[Coupester]

Hey guys, I am working on a low mile 85GT which already has an 8.8. Many years ago (25) I had an 85GT that I did Lincoln Mark VII/ SVO/ Saleen front and rear brakes on and it was my FAVORITE fox body braking setup I ever did. Of course, I paired it with an adjustable prop valve and SVO master cylinder. The kicker was that I used a guide from the intraweb that instructed me to flip the brackets left to right and perform some minor mods which allowed me to keep the stock rear track width.

Now it's 2022 and I'd like to do the same Lincoln Mark VII/ SVO/ Saleen front and rear brakes but I plan to redrill the rear rotors for 4-lug. I'm quite confident that they'll clear 15" wheels.

But now I'm wondering if all that fuss (such as tracking down Mark VII/ SVO/ Saleen rear caliper brackets) is even worth it? The car is certainly not a track car, just a cruiser. Maybe I should upgrade to 87-93 V8 front brakes and grab some sort of aftermarket rear disc setup such as the SSBC kit or the LMR 93 Cobra rear setup.

What does everyone think?

 

[stangjumper]

I would do aftermarket. I love my Wilwoods.

 

[Coupester]

I would do aftermarket. I love my Wilwoods.

I'm looking to stay factory on this car.

 

[kjb302ho]

old tech. there are much better options right now.

 

[Coupester]

old tech. there are much better options right now.

I'm not really worried about old vs new. When I was working on these cars in the 90s the Lincoln/ SVO setup we got from the junkyards was amazing and would put your eyeballs through your skull when you stood on the brakes from speed. Obviously a 6-piston Wilwood or Baer setup would be superior but these are junky fox bodies not 2022 GT's we're working on and I want to just improve braking, add rear disc, keep correct front/ rear brake bias (tuned in with a prop valve), I'm not trying to win any internet prizes for biggest/ best brakes.

 

[kruiser]

Get some rear rotors from a '94 T-bird and redrill to the required 4x108 pattern (the T-bird is 5x108, so you can use one factory hole as a guide to align the rest).

If you want to upgrade the front to SN95 spindles, get the hubs from an '89 T-bird and redrill - you need the smooth backside style - hence specifying '89.

Use front rotors from a T-bird as well (same diameter, and height as SN95 hubs so you can use the dual piston front calipers as well and they will bolt on). Doing this you should upgrade the MC as well.

I did a 4 lug 4 wheel disc setup on mine using rotors and calipers all around from a Lincoln LS. These rotors required 16" wheels to work. The T-bird rotors are virtually identical to SN95 rotors except bolt pattern, so they will fit under 15" rims.

My Lincoln set up with T-bird hub.

Just another option.

 

[Coupester]

I'm not opposed to custom stuff. The plan I have right now is to use 84-90 Mark 7 stuff front and rear, obviously in the front I'll use stock 87-93 V8 4-lug rotors. In the rear, I'll redrill the Mark 7/ SVO/ Continental rotors to 4-lug, and do the "Black306" mod which flips the brackets side to side so they'll work with stock fox length axles. But obtaining the rear caliper brackets is a pita. I'll need to say a prayer and hope I find a Mark 7 in the local yards, then spend hours on my back in the filth pulling the axles to get to the brackets. Otherwise, I can grab an SSBC rear disc conversion which I believe uses the 1991-1992 Mark 7 rear calipers (same as 93 Cobra R) but I don't know how well those calipers will vibe with either stock 87-93 V8 calipers or 73mm SVO/ Lincoln calipers. The best brakes I ever had were the full SVO/ Mark 7 brakes front to rear.

 

[kruiser]

In what I proposed you would use SN95 rear calipers - very easy to find, any 94-04 Mustang. Do the usual changes for e-brake posted for 5-lug swaps.

PM if interested and I can forward a design I came up with for a fabricated axle bracket that will bolt up and work for the SN calipers and T-bird rotors. With some slight tweak's it can be made to work with most rotor caliper combinations.

 

[Stangdawg]

Hey guys, I am working on a low mile 85GT which already has an 8.8. Many years ago (25) I had an 85GT that I did Lincoln Mark VII/ SVO/ Saleen front and rear brakes on and it was my FAVORITE fox body braking setup I ever did. Of course, I paired it with an adjustable prop valve and SVO master cylinder. The kicker was that I used a guide from the intraweb that instructed me to flip the brackets left to right and perform some minor mods which allowed me to keep the stock rear track width.

Now it's 2022 and I'd like to do the same Lincoln Mark VII/ SVO/ Saleen front and rear brakes but I plan to redrill the rear rotors for 4-lug. I'm quite confident that they'll clear 15" wheels.

But now I'm wondering if all that fuss (such as tracking down Mark VII/ SVO/ Saleen rear caliper brackets) is even worth it? The car is certainly not a track car, just a cruiser. Maybe I should upgrade to 87-93 V8 front brakes and grab some sort of aftermarket rear disc setup such as the SSBC kit or the LMR 93 Cobra rear setup.

What does everyone think?

There is an old article where they did a comparison with rear drum vs disc. It was very minimal improvement

If you want full kit look up Northrace they sell the whole kit.
Only you know what parts you need/want to upgrade.

