MOS V MUSTANG ENTHUSIAST 10 Count Em! Essential Fox Fixes Mustang 5 GENERATIONS ONE MAGAZINE ENTHUSIAST This Pony SCREAMS! CLASS + SASS: Vertical Door Install BLOWING THE 05: Vortech Huffs The New GT COIL-OVERS: Get Razor-Sharp Handling Now! ARCANE ENGINE TECH: Valve Spring Essentials BOLT-IT: First-Generation Watts Link Conversion 427 cubes...585 horses Unique Performance GT350SR Anniversary Edition U.S. $3.99 / CANADA $5.95 DECEMBER 2005 DISPLAY UNTIL 11/14/2005 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 12
SSBC Force 10 Brake Upgrade POWER BINDERS ARE JUST THE TICKET FOR THIS TRACK CAR, AND WILL GET THE JOB DONE ON YOUR STREET PONY AS WELL text by Mike Gallagher / photography by Kevin and Mike Gallagher When building a race car you never quite know what you need until you hit the track. Since this was the maiden year for the Evolution Motorsport entry into the OH/IN American Iron series (EvM AI 2005), the EvM team quickly found that out. Obviously they had done their homework and managed to build up what seems to be a competitive car. To be more specific, they built a 1995 Ford Mustang outfitted with a host of aftermarket product sponsorships and EvM s own components. In its final form, the car seemed to take to the track quite well during testing. However, by the time the second race came around it was apparent that the EvM AI 2005 Race Car needed a brake upgrade. 108 MUSTANGenthusiast
The car was initially setup with Cobra brakes and rotors, front and rear, outfitted with a set of Performance Friction race pads. During a weekend of racing they started losing pedal on the Sunday race. When you can t stop, you tend to slow down. Time for new brakes. For the brake upgrade EvM contacted their friends at Stainless Steel Brakes (SSBC) to see if they could help out. SSBC offers brake kits for pretty much anything with wheels. They recommended their FORCE 10 Tri-Power brake kit (A112-11) for the front and their rear disc brake conversion kit (A112-4) for the rear. The front kit consists of a set of 13x1- inch rotors and three-piston aluminum calipers. The rear kit consists of a 12-inch rotor and two-piston aluminum caliper. EvM opted for the orange powdercoat to match the car. To that end, SSBC offers a host of finishes and powdercoat colors. A nice touch regardless of what your plans are. With the recommendation of SSBC and the product on the doorstep, the upgrade went into high gear. Luckily a brake install is not that difficult in the grand scheme of things. A full Sunday was allotted to the install, and proved to be more than enough time. Nothing special was needed in the tool department other than the standard brake-work fare jack, jackstands, DOT-4 brake fluid, lug wrench, brake cleaner, torque wrench, tube wrenches, metric socket set, wrench set and a mallet. With the tools and supplies in hand, the work started by tackling the front brakes. 110 MUSTANGenthusiast Front Brake Removal 1. Begin by raising the front of the vehicle until the wheels and tires clear the floor, then support the vehicle on jackstands and remove the tire and wheel assemblies from the car. 2. Using a tube wrench, remove the hollow banjo bolt that secures the end of the flexible brake hose to the caliper. Have a catch can ready to receive the brake fluid which will flow out. 3. With the hose removed, the caliper can be taken off by removing the two 14mm bolts that hold the caliper bracket to the spindle. Save these bolts, as they will be reused later. 4. With the caliper removed, the rotor will simply slide off the hub. The new calipers and rotors can now be installed. Nothing special was needed in the tool department other than the standard brake-work fare jack, jackstands, DOT-4 brake fluid, lug wrench, brake cleaner, torque wrench, tube wrenches, metric socket set, wrench set and a mallet. Installation Of Rotors And Calipers 1. Slide the rotor into position on the lug studs and secure with at least one lug nut. 2. The calipers are sent as complete assemblies ready to be installed. Slide the caliper into position over the rotor and line it up with the holes in the spindle. Secure the assembly using the 12mm bolts and lockwashers supplied. Torque to 65 lb-ft. 3. Attach the supplied flex lines to the caliper using the banjo bolt and copper washers supplied. 4. Attach the other end to the frame rail bracket and secure using the original clip. Torque the banjo bolt to 25 lb-ft and tighten the tube fitting on the frame end using a tube wrench. That s it. The fronts are done. With all the hardware bolted on, all that was needed was to turn the wheels lock-tolock to make sure there would be no interference or twisting of the flex lines. For a final sanity check, the rotors were turned by hand to make sure they spun freely and did not interfere with any other components. If the caliper is not centered over the rotor, it may be necessary to place some of the supplied shims between the spindle and the caliper bracket. In this case, no shims were needed.
