In 1993, the Cobra R Mustang received upgraded two-piston PBR aluminum calipers and 13-inch vented rotors up front and single-piston calipers with vented 10.5-inch discs out