another 5 lug conversion question

[Tony Frank]

Ok, I know that I need Mk VII rotors. But my question is what year Mk VII rotors should I buy?

Im assuming that I need a year without the ABS sensor on the rotor. Or is that an option on certain years?

Also, these should fit the stock calipers correct?

BTW I have an 85 GT.

[stanger9219]

what rims are you getting? With a few of the typical 5 lug mustang rims you have to have the sn95 rotors. AS far as i know its the late 80's Mark VII that you need. For the calipers i think you need to go bigger but im not positive. But wouldnt you want better brakes and calipers anyway? This is a good site that i found to help you out.

http://www.stangnet.com/tech/lug.html

[chatcher]

do yourself a big favor and convert to five lug using sn95 parts youll thank yourself down the road it will be a much better and more upgradeable system with a better selection of wheels you can run also the link provided in the earlier post should help you get the job done either way though

[Tony Frank]

I plan on getting ASA wheels. they are not factory ford rims. either way i can make the dust cap on the lincoln rotors work with a special milled dust cap.

I really didnt want to go the SN 95 route, the other way would be much cheaper and it wont be any worse than what i already have.

if anyone else can answer my questions asked previously please help me out.

[RDMumfts Stang]

I believe I bought 1987 Mark VII rotors when I did my swap last year. Stanger9219 and chatcher are right though, you might just want to go with the SN95 stuff. My front brakes consist of 1999-current spindles, rotors and calipers. I also used a 1986 SVO master cylinder, and summit proportioning block. As for the rears, I am using the Mark VII components, which needed modifications to work. I bought them from someone in the Mustangworks Classifieds alreaddy modded (I'll see if I can find the site with directions for modifying the brackets tomorrow). They seem bulky compared to the Sn95s. I wish I had found this site before buying the rear brakes.
http://www.discbrakesrus.com/make/ford/mustang.htm#rearendflangekit
As far as costs, I don't know if the Mark VII brakes are any cheaper than the SN95 once you purchace them from a salvage, use them for cores when you end up buying remanufactured callipers to be sure they are servicable. I spent $90 for the rear calipers and $185 in a rear 5-lug Motorsport axles/drums, because I wasn't too thrilled with the axles I got in the classifieds. In the long run, for future upgrades, SN95 would seem cheaper. . At the very least get '87-93 11" spindles and Mark VII rotors. The '79-'86 10"ers suck! SVO or MarkVII 73mm callipers would help too. I have always had good luck with MPS and their prices are pretty reasonable, especially when they have sales.

BTW, I wish my '85 had only 19K on it.

[chatcher]

your stock calipers will work and late eighties 88 89 VII when i sourced the rotors brand new they ran 75 to 100 a piece i bought the sn95 rotors at my local part store for 30 and the complete sn95 assembly from a local salvage yard for 60 or 65 per side and have way more brakes now than i did before just my op but if your wheels will fit over the cap its a very easy swap to do the rotors and for the rear you can get it pretty cheap with ranger axles and drums i did mine this way but switch shortly after to sn95 in the rear as well and i must say it brakes much better now than it ever has and i look forward to getting pbr calipers so i can make it even better than it is now but im a road course guy so ill probably never be happy with the suspension

[Tony Frank]

Well i have a quote at 34 bucks a piece......

also why would i want to change my spindle to a 11"

im not looking to improve performance of braking just want to be able to run five lug wheels on the car.

im trying to do this as inexpensive as possible.

[RDMumfts Stang]

Tony,
I believe that the Mark VIIs came with 11" front rotors. Pre-'87 GTs came with 10" brakes, the same brakes as the four cylinder LXs. Ford changed to bigger brakes for a reason. When I did my first brake upgrade, I switched from 10" to 11" rotors. It was incredible the difference in braking performance. If you buy the rotors and find you need the spindles, I still have them, along with some 73mm caliper cores. I never upgraded to the 73mm calipers, but received some with the Mark VII system I bought.
I see a 5-lug conversion for 79-86 mustangs for $119.95 in the back of this months MM&FF, p.291, in an ad for Complete Brake Service Inc. (1-800-581-2339) it's a long running ad. I cannot remember ever not seeing it in there.