SSBC Force 10 Brake Upgrade TECHNICAL ABOUT EVM Evolution Motorsport (EvM), a leading player in specialized suspension and chassis stiffening components, has taken its technology and innovation to the track. EvM burst onto the aftermarket scene in early 2002, and within six months won a SEMA award in the Street Performance category with their Mustang Watts Link System. For 2005, EvM is taking their innovation to the track by way of the NASA American Iron Racing Series with a 1995 Mustang GT. They are campaigning their 1995 Mustang GT through the races of the Ohio/Indiana Region of the NASA American Iron Series. Rear Brake Removal 1. As with the front, begin by raising the rear of vehicle until the wheels and tires clear the floor, then support the vehicle on jackstands and remove the tire and wheel assemblies from the car. 2. Next, remove the calipers. First, disconnect the flexible brake line by removing the banjo bolt from the caliper. 3. Remove the two bolts that secure the caliper to the axle. Lift the caliper away from the rotor and disconnect the parking brake cable. 4. Slide the rotor off the hub. Caliper Mounting Bracket & Rotor Installation 1. The caliper mounting brackets are the same for left and right, and will bolt to the two holes already in the factory bracket pointing towards the rear bumper. 2. The mounting brackets bolt to the outboard side of the factory bracket and should be orientated so the bracket steps in away from the hub. Secure the brackets using the nuts, bolts, and lock washers supplied. Torque to 65-70 lb-ft. 3. Slide the brake rotors onto the hubs and secure in place with two lug nuts. STAINLESS STEEL BRAKES CORPORATION Sidebar Stainless Steel Brakes Corporation (SSBC) first pioneered the stainless steel sleeved caliper for classic Corvettes and Mustangs in 1975. They are now the industry standard for high quality brake systems and components. They offer a complete line of disc brake conversions and performance brake upgrades for classic musclecars, late-model performance cars, street rods and customs, trucks/suvs and sport compacts. In both 1999 and 2000, SSBC was honored with awards in the Best New Product category at the annual SEMA Show. They followed that with winning prestigious GM SEMA Design Awards in 2003 and 2004. SSBC is always adding new applications, so if they don t have it now, they probably will soon. MUSTANGenthusiast 111
Caliper and Flex Hose Installation 1. The calipers received from SSBC came loaded with the pads and ready for installation. 2. Slide the calipers into place over the rotors and secure with the supplied 12mm bolts. The parking brake levers should be on the bottom and the bleeder screws should be pointing up. Torque the bolts to 80 lb-ft. 3. Connect the original flex hoses to the calipers using the banjo bolts and supplied copper washers. Torque to 20-30 lb-ft. After an hour or so, the rear brakes were installed. After an hour or so, the rear brakes were installed. Normally, the final step for the rear brakes would involve connecting the parking brake cables (not needed on this race car). With both front and rears done, all that was left to do was bleed the brakes, top off the master cylinder and make sure the wheels still spun freely and did not interfere with any brake components. DRIVER IMPRESSIONS We started the race season with the 1996-1998 Cobra brake system on the car. This setup is great on the street, but proved to have some difficulties managing the heat generated from the repeated high-g stops on the race track. After the change to the SSBC Tri-Power brakes, the brake fade was reduced and the performance was more consistent. The front-to-rear balance was good right out of the box, and we used the SSBC adjustable rear proportioning valve to fine-tune the amount of rear braking. We are still experimenting with pad compounds and brake ducting to handle the severe duty of the racing application, but the SSBC Tri-Power kit has provided the hardware necessary to drive the race car deep into every braking zone. Kris Houghton SOURCES STAINLESS STEEL BRAKES CORPORATION www.ssbrakes.com EVOLUTION MOTORSPORT www.evolutionmsport.com 112 MUSTANGenthusiast