Mark VIII brake conversion..I got the spindles....

phils89sc

Registered User
I went to a local salvage yard this weekend and picked up the complete spindle, calipers, rotors, hubs, basically everything except the sway bar endlinks (they were toast) from a 93 supercoupe. I really want to put the 11.5" Mark 8 rotors on my 89 SC, and want to make sure I have everything before I start the swap. I really am trying to stop this continuous rotor warping that it seem ALL Ford cars, and TRUCKS are notorious for. I don't drive my car hard at all and that is why it really pisses me off when the rotors warp so damn easily.

What I think I need now to complete the conversion is as follows:

Caliper brackets for the Mark VIII
Calipers for the Mark VIII
11.5" Mark VIII rotors
Mark VIII brake pads

If anyone has any other suggestions, I sure would appreciate it.

Thanks

Phil Stocker
 
did you ever check to see if your calipers are hanging up, that can cause rotor warping. Are you using quality rotors and not the cheapest thing you can find. Do you have the rotors turned before having them installed. Even the new ones since most companies stock them on end like their not supposed to be.
 
Don't get me wrong I am not saying that he is not having a problem, I am just trying to find the root of the problem. I have had 2 sc's and three other Fords and one Lincoln and I have never had a problem with warped rotors. But then again I am not hard on brakes either. Just trying to help out.
 
Basically Ford short changes brakes on there cars..

When I say EVERY FORD, I mean just that. I bought a 2001 Ford Ranger Edge 4.0L from a local Ford dealer, brand new. In the space of about 3 months, the rotors were warped. Not much irritates me more than when I am going down the highway and just tap the brake to slow down for even an offramp and the front end starts shaking, the steering wheel feels like a 25 cent vibrating bed!! Most agrivating indeed. I am not too awfully hard on brakes, as a matter of fact, I find myself being overly cautious most of the time ESPECIALLY when I put new rotors on, etc.. I do the whole seasoning of the new brakes, and low and behold, they still warp.

The CULPRIT?? Ford in their infinite wisdom always uses brakes that are too small for the car (maybe with the exception of the Cobra Mustang). I guess in the 8 year production run for the MN12 tbird's, it took them 7 years to figure out that the cheesy *** 10.8" rotors just weren't cutting it and that is when they added the 11.5" Mark VIII rotors to the Tbird in 1997. It really doesn't matter who makes the replacement rotors, fact is, even the new ones are doomed from the start due to being undersized from the start!!!

Whew!!!!! Now, don't get me wrong, I love my Tbird SC, or else she would be history, I think they are a very well built car, but if I knew then what I know now, I would buy a brand new one, drive it home, yank the front brakes, and install known good aftermarket stuff!!

I am not mad at anyone on this forum, please don't think that. I just want you to know what I think, maybe others feel the same way.

Thanks

Phil
 
It's not just Ford. You should see the crap on the fronts of my 98 Durango.

How severe the warpage is can depend on the driver. But I know that my rotors were warped, not because I noticed it, but someone that rode with me once noticed it. It was so subtle that I chalked it up to a bad bushing in the front end.
 
I think this should read....

phils89sc said:
I really am trying to stop this continuous rotor warping that it seem ALL cars and TRUCKS are notorious for that are driven anything past grandma's pace!!


Every vehicle I have ever owned has warped the rotors. I usually put new ones on, run them about 5k miles till they warp, have them cut enough to be flat then NEVER EVER have them cut again. It seems once they've heated cycled and take a set and are cut flat once, they are fine forever.

I had an '86 Olds 88 (first year for front driver), '85 Cavalier and a '90 Beretta that I used delivering pizza through college. I beat the everliving daylights outta those cars and only ever warped the new rotors. Cut once, then just changed pads. The Olds and Beretta were the long term vehicles that got 4 pad swaps each. Gotta love Raybestos lifetime warranty.

I've used the same approach to the SC and Cougar. They both have responded well. Although I do have the '96 sport fronts on it now. You might have an easier time tracking down the parts you listed (which is all u should need + the sway bar links) from a '96-'97 T-bird Sport. '96 was the first year they were offered. I 'stole' mine from a wrecking yard for $90 a side that included '94 SC spindles and the rotors, calipers, brackets etc from the '96.

KVR makes a nice pad to use. They're expensive, about $80, but are well worth it. They bite HARDER the hotter they get. Took me awhile to get used to them.

