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disc brakes

H

huskinhano

Member
At some point I'm going to put discs on my 66. I have a set of 72 discs that I bought a few years ago that need to be rebuilt. Compared to the Granada I see that the 67-73 single piston set up uses a slightly larger disc at 11.25". Also the pads look to be a decent sizes as well. How effective is the 67-73 setup compared to the Granada? I also have a set of '99 Mustang GT aluminum PBR calipers that I'm giving some thought to as well. It looks like I could mount them to the 72 fairly easly. Would this be an improvement over the earlier calipers. This is basically going to be a street car.

I have and am giving some thought to using a set of 66 12" Tbird set up as a friend has a set for sale. The down side is the added un sprung weight, availability of parts and expense. I have located replacement parts though. Rotors are about $100 a piece and ditto for rebuilt calipers. This would be a killer set of brakes though!
 
I think the t-bird would be the coolest. Do the '72 need brackets or would they bolt up? The PBR would be nice, but the added $$ for the correct brackets would add to the cost of those as well.
 
The Tbird/full size Ford set up is a 4 piston Mustang setup on steriods. The rotors are 12" in dia and 1.29" thick! The rotor/hub is a 2 piece afair. The rotor alone weighs 18# without the hub.

The 72 set up is very similar to the Granada set up but has a slightly larger rotor at 11.25" vs 10.875"

The PBR caliper is huge but weighs less then the 72 caliper asm. It's pretty easy to mount the PBR on the 72 disc spindle from what I've seen. Basically the PBR bolts directly to the bottom bolt hole on the 72 spindle with a square block of steel needed for the top because the 72 spindle bolts 90* from the bottom. There are more selections for high perfomance brake pads for the PBR then the 72 set up.

The Tbird set up definitely has the wow factor. What I also like is that I could use my existing drum spindles rather then swapping spindles. There is an issue here with me on swapping spindles because I'm not sure wether I want to lower the UCA 1" or go with Global West UCA. The 67 & up spindles have slightly different geometry causes all sorts of problems on 65-66 with 67 & up spindles unless you use a bump steer kit which I don't want to do. Added cost and I don't want to use spherical ends on the street. If I go with the 72 spindles I'll have to stick with the 1" Arning drop (which isn't too bad, it's FREE!)
 
Any of the choices will provide more stopping power, it's just a matter of personal preference with which setup you decide upon.

Me, I'd use the late model PBR setup. Parts would be cheaper and the setup would be considerably lighter.
 
The PBRs would be my first choice. That said, I have '70 Mustang discs on my Fairlane, and they work great and were cheap.
 
I've got the Granada front and Versailes rear disc on my 67 with a heavy 429 and it stops quite well. I've had this set-up for nearly 18 years with no issues. I had 70 Torino disc on my first 67 with stock drum rear and a 289 and seat of the pants feel is that both work well but I like the 4 wheel disc set-up. It will lock up all 4 wheels if you stomp on it. With controlled pedal it feels as good as any modern car I have driven and I drive a different rental car about every week. I think the PBR set-up would be cool on your Stang because of the weight and parts as Dave said.
 
I forget the cutoff year at the moment, but if you go the PBR route, some of the later years have bigger caliper/pistons and they all mount the same. I have a set of the bigger ones mounted to "Nada spindles. the only tricky part is the bracket you need. The online instructions I came across called for a welded assembly. I made mine out of solid 01 Tool Steel
 
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