darien87

darien87

Audioholic Spartan
Hey fellow car nuts, I just upgraded the front brakes on my 07 Mustang GT to the 4-piston Brembo brakes that come on the Shelby GT500. Larger rotors and larger calipers = better stopping power. It never ceases to amaze me how many people work on making their cars go faster, (engine and suspension upgrades, etc.) without also upgrading the ability to stop the damn thing. :rolleyes:

The Brembo calipers come powder coated black, but my car is already so dark that I decided to paint them red.








Check this out, there is barely enough clearance between the caliper and my wheels. My passenger side caliper showed a tiny bit of wear where the rim was barely scraping the caliper. I ordered some wheel spacers today to help that. Yikes.

And since I painted the fronts red, I naturally had to paint the rears too. :D


Rear caliper after cleaning with caliper cleaner and Simple Green. I sanded it a bit with 200 sandpaper.


Rears painted.



The Brembo fronts definitely make a noticeable difference. Not huge, but noticeable.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I just did Cryostop rotors with Hawk HPS pads. That by itself made a pretty noticeable difference.

Did you remove the calipers completely to do that? It looks like you got one of the clips in the top which will make it not so easy to get out when you go to do brakes last time. Paint looks nice on them.
 
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darien87

darien87

Audioholic Spartan
Yeah, I painted the fronts before I put them on the car, so that was pretty easy. I didn't feel like taking the rears off to paint them, so I just masked them off fairly well.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
One of my rear calipers was seized when I bought the car so I bought remanufactured OEM calipers and they didn't have the zinc coating on them so they are oxidized now. I was thinking about painting them black. Which paint kit did you use?

I think your rims actually would look better if they were black on that car. Would look a lot meaner :)
 
Matt34

Matt34

Moderator
Looking good! That is one thing I really loved about my 350z were the stock brakes, always had good pedal feel.

Speaking of Mustangs, the new ones really upped the bar in performance with the release of the 5.0. Chevy has some catching up to do.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Looking good! That is one thing I really loved about my 350z were the stock brakes, always had good pedal feel.

Speaking of Mustangs, the new ones really upped the bar in performance with the release of the 5.0. Chevy has some catching up to do.
No they don't. That was Ford catching up with the Camaro, and the Camaro still has it by about 10 BHP :) The LS3 motor is also still lighter and less complex than the new "Coyote" 5.0L and the SS was quicker in the 1/4. In the R&T comparison however, the 'Stang was the one they chose. I like the new 2010 'Stang - it looks and sounds good.

When I was up north for a few weeks, our company van (Ford Freestyle) had a problem and I had to take it to the dealer. They had TWO of the new GT500s already. I sat in one and the first thing I noticed and mentioned to the salesguy was the fact that the interior looked so ridiculously cheap for a $50K car! The standard GT looks better inside.
 
Matt34

Matt34

Moderator
No they don't. That was Ford catching up with the Camaro, and the Camaro still has it by about 10 BHP :) The LS3 motor is also still lighter and less complex than the new "Coyote" 5.0L and the SS was quicker in the 1/4. In the R&T comparison however, the 'Stang was the one they chose. I like the new 2010 'Stang - it looks and sounds good.

When I was up north for a few weeks, our company van (Ford Freestyle) had a problem and I had to take it to the dealer. They had TWO of the new GT500s already. I sat in one and the first thing I noticed and mentioned to the salesguy was the fact that the interior looked so ridiculously cheap for a $50K car! The standard GT looks better inside.
That R&T test was of the old 4.6 though.

2011 GT vs. Camaro SS vs Challenger SRT-8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o3p8fZZQM8

I've always been a chevy guy. Heck I almost bought a WS6 firehawk a few years ago if it wasn't for the stupid dealer lying about it not having ever been on spray. I'm just happy to see the muscle car war heat up with Ford taking things serious again.

The new stang is lighter, handles better and is capable of mid 12-second 1/4mile in stock form.

10-second GT on stock block, N/A.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c62zJ-4Bo48
 
walter duque

walter duque

Audioholic Samurai
I ordered some wheel spacers today to help that. Yikes.
Careful with them wheel spacers. I went from Orlando to Fort Lauderale in 1 hour 35 minutes (210 miles) in my 70 LT1 Corvette (back in 73). Getting off the exit my rear wheel came loose. I was using wheels spacers for my Ansen Sprints.
 
darien87

darien87

Audioholic Spartan
Careful with them wheel spacers. I went from Orlando to Fort Lauderale in 1 hour 35 minutes (210 miles) in my 70 LT1 Corvette (back in 73). Getting off the exit my rear wheel came loose. I was using wheels spacers for my Ansen Sprints.
I think I'll be all right. I talked to Maximum Motorsports this morning and they said as long as I have 6 full turns on my lug nuts, I'll be all right. I'm only putting 1/4" spacers on.
 
darien87

darien87

Audioholic Spartan
No they don't. That was Ford catching up with the Camaro, and the Camaro still has it by about 10 BHP :) The LS3 motor is also still lighter and less complex than the new "Coyote" 5.0L and the SS was quicker in the 1/4. In the R&T comparison however, the 'Stang was the one they chose. I like the new 2010 'Stang - it looks and sounds good.
The Camaro may have more HP, but the Stang has beat it in the automotive press how many years in a row now? Plus have you sat in the new Camaro? It may look nice, but it isn't practical for daily driving at all. That tiny-*** rear window and how about how high the window sill is? There's no way you could rest your arm on the window ledge while driving.
 
