Well, I decided it was time to upgrade my ?66 Coupe. Nothing fancy, no blowers or NOS (yet). Anyway, every old car like this needs better suspension, brakes, and steering before adding more power. This is a daily driver street car, and certainly not a race car. I also didn?t want to spend millions for minimal results. I had some free time and empty garage space while the Cobra is in Paint Shop Prison, so now?s the time.
First up, power disc brakes. The factory power drums just don?t cut it, especially with the single resevoir MC. So I called Mustangs Plus, and had them send me their SSBC kit, small enough to fit in the stock wheels. Cost was about $1K?ish. It?s a simple bolt on, right? No, not so fast. The hard part is really the bolt off. This is a nearly 40 year old car. It?s in great shape and essentially rust free. But still, these bolts have been together for nearly 40 years. They are somewhat attached to each other, melded you might say. So a few of them needed persuasion. This is where PB Blaster, heat, and hammer and chisel come in. Vice grips come in pretty handy, too.
But finally, the spindles are bare. Fortunately, they are in great shape. Bolting on the new discs and calipers was actually pretty easy. Probably the simplest part of the whole job. Very straight foreword, very simple. If you?ve done one Ford, you?ve done them all.
Of course, the brake lines had to be cut apart, which means you have to make new ones. Not a big deal, but somewhat time consuming, and probably a good idea anyway. So you spend a few hours bending, measuring, and double flaring to get just the right fit and leak proof connections.
Then it?s time to remove the master cylinder and booster. This is where it gets really difficult. There are 4 bolts behind the brake booster that attach the whole thing to the fire wall. These are a real bear to get to. The last time I did this job, the engine was out and the hood was off. As I recall, that was pretty easy. But this was one of the worst jobs I?ve ever done. Nothing in my toolbox would fit back there, and I have a pretty big tool box! I actually had to make a special wrench just to get in there. And you can barely see back there, much less get tools in. A headband with a Mini-Mag light is a must here. It looks goofy, but you?re alone in the garage, so it?s OK.
Finally, the old one is off, and the new booster is on and tight. Looking good; only took a few hours for this simple operation. Now it?s time (according to the instructions) to install the brake actuator rod.. You know, the one that connects the booster to the pedal. Guess what? You can?t do that with the booster bolted to the firewall! So now I had to take the booster back out, and install the rod, and then put the booster back in. Loosely, so I had room to maneuver and attach it and the brake light switch to the brake pedal. This part is much easier with the steering column removed. Then I could tighten the bolts ( 1/16th of a turn at a time) to the firewall. Now the booster is finally installed and ready to go. All in all, I spent 3-4 evenings on this simple operation.
The rest of the job went pretty standard; bolt on the MC, bleed the MC, attach the lines, and bleed the system. That only took a few more hours to get everything done. I highly suggest you bleed the MC after installation, not on the bench.
How does it work? Great! It?s a huge improvement in braking power and reliability. The drums worked OK, and I could lock up the tires at less than 30mph. But it didn?t feel good, and they were a little difficult to modulate. The discs are far superior in feel, modulation, and stopping power. And the dual MC is much safer, too.
Next, it?s time to improve the rear drums. They are not in bad shape, but need to be refreshed. I think I?ll install the wider drums from a station wagon. That should work very well.