Steve
 
Hello

Hey Man,
If you already have the spindles, and brackets from a 93 you don't need to buy the brackets from a MK8 because they are the same.
If you are going to go with the MK8 rotors you would be better off using the dual piston caliper brakes off a newer Mustang(99+).
They will bolt right on to the setup you are cooking up.
The MK8 single piston calipers are pretty much the same as the single piston calipers on our cars.
I am sure you can find a pretty good deal at most wrecking yards but if you want new calipers here is a place with some of the best prices I have seen online.
Disc Brakes

Good luck,
D Rainer
 
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Mark 8 calipers vs 99 up Mustang 2 piston calipers...

I did see that setup for the 2 piston disc brakes from the Mustang (99+), and was curious about it, however, they still use the stock 10.8" rotor don't they? What would be the advantage of using a 2 piston caliper vs. a single piston?

I read up on these swaps, and from what I gather, either way, Mustang or Mark 8, I will have to change the caliper brackets. If I go Mustang, I have to get the Mustang Calipers and brackets (brackets should bolt on to the spindles), but still have the 10.8" rotors. If I go with the Mark 8, I will have to change the caliper bracket (taller than tbird to accomodate the 11.5" rotors), keep same calipers (single piston, MK8 and 93 SC have same), and get new 11.5" rotors.

Which should I do? I want the setup that will minimize chances for warping and last for a good long time.

Thanks

Phil
 
more surface area

i think that the argument is that with a bigger rotor, there will be more surface area to allow the rotor to cool down (both on the outside and inside surfaces), so even with the same size pad the bigger diameter rotor itself should not get as hot as the smaller one.

Jeff
 
If you check the thread below for some comments by fast Ed N you'll see what his experience with the Mark 8 brakes have been when he has done some road course racing. He seemed to be very pleased with their capability to resist warpage.

http://sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12856

The Bracket that the mustang caliper bolts up to will not allow for larger than 11" brakes. Mustangs run an 11" rotor, T-bird stock is 10.9". Not quite worth the bolt pattern change. The Mark 8 rotor is 11.57" which is the max size to still fit in a 16" stock wheel. The Mark 8 rotor is also much more "massive".

Ideally, you'd be able to use the dual piston caliper on the Mark 8 rotor. But thus far, such a solution has not been devised. This fall I might work on it.

So for best resistance to warping, the Mark 8 rotor and caliper combination should be it.
 
Phil,
I would go with the Mark 8 brake setup if you intend to maintain the stock size wheels. If you are looking to upgrade to 17"ers then I would save up some more cash and go for the 13" rotors. There is also creedence to what 1BADSC is saying about the rear brakes. They tend to hang up and not contribute any effort to stopping the car thus putting even more load on the already overloaded front brakes causing them to warp really quick. The rear drums in my beater '92 probably hadn't been working for 80,000 miles and in that span I probably went through 4 sets of rotors (and drove a real long time on some really bad rotors). I finally decided to actually get the rear drums working and replaced the front brakes as well and so far have no problems with warping (fingers crossed). Like you I also try to take it easy on the brakes because I know how fragile they seem to be. I cringe every time I have to make a panic stop.
 
All my problems were fixed by crossdrilled roters and carben fiber pads. No warpage stops real good. I used the car on a run that went from San Berdo to big bare twice a day. Yes I went very fast.
 
Kevin Varnes said:
I finally decided to actually get the rear drums working and replaced the front brakes as well and so far have no problems with warping (fingers crossed). Like you I also try to take it easy on the brakes because I know how fragile they seem to be. I cringe every time I have to make a panic stop.

I've never heard of Drums on a SC, did you do an lx swap :p

just given ya hell
 
Noo, my beater car is a '92 T-Bird base model with rear drum brakes. I wouldn't dare drive a SuperCoupe up here in the winter with all the damn salt on the roads.
 
Phil - if you decide to go the Mark 8 (or 1997 T/bird "S") route with the 11.57" rotors, then you can get them cross-drilled from KVR; but you will need new caliper brackets as well as the larger calipers. When I did it on my '93 I had to get the brackets from Ford, but PepBoys had a good deal on re-manufactured calipers (see my article on the "how to" on this site). However, I only had marginal improvement on rotor life over the stock ones. Since then I've put the PBR twin piston calipers (Mustang GT 99+) upgrade on my '94 and much prefer them. The rotor life definitely improved as well as the braking. I got a 'salvaged' set of PBR's from "mustangparts.com" for about $100 including partly worn pads (they take them off crashed Mustangs). You only have to slightly modify one caliper to get the original banjo to fit (there is a good article on the TCCOA for this).
Good Luck,
Jim.
 
Is the article that was posted saying that if you are running 15" wheels you cant use the Mark VIII rotors and calipers on a Thunderbird?
 
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Scott - don't know about 15" wheels, as the SC & Mark V111 came with 16" wheels standard. Presume you must be refering to a standard T/bird 3.8 LX and, I'm not sure what they came with as far as stock brakes are concerned.
 
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