 

[kjb302ho]

I'm not opposed to custom stuff. The plan I have right now is to use 84-90 Mark 7 stuff front and rear, obviously in the front I'll use stock 87-93 V8 4-lug rotors. In the rear, I'll redrill the Mark 7/ SVO/ Continental rotors to 4-lug, and do the "Black306" mod which flips the brackets side to side so they'll work with stock fox length axles. But obtaining the rear caliper brackets is a pita. I'll need to say a prayer and hope I find a Mark 7 in the local yards, then spend hours on my back in the filth pulling the axles to get to the brackets. Otherwise, I can grab an SSBC rear disc conversion which I believe uses the 1991-1992 Mark 7 rear calipers (same as 93 Cobra R) but I don't know how well those calipers will vibe with either stock 87-93 V8 calipers or 73mm SVO/ Lincoln calipers. The best brakes I ever had were the full SVO/ Mark 7 brakes front to rear.

you cant get calipers for 84-90 Lincoln lsc anymore. im working on a 90 Lincoln lsc i bought from the original owner after sitting for 18 years. searched high and low for rear calipers. I ended up doing a cobra brake conversion using cobra rotors, axle, brackets, antimoan brackets and Taurus calipers which are 43mm as opposed to the mustang which is 38mm. moroso 3" studs and maxim Motorsports 13mm hub centric spacers. direct bolt in and keeps a good bias.

 

[toddturbo]

been through all of this several times

Frankly for a cruiser, just throw some stock Fox V8 spindles/rotors/struts/calipers/etc on it, and use the GOOD pads and shoes (Hawk and MM, respectively--I got all of it from MM). Most of that stuff has gotten cheaper over the years because many are swapping to SN95/Cobra brakes (Which, IMO, are highly overrated). They work as good if not better than aftermarket or a lot of the popular swap stuff, on a DD. I used that exact setup on my 93 when I had it and loved it to death. They last too, I want to say I had about 60,000 miles on it when I let it go to a new home (which I shouldn't have). While you're doing the spindles and struts, if in the budget and/or time constraints, you may look at swapping to decent sway bar bushings as well, and use a fox V8 front and rear sway bar. Really tightens up the car's sloppy feel.

Also if you have 5 lug axles and you want to redrill them to 4 lug, bear in mind that one of the existing bolt holes is GOING to be in the way. Best option is to weld it up and re-drill through the welded part but that brings up the question of the axle's integrity after welding. If you are 4 lug and gonna swap to 5 lug, the same-one bolt hole is just all wrong. If doing the former, swapping to someone's leftover 4 lug axles is simple and easy and cheap; the latter you're far better off going to 5 lug axles. Last time I bought some it was under $200 for both axles; but I understand that they (and everything else) have gone up significantly.

 

[90trunk]

The car is certainly not a track car, just a cruiser. Maybe I should upgrade to 87-93 V8 front brakes and grab some sort of aftermarket rear disc setup such as the SSBC kit or the LMR 93 Cobra rear setup.

For your application, I believe the SSBC or LMR '93 Cobra kit for the rear is probably the easiest route. The benefit of going this route is everything is new and one-stop shopping. You may be able to piece it together cheaper with used parts, but what is your time worth? I found a discontinued NOS FMS 2300C ('93 Cobra and Turbo Coupe) kit years ago here on the Corral Classifieds and it has been trouble free.

I did add some Powerstop rotors to it last year for the added bling factor. 😉

 

[bkeith85]

I did turbo coupe rear disc's on my 85 back in the day. They were 4 lug and fit under stock wheels. Last I checked, the SSBC kit looked identical to it. But those rear calipers are getting scarce. When I switched to the 5 lug Baer kit, I made new brackets and used the TC calipers on a 9 inch for my bronco. I was able to find new calipers recently, but if they go bad again, I may have to find another kind of caliper to use.

 

[qtrracer]

So, Circa 1992 I swapped the brakes on my 86 GT to the SSBC rear discs (same as the 93 Cobra and TB Turbo Coupe). The disc is a vented 10.25" and uses a 45mm piston caliper and 347 profile pads. These are pretty big pads - much bigger than the sn95 rears. On the front I ran an 11" 87-93 GT rotor with an SVO 73mm caliper with an SVO 1-1/4" MC.

Braking was way too biased to the front. I found that the better option was a stock 87-93 v8 caliper (which is what the 93 Cobra used) with a smaller MC (i.e. 93 Cobra). With that set-up the car stopped much better, was easier to modulate and didn't use pads as fast. I will say it also stopped in a much shorter distance. Of course, my measuring was somewhat crude, but I did use the same stretch of road in similar weather conditions. And the wheels were stock 15" phone-dials. When I needed tires or an alignment, the shop guys went nuts trying to figure what kind of brake option I got with that car - it was virtually stock looking.

For your aspiration, I'd recommend the SSBC rear or similar (e.g., NRC, Discbrakesrus, etc.) and the 87-93 v8 spindle, 11" disc and stock v8 caliper. Pads I used were Hawk HPS front and rear, MM stainless flex lines and Motul fluid. With a good set of 200 wear street tires, that 85 will do exactly what your Saleen braked ride did back in the day - with a lot less fuss.

By the way. The manual prop valve cannot change front/rear bias errors. The valve only changes the point on the rear brake pressure slope where pressure is reduced to avoid rear lock before front lock. F/R bias can only be adjusted with the caliper piston size, rotor size and/or pad friction coefficient. Hence, the 93 Cobra F/R bias was a near perfect 70/30 for a stock suspended Fox body v8 car.