Chatcher,
Are the calipers and brackets lighter on the SN95 rears than the Mark VIIs? I have the PBR front calipers and they are super light compared to the 1985 and 73mm calipers. I plan on getting some front Cobra brakes this summer and am wondering if it would be cost effective to change the rears to Cobras. Weight reduction would be about the only reason to change. How do the size of the pistons compare?

http://www.discbrakesrus.com/make/lincoln/mark.htm

[chatcher]

tony i am sorry i thought when i replied that your car was 87+ you will need to replace everything to run those rotors and with that all in mind you should def consider the sn95 but i will ad that i dont know anything about pre 87 brakes so i really cant give you as good of advice as sd

sd i never looked at the mark rear i would imagine there probably isnt a whole lot of diff i used the sn95 because my conection at the local salvage yard had the rear end and they let me take the pieces i needed and i feel like with the sn master in place i kinda have the complete system in place as it was engineered if that makes any diff all i know is its a lot better than what i started out with

and tony i dont mean to keep beating you up with pushing the sn swap i just know myself that it would of saved me $ if id would have just saved up until i could do it the way i have it now instead of changing it three times to get where im at some times cheap ends up more expensive

[RDMumfts Stang]

chatcher,
sorry, I assumed you had the mark vii rears.

Tony,
If you want to go cheap as possible, go to http://www.stangparts.com/ and read their how to article on 5-lug swaps. Sorry, I assumed you were wanting a drum to disc swap also. To go with the Mark VII front rotors you will need the 87-93 spindles $30 and calipers $20 per side respectively. I'd try your local salvage yards to get them. If you don't have any luck locally, I have them. Let me know and we can work something out.

Good luck,
Rob.

[Tony Frank]

chatcher,
i dont feel that you are beating the sn swap. actually after hearing that i need to change spindles anyhow i am actually considering going that route as of now.

rob,
thanks for your help, if i do end up needing those spindles i will definatley get ahold of you.

and could i get a parts list for the sn swap.....
-spindles
-calipers
-rotors
am i missing anything? also is there a specific year that is better or easier. and is the gt and v6 models the same.

[RDMumfts Stang]

Yes, V6 and GT Mustangs use the same brakes. I believe your list is pretty complete, but I am pretty sure you'll need a bigger master cylinder. The following is from MPS:

DESCRIPTION: 5 LUG CONVERSION for '87-'93 Mustangs. THIS IS FOR 11", INCLUDES used 96-98 calipers, used 96-98 caliper brackets, used 96-98 rotors, used 96-98 brake lines, used 96-98 spindles & used 96-98 hubs. ***NO COD ON BRAKE CONVERSION KITS.***

Here is another very helpfull site on brake conversions. I had questions and got prompt answers from the sites author. This the best site on the subject I have found.
http://www.svo73mm.cjb.net./

[chatcher]

if you keep drums in the rear your mc will make do and i recomend maximun motorsports steel braided brake lines they run from the fox hard line to the sn caliper as a straight bolt in the sn soft lines would need adapted to fit your hardlines i choose to use them because i have two sportbikes with sb lines and i noticed a diff in feel just from the lines on the bikes though you wont really on the car i know it makes a diff

when you get your parts from the salvage yard or where ever make sure they give you everything ie caliper bolts, banjo for caliper, dust sheild,and soft lines if you wish to adapt those to work you will also need to either use some spacers on the balljoint or have the sn bj pressed in i had the new joint press in but many seem to use the spacer with no issue

go to this site it will make things much easir for you print it all out and you shoud be set

http://www.nomotivation.com/5lug.cfm