ITR Mustang

[RedMisted]

Ron:

Thanks for checking on the calipers. The two part numbers at AutoZone probably doesn't mean a thing.

If the calipers eventually show themselves to be truly substandard from a material/design standpoint, would we have any recourse with the powers that be to run anything else? For example, 13" Mustang Cobra brakes? (Geez, I wish!) Sure would help with durability (and heat).

Interestingly, I hear that the A Sedan Mustangs were given allowances with their brakes because of severe overheating. Of course, those are much heavier cars travelling at much higher speeds.

Probably need to fabricate a manifold that will bolt onto the caliper and get air into the pad area as well as the outside housing. I made some for Jeff's TR8 and have seen others of similar design for the Z. Think about making it from sheet metal, or fiberglass as Mike M did for the Z, and having a 3" duct on the backside for the hose. The part that wraps around the housing will need to be thin if you're using stock wheels.

One of the big reasons that folks got away from the smaller wheels on the Z was to get more brake cooling. Just having the wheel further away from the caliper assembly helped with airflow and also helps with packaging of cooling hardware. If you're sticking with the 15" wheels it may not be possible to get enough cooling in there and that might be part of the problem.



And PBR might be able to help here as they should definitely have the data on what sorts of loads the caliper can handle. Something tells me that for a company like PBR that supplies damn near about everyone that the caliper itself can handle the load. And if it didn't at some point it time it was re-designed.

And lastly, this might not mean anything but AutoZone lists two different part numbers for the driver's side front caliper depending on the year:

1999 is this one and had a picture
Part Number:
C466

2004 is this one and didn't have a picture
Part Number:
C898

For the real story you'd have to go to Ford but in theory the 99-04 cars are the same car.

[Ron Earp]

If the calipers eventually show themselves to be truly substandard from a material/design standpoint, would we have any recourse with the powers that be to run anything else? For example, 13" Mustang Cobra brakes? (Geez, I wish!) Sure would help with durability (and heat).

Nope, choose another car.

I don't have any position of power in IT land but alternative equipment is clearly not in the fundamentals of IT. If the brakes turn out to be non-workable, and I seriously doubt that will be the case, then that is, as they say, tough shit.

I'm not discounting your observations on the brakes but there is much R&D to do before passing judgment on them. Early Z brakes didn't work well either until racers had done years of development to reach a tried and true formula.

[RedMisted]

Early Z brakes didn't work well either until racers had done years of development to reach a tried and true formula.

Really? Seems to me that the Z cars I've seen run basic cooling setups like mine. I thought that these cars were able to handle the heat and loads because of their radically low weight.

[Ron Earp]

Really? Seems to me that the Z cars I've seen run basic cooling setups like mine. I thought that these cars were able to handle the heat and loads because of their radically low weight.

Maybe they do in the Midwest, not sure. In the SE with CMP in he racing mix, fluid, cooling hat, caliper duct, pad selection, and lots of brake maintenance are required to make the solid disc Z brakes work well from 2450 to 2575 lbs (240z to 280z).

All I'm saying is there is a lot more to do before you should worry too much.