setup!!! :P

[viridionplague]

i also wanna add that the cobra brakes work very well even on a 3400 pound mustang with 250 pound driver

[Halon]

As for updates. Sorry I don't have any. I've been in Omaha the last 2 weeks. I was able to come home for one day this last weekend, which is when I got the one side mounted up. This weekend I plan on installing the tranny and these brakes, and hopefully have the car out and about! Wanna come help?