manual brakes opinions/help...

[DavidBoren]

I have a question regarding manual brake conversions. Anyone with first hand knowledge, please let me know what you think.

I want to know about using manual brakes on the street, in a daily driver application. And the suspension will be set up for autoX/road racing/spirited driving.

And I want to know about using manual brakes with big brake conversions... or Cobra brakes or S197/GT500 brakes.

I am under the impression that increasing the size of the brakes will increase the stopping force, and thus decrease the need for power assisted brakes. I also want to have symmetrical brakes front and rear... same size rotors and calipers (maybe dual calipers).

I know that to have/use symmetrical brakes front and rear, that I would need to use an adjustable proportioning valve to correctly bias the brakes.

I am just trying to get as much information as I can on street and track driven manual brakes. Am I correct with the assumption that increasing brake size will decrease the need for power brakes? Will large manual brakes be good for autoX or spirited daily driving? Would they be safe?

Thanks in advance for any help and information.

 

[rz5.0]

[MENTION=9659]95opal[/MENTION] is doing a conversion. .

 

[ReplicaR]

MM has a kit. You should call them.

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Mustang-Manual-Brake-Conversions-C244.aspx

 

[95opal]

Maximum for the conversion,,,, no fronts and rears don't need to be the same size,,,, adjustable proportioning valve for sure. proper bore on the master to jive with your brakes of choice.


My set up

did a little line tuck while I was there . proportioning valve resides in the fendewell

 

[DavidBoren]

Thanks for the replies. I know the front/rear rotors do not have to be the same size, but I have always liked the look of symmetrical brakes with the front caliper clocked at 2 o'clock position, and the rear at 10 o'clock... if that makes sense.

What are your impressions of the manual brakes for daily driving? I am not worried about the pedal being too hard to push or anything like that. That is all in how you set it up, and the MM kit has adjustable pivot points, which is nice.

My question is more towards emergency braking, like a kid in the road... do the brakes lock up differently (dangerously)? Or is that all determined by how you proportion/bias the brakes? Is it harder to hold the car at a stop for extended periods of time? Like at a traffic light on an uphill slope?

I am pretty sure I am going with manual brakes, I just want to know if there are any surprises (bad).

 

[95opal]

Thanks for the replies. I know the front/rear rotors do not have to be the same size, but I have always liked the look of symmetrical brakes with the front caliper clocked at 2 o'clock position, and the rear at 10 o'clock... if that makes sense.

What are your impressions of the manual brakes for daily driving? I am not worried about the pedal being too hard to push or anything like that. That is all in how you set it up, and the MM kit has adjustable pivot points, which is nice.

My question is more towards emergency braking, like a kid in the road... do the brakes lock up differently (dangerously)? Or is that all determined by how you proportion/bias the brakes? Is it harder to hold the car at a stop for extended periods of time? Like at a traffic light on an uphill slope?

I am pretty sure I am going with manual brakes, I just want to know if there are any surprises (bad).

If you set it up correctly and tune them youd be hard pressed to notice a difference. If your going with the mm set up your heading in the right direction. Your next selection should be what actual brakes your going to run and finally picking the correct bore master for said brakes,which is the most important part of the puzzle. After that itstweeking the pedal throw and proportiong valve to your liking. If you matched everything correctly youll never go back to power again.

I converted for a couple reasons... monster cam. (Less vacuum) clutter free as i have issues with clutter lol and better overall feel

 

[DavidBoren]

How about manual steering? Or should I start a separate thread for that? I would like to autoX and any other twisty/turny fast driving I can get into, but I am hesitant about the manual steering rack. I don't want to have to turn the wheel a million times just to take a corner.

Once again, not really worried about the extra effort it would take to turn the wheel, just the extra rotations. Also concerned about correcting in an emergency situation. Any advice or recommendations for (or against) manual steering on a daily driver/autoX car?

 

[95opal]

How about manual steering? Or should I start a separate thread for that? I would like to autoX and any other twisty/turny fast driving I can get into, but I am hesitant about the manual steering rack. I don't want to have to turn the wheel a million times just to take a corner.

Once again, not really worried about the extra effort it would take to turn the wheel, just the extra rotations. Also concerned about correcting in an emergency situation. Any advice or recommendations for (or against) manual steering on a daily driver/autoX car?

No extra turning...im running a quick ratio manual rack from flaming river.... i see no problem with what your going for

 

[DavidBoren]

Alright. Thank you, Opal. I had read about manual racks allowing 6+ full rotations lock-to-lock, and I was thinking that is just too much turning of the wheel to be able to quickly correct in an emergency situation, but if I can get a manual steering rack with a "normal" amount of full rotations (+/- 4), then I am ok with that.

It will be nice to be able to see the heads in the engine bay, and eliminate some pulley driven accessories.

Thanks again for the help.