Anyone converted to manual brakes....

[spyder7724]

I posted this in the drag race forums by mistake. i think it belongs here.

If so what master cylinder did you use and did you keep the stock calipers and stuff. couple reasons i'm doing this: the weight and with my cams i have very little vacuum. when i'm driving on the street it's fine but at the track especially when staging my brakes get soft and start losing pressure.
i've alreadu got a vacuum reservoir but to make them work really well it would take a vacuum pump as well. thats just more weight and a larger draq on the alternator so it's all going....maybe i'll change out the calipers and rotors for some aerospace or wilwoods as well but for now i just want to lose the ABS and power booster for sure.
any insight would be greatly appreciated...thanks.

 

[908ssp]

My experience says you don't have to change the rotors and calipers. If anything you have to change the master cylinder. But first you have to remove the ABS and brake booster. Then it is possible that the master cylinder bore is too large which will lead to a very hard peddle and lots of force needed. A smaller master cylinder bore will make the brakes easier to push but the peddle will move more. Oh and softer pads often require less pressure but don't last as long.

 

[rojizostang]

like posted in the other thread...what happens with the slave cylinder for cars retaining a manual tranny?

 

[GI Joe]

one thing you should do is buy the kit that Aerospace brakes sell to reposition the brake pedal mount and change and lenghten the anchor and lever point of the pedal and it will then feel like a regular brake instead of being so hard to push. Its their manual brake leverage kit. Works great.

 

[spyder7724]

one thing you should do is buy the kit that Aerospace brakes sell to reposition the brake pedal mount and change and lenghten the anchor and lever point of the pedal and it will then feel like a regular brake instead of being so hard to push. Its their manual brake leverage kit. Works great.

thanks. is that a universal kit or direct fit for the s197's....i looked for a while the other night and found no manual brake conversions for the s197's but as usual tons of kits for the fox body cars.
i've already planned on ditching the ABS and trying to swing for the aerospace front and rear kits as well. love to shed that crappy weight and get better brakes to boot.
most of this will hinge on if i swap transmissions over the winter.

 

[GI Joe]

thanks. is that a universal kit or direct fit for the s197's....i looked for a while the other night and found no manual brake conversions for the s197's but as usual tons of kits for the fox body cars.
i've already planned on ditching the ABS and trying to swing for the aerospace front and rear kits as well. love to shed that crappy weight and get better brakes to boot.
most of this will hinge on if i swap transmissions over the winter.

its made specifically for our cars and they dont have it listed on their site ( or at least did not a while back) but if you call them they can fix you up..they have the rear brakes lines, master cylinder and the kit to change the pedal anchor point. They have a dual caliper rear kit too

 

[spyder7724]

its made specifically for our cars and they dont have it listed on their site ( or at least did not a while back) but if you call them they can fix you up..they have the rear brakes lines, master cylinder and the kit to change the pedal anchor point. They have a dual caliper rear kit too

cool matt gave me a link for the racecraft kit as well. this is why i love this forum. i would have searched for weeks online for that info.
thanks guys i'll keep you posted as to which one i go with.

 

[dysan]

Thread back from the dead!!!!!

Finally drove the car after putting the manual brake conversion in and I'm impressed. It stops very well and doesn't need any crazy pedal pressure. Used the 1.032" master cylinder instead of the 1.125" and I think that made the difference.

Looking forward to using it during next year's race season.

 

[2014_GT]

Thread back from the dead!!!!!

Finally drove the car after putting the manual brake conversion in and I'm impressed. It stops very well and doesn't need any crazy pedal pressure. Used the 1.032" master cylinder instead of the 1.125" and I think that made the difference.

Looking forward to using it during next year's race season.

Are you using stock calipers and rotors?

 

[dysan]

Yes and no....My calipers are stock both front and rear but I have drilled and slotted rotors in the rear and drilled up front.

 

[skwerl]

After all the research you put into your brakes, I'm surprised you went with drilled rotors. Any research at all would reveal why this is a bad idea unless you just want the 'go fast' look. Drilled rotors will not perform better than plain rotors and will be more likely to crack under severe conditions.

 

[dysan]

I've had drilled and slotted rotors on my car for 70k miles and no problems at all. The drilled only ones up front are lighter weight steeda kvr rotors that Art was nice enough to give me when I bought a block from him for my new engine....I'm going for weight savings now for the track.

 

[2014_GT]

Yes and no....My calipers are stock both front and rear but I have drilled and slotted rotors in the rear and drilled up front.

So you feel comfortable with these on the street? I'm considering the same mod but most of the sites that have the manual conversion kits state they shouldn't be used with stock calipers.

EDIT: Which kit did you go with?

 

[dysan]

The 1.125" master cylinder won't be good with the stock calipers but the 1.032 has the force needed for the stock ones....I also drilled a hole about 1/2" higher on the brake pedal where the rod attaches that pushes the master cylinder so that probably gave some extra force as well.

I got the kit from racecraft...they used to sell it with the 1.125" bore master cylinder but I talked with them and decided to go with the 1.032" bore. They now sell the 1.032" one standard.

http://www.racecraft.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=316_323&products_id=409

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

I've had drilled and slotted rotors on my car for 70k miles and no problems at all. The drilled only ones up front are lighter weight steeda kvr rotors that Art was nice enough to give me when I bought a block from him for my new engine....I'm going for weight savings now for the track.

You must be talking about drag racing; not road racing. There is no significant 'weight savings' using the drill rotors, but they will crack under heavy braking and cooling, which is why most road racers use the blank rotors (or slotted). Also, manual brakes vs. power brakes and use of the ABS... While most of us turn off active handling and traction control, the use of ABS when applying threshold braking is a positive vs. locking the brakes up if they're not manual with no ABS.

 

[dysan]

Yes for drag racing and the Steeda KVR rotors weigh 5lbs less each compared to the Rotorpro's drilled and slotted rotors that I had on the car. I suspect the biggest weight savings of the KVR rotors is the steel bolt-on hub they have compared to the normal cast one in normal rotors.

I have removed the ABS module from my car.

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

Yes for drag racing and the Steeda KVR rotors weigh 5lbs less each compared to the Rotorpro's drilled and slotted rotors that I had on the car. I suspect the biggest weight savings of the KVR rotors is the steel bolt-on hub they have compared to the normal cast one in normal rotors.

I have removed the ABS module from my car.

I should have checked the Steeda KVR rotors before posting. Yes, 2-piece rotors like these are much lighter than the OEM blank cast rotors.

I have the Wilwood 2-piece rotors on my Mustang - significant weight difference and improved performance. Good luck with the new setup!

 

[gil_t2]

Did you test drive the car, before you by passed the ABS? I am using the 1.032 also, and wile better than the 1.125, it still will not produce the pressure Ford specs. With my ABS still in the system I am only getting 800 lbs at the caliper, spec is 1200 lbs.

 

[dysan]

Nope...I'm all for weight savings now so I just took it out at the same time I did the brake conversion....when you installed yours, did you drill a hole higher up on the brake pedal arm? It didn't line up well in my opinion with the stock hole so by drilling one higher up I essentially created more pedal force to the master cylinder.

 

[gil_t2]

Nope...I'm all for weight savings now so I just took it out at the same time I did the brake conversion....when you installed yours, did you drill a hole higher up on the brake pedal arm? It didn't line up well in my opinion with the stock hole so by drilling one higher up I essentially created more pedal force to the master cylinder.

I did not drill another hole, mine lined up fine. and another hole higher up put to much angle on the rod IMO. Also drilling another hole went against normal pedal ratios. Did you by pass the ABS unit, or did you run new lines from the MC to the calipers.