Valentino

Sitting in a pile in my living room next to the Snap-On toolbox I have a '93 Cobra master cylinder, the Maximum Motorsports conversion kit for the MC, Stop Tech stainless brake hoses also from MM, EBC Greenstuff pads and I'm ordering Powerslot dimpled and slotted rotors tonight.

The problem is with the 73mm Lincoln/SVO brake calipers that just came in from Brothers Performance. I asked the guy on the phone when I ordered them if they had a steel piston rather than phenolic, and he said yes. Well it turns out they are phenolic so I called them back to tell them about it and this other fellow checked the other calipers in stock and found out they're all phenolic and not steel, the other guy was mis-informed.

He told me I could send them back for store credit but said in his opinion he doesn't think there will be a difference in performance and phenolic should dissipate heat better. He made sure I knew that thats just his opinion and he wasn't sure, and I read elsewhere that phenolic is fine for street use and steel is really only needed for racing but I'm just not sure.
I see at Paul's website I can buy the steel upgrade for 70 bucks, which would make these calipers cost over 180 after shipping is done.... so what say everyone?

kevinspann

I say that the phenolic will be fine for DD use, but i doubt they would be any good for any type of track use

Valentino

I just dug up a 2 year old thread at stangnet about it, and a lot of guys there are using the phenolic and say they have no problems. I figure these will be ok until I get my Baer Track kit... in the distant future.

hi5.0

you doing a 4-wheel disc conversion? interesting to see how it turns out, may go the same route since it seems the 17x8" Pony wheels may resume production soon and I want to keep my car looking as close to stock as possible. however if i can score a cheap set of SN95 spindles...

Puter

From the bible...

http://mjbobbitt.home.comcast.net/

"4. Upgrade the front calipers to 73mm SVO units. Get the 73mm calipers with a steel piston if you can. They are usually denoted in the part numbers with a "S". If not the phonemic(sic) will work fine on the street."

svopaul

OK, I have the utmost intimate experience with this.....while the phenolic might work fine for a while here is what will happen. It will be spring or summer and you be driving the car and all of the sudden you will smell brake pad or notice that the car pulls to one side.....the piston will have locked up. You can park the car and let it sit for a few hours to cool down and it may or may not be fine for a while....before it does it again. SVO Mustangs & Lincoln Mark VII's came factory with this setup and this is a VERY common problem which is why I developed the stainless steel piston kit.

I am not sure though why you bought these from Brothers....what you have in your hand with the phenolic pistons are something like $15 from Advance auto parts and even at Advance you sometimes get steel pistons(not stainless) and I believe you may even be able to special order steel pistons. Racing or street driving, I do not recommend the phenolic pistons in the 73mm calipers... Some other calipers with phenolic pistons seem to work fine but this is an inherent problem with the 73mm versions.

Also consider this your warning but Powerlot rotors are the bottom of the barrel....cast in China they are not a quality casting and while ANY rotor can crack under the right conditions, these are the most prone to cracking I have ever seen simply because of the poor casting quality.

Remember you get what you pay for and Brakes are an area that you really don't want to skimp. We specialize in performance brake systems at my shop and I've seen most of them out there.

Also beware of the pads you choose.....a harsh compound will tear up a rotor...there should be NO component in the composition of that brake pad that should be harder than the rotor surface itself. Race pads are a different story and in racing rotors are just as much a wear item as the pads but for the street your pads should be the wear item, not both rotors and pads.

I'm just giving you a friendly warning, I've lost count of how many people I've met who have had problems with Powerslot/Powerstop including dealers that sold them with problems new in the box. There is more misinformation on brakes out there than anything else.

Valentino

Ralph- I read that exact line from that website and thats why I posted asking the question, because I'm reading both pros and cons at all the forums.
No I don't plan on doing the rear disc conversion for a while.

I bought these from Brother's because I couldn't find them anywhere else. I called all the local parts stores and yeah, they're only 20 bucks until you realize you can't bring your core back so the price goes up to over 50 a piece, and then thats more than what they cost from brothers. I gave them the Bendix part number with the steel piston and they didn't list them, so since Brother's told me they were steel pistons I figured I was getting a better deal through them. And NO, I'm not going to try to sneak the stock Mustang calipers back in the box and hope I get away with it. Thats BS to the store and will come back to bite me in the ***.

I went with Powerslot because I can't find stock size performance rotors besides these... everything else is for '94 and ups and I'm not ready for Sn-95 spindles/wheels. Is there another brand that offers slotted and/or dimpled (I got both) rotors that is better quality? And if so where can I find them?

I never read anything bad about EBC Greenstuff pads and I'm under the impression they are street pads, yellow and red stuffs are race pads. I have Hawk pads right now and they stop great but create way too much dust, prolly 5 times more than stock pads did. Hopefully the Greenstuffs will reduce the dust somewhat.

I know good brakes aren't cheap, but I'm not buying Brembos or Baers. I wanted to do a budget thing that would still stop better than stock, and by the amount of money I've spent on all this I'm not going the cheap route anyway.

My order from 5.0 Resto hasn't shipped yet so I can cancel it if I can find better performance rotors somewhere else. All they offer is Powerslot for fox bodys.

svopaul

All you need to do is ask....I have piles of 73mm cores at the shop and 2 calipers can be sent flat rate priority mail for $9. Stillen makes Cross drilled rotors, I've sold them for years. I also even have a used pair of 4 lug front rotors here(cross drilled) and I have a set of ball milled GT brand rotors as well. ....ofcourse there is always the new route.

I don't really advertise this stuff because the trend is cheap and most people fall for the marketing that companies do to sell volume....it seems quality is not as much an issue as price anymore.

Autotooner

I'm wanting to do this conversion also, just not sure if I want a 4 lug or 5 lug...

Valentino

How much are your calipers with steel pistons? I've been wary of cross drilled rotors because I've seen several cars during my mechanic days that had drilled rotors that were cracked. Thats another thing I liked about the Powerslot since they were dimpled and not drilled.

I can only get to this page of your website when I do a google search for "73mm caliper steel piston upgrade"; http://www.svpu.com/?http://www.svpu...es/Brakes.html
When I go to your mainpage first I cannot seem to navigate to that page so for weeks I was wondering where I saw that stainless piston upgrade.

svopaul

The demand has not been great so I have not promoted those on the site. I also do not stock them but can have another run made up of the pistons. I'll sell the core calipers for $5 each plus shipping.

The cross drilled rotors cracking is mostly a wives tale only supported by people seeing cheap offshore brands cracked or rotors that have been abused or had calipers lock up crack. ANY rotor can crack under the right circumstances. I've sold and personally used(street & track) the Stillen rotors since 1999 and the ONLY ones I ever saw crack was my Brother's Mark VII who drove it constantly for 6 months with a sticking caliper(phenolic piston). I had a caliper on my 98 F150 lock up and I would have bet good money that I had to buy a new rotor....no cracks and not warped but that was probably due to my realizing the caliper was stuck and getting it to a safe stopping point without using the brakes but it still got VERY hot. I've personally seen more powerslot rotors cracked than I can remember....part of that problem is the rotor and the other pad compound.

P51Driver

I want to upgrade my '91 GT to disc brakes on all four and 5-lug pattern. The car is used 99.5% on the street with the .5% for the occassional "run what you brung" passes at the track. I was thinking the cheapest route is to pull SN-95 parts at the junk yard. Does anybody have any experience going this route?