darien87

darien87

Audioholic Spartan
One of my rear calipers was seized when I bought the car so I bought remanufactured OEM calipers and they didn't have the zinc coating on them so they are oxidized now. I was thinking about painting them black. Which paint kit did you use?
I used the Duplicolor kit they had at Kragen. I didn't want to use a spray can kit because I wanted the extra control of painting with a brush.

http://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-Caliper-Paint-Kits-Red/dp/B000B6AF80

There's a kit from G2 that I've heard of, but that one requires you to add an activator to the paint. You have to hurry up and paint the calipers because the paint hardens up in an hour or so. It may be more durable than the Duplicolor though. We'll see how well the paint lasts.
 
Sheep

Sheep

Audioholic Warlord
Now that my car is gone, I'm seriously considering 2 wheels with an engine in the middle. Something along these lines to start...



SheepStar
 
dkane360

dkane360

Audioholic Field Marshall
What a coincidence, I just got my brakes fixed! The front passenger side was making an awful grinding noise, and it turns out a caliper bolt had fallen off and gotten stuck in the brake. At least thats what they told me lol. It's all better now :D
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
That R&T test was of the old 4.6 though.
No it wasn't, it was the 2011 412bhp GT. The one you are talking about was an older article. The one I am talking about was a head to head with just the Camaro SS and GT.

The new stang is lighter, handles better and is capable of mid 12-second 1/4mile in stock form.
Article said they preferred the LS3 motor of the two, but the new 5.0L is also a brute - it has a steel block though and that means it is nose heavy. The one in the 2011 GT500 is the same block except aluminum, which should make it about as light as the LS3 and make the car more nimble.

The Camaro may have more HP, but the Stang has beat it in the automotive press how many years in a row now? Plus have you sat in the new Camaro? It may look nice, but it isn't practical for daily driving at all. That tiny-*** rear window and how about how high the window sill is? There's no way you could rest your arm on the window ledge while driving.
I like the "low" feeling in the Camaro, but I am not crazy about the interior. That is something GM doesn't do well in most cases. Yes, the window sills feel a bit too high. Ford got a better balance of retro vs new in the interior. I also got to ride in a 2011 Challenger. The car is larger than either of the other two, but I was pretty impressed with it. Interior was nice and it felt like a solid car.

I used the Duplicolor kit they had at Kragen. I didn't want to use a spray can kit because I wanted the extra control of painting with a brush.

http://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-Caliper-Paint-Kits-Red/dp/B000B6AF80

There's a kit from G2 that I've heard of, but that one requires you to add an activator to the paint. You have to hurry up and paint the calipers because the paint hardens up in an hour or so. It may be more durable than the Duplicolor though. We'll see how well the paint lasts.
Tire Rack sells the G2 and so does a buddy's shop. I might give the duplicolor a look. Plus, I get triple points if I order on Amazon :) Not going to put too much into this car as I am likely to get a newer car this year and will most likely be selling this one. Just did timing belt, cam seals, A/C, and of course brakes all of which cost about 2/3 what the car is worth right now, but it runs great :) Just has a lot of miles and I need something a little bigger.

Now that my car is gone, I'm seriously considering 2 wheels with an engine in the middle. Something along these lines to start...

SheepStar
Don't you get snow? What happened to the Civic?
 
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Warlord
Now that my car is gone, I'm seriously considering 2 wheels with an engine in the middle. Something along these lines to start...

SheepStar
Looks like I'm out of the loop here Sheep.... what happened to you / your car? :eek:
 
Sheep

Sheep

Audioholic Warlord
Oh, the civic. Something went in the engine, and it started running on 2 cylinders. I was on my way to my dealership to do tires for someone and it wasn't far, so I tried to limp it. All the unburnt gas heated the cat up good and it started a fire. Long story shot, it burnt up the engine bay and was written off. I ride a bicycle to work every day now. On an unrelated note, I'm in good shape.

All the money that I'm saving is allowing me to go to Germany for Oktoberfest this year too. Yeah, 200th anniversary. I'm not complaining.

SheepStar
 
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Warlord
Oh, the civic. Something went in the engine, and it started running on 2 cylinders. I was on my way to my dealership to do tires for someone and it wasn't far, so I tried to limp it. All the unburnt gas heated the cat up good and it started a fire. Long story shot, it burnt up the engine bay and was written off. I ride a bicycle to work every day now. On an unrelated note, I'm in good shape.

All the money that I'm saving is allowing me to go to Germany for Oktoberfest this year too. Yeah, 200th anniversary. I'm not complaining.

SheepStar
F#¤%"#¤% h#&%¤#¤ what a disaster :eek::eek::eek:, really feel for you man

Oktober fest is really something, think you will enjoy this... I never been there but my brother has and it made me wanna go there for sure...
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
Darien, now that you've upgraded your breaks, your gonna notice a calice (spelling??) build-up on the soles of your feet :D
 
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