Mr T Bucket
Member
Since I'm stuck here at work for 11 hours straight today, I figured I'd post up how I did (or am doing) my rear brakes. Running an 8" Ford rear axle, I was wanting disc brakes to maximize the stopping power possible with big meats on the back. I had thought about the GM calipers, but I decided I wanted something a little better, and maybe more trick looking. Plus, working at a Phord dealer and the fact I wanted a Ford drivetrain, it seemed only natural to keep the rest of it as Ford as possible. I had also thought about Wilwood calipers, as the white lettering on the black housing would look cool showing through what eventually will be 15 x 14 Radir wheels. Then I thought, a Cobra lettering would be cooler since I have a Cobra oil pan on the 302. In order to use the Cobra lettered calipers, I'd have to use front calipers, and that seemed like overkill (which would be a good name for a T, if it hasn't already been done, but I'm sure it has, LOL) and I'd have no e-brake. Always the pinion mounted option I suppose, but I'm using a weird watts linkage from The Streetrod Manufacturing Company, and it mounts to the front of the pinion, so that rules out the pinion mounted e-brake. I guess this is where I gravitated towards Cobra rear calipers.
I was able to order a caliper and rotor for measuring from a place that I could send the stuff back if needed and without a restock fee (not Ford, mind you). Since the single caliper cost almost as much as the Motorsport kit with both calipers, I wasn't planning on keeping it. I was able to mock up the stuff on my axle and figured that with the right mounting brackets, it could be done. Found a Motorsport caliper kit on ebay in Hawaii of all places for $200 and free shipping. I jumped on it.
I searched around for e-brake cables and determined that the Lokar Explorer cables might work, but I needed measurements to be sure. Called up Lokar and asked them the dimensions of the shoulder of the threaded ferrule nut area. It was close. The mounting hole on the caliper is 1/2" and their ferrule was just a hair over. Sooo, I found a deal on a set of cables off ebay and with just a little dressing with a flat file around the shank, it fit. The inner cable has a little ball on the end and that's not how the Cobra caliper is designed, but with a small washer under the ball, it should lock into the caliper lever just fine. No picture of that yet.
The Cobra rotor is 11.65 inches and vented. The GT rotor is something like 10.5, or 10 3/4, can't recall for sure, and it's not vented, but the caliper is the same between the two. This gave me an option in case the bigger rotor setup wouldn't clear the rim of the wheel, but it does. Only issue was the hub center hole was bigger than the hub on my axle, so there might be an out of round issue because of the loss of a self-centering feature. I had found a couple places that were making adapters, but was holding off on buying them because I could still run into something that might make me change directions in mid-stream.
I was in the process of drawing up my own caliper brackets when I found some pieces from Currie Enterprises that ended up being perfect for what I was doing. It was a combo bearing retainer/caliper mounting plate unit. Gotta love CNC, eh?
They were only like $100 and they had the rotor adapters, but can't recall offhand how much they were. Worth every penny though.
The extra holes on the mount allow the caliper to be rotated as needed. Mine will either be level as shown, or one notch rotated up. Need to upgrade the digital camera too, as it has trouble focusing sometimes LOL.
I'm currently working on getting the e-brake handle mounted, but maybe this week since I'm on vacation. I'll post pics of the cable attached to the caliper and the e-brake when I get that done.
I was able to order a caliper and rotor for measuring from a place that I could send the stuff back if needed and without a restock fee (not Ford, mind you). Since the single caliper cost almost as much as the Motorsport kit with both calipers, I wasn't planning on keeping it. I was able to mock up the stuff on my axle and figured that with the right mounting brackets, it could be done. Found a Motorsport caliper kit on ebay in Hawaii of all places for $200 and free shipping. I jumped on it.
I searched around for e-brake cables and determined that the Lokar Explorer cables might work, but I needed measurements to be sure. Called up Lokar and asked them the dimensions of the shoulder of the threaded ferrule nut area. It was close. The mounting hole on the caliper is 1/2" and their ferrule was just a hair over. Sooo, I found a deal on a set of cables off ebay and with just a little dressing with a flat file around the shank, it fit. The inner cable has a little ball on the end and that's not how the Cobra caliper is designed, but with a small washer under the ball, it should lock into the caliper lever just fine. No picture of that yet.
The Cobra rotor is 11.65 inches and vented. The GT rotor is something like 10.5, or 10 3/4, can't recall for sure, and it's not vented, but the caliper is the same between the two. This gave me an option in case the bigger rotor setup wouldn't clear the rim of the wheel, but it does. Only issue was the hub center hole was bigger than the hub on my axle, so there might be an out of round issue because of the loss of a self-centering feature. I had found a couple places that were making adapters, but was holding off on buying them because I could still run into something that might make me change directions in mid-stream.
I was in the process of drawing up my own caliper brackets when I found some pieces from Currie Enterprises that ended up being perfect for what I was doing. It was a combo bearing retainer/caliper mounting plate unit. Gotta love CNC, eh?
They were only like $100 and they had the rotor adapters, but can't recall offhand how much they were. Worth every penny though.
The extra holes on the mount allow the caliper to be rotated as needed. Mine will either be level as shown, or one notch rotated up. Need to upgrade the digital camera too, as it has trouble focusing sometimes LOL.
I'm currently working on getting the e-brake handle mounted, but maybe this week since I'm on vacation. I'll post pics of the cable attached to the caliper and the e-brake when I get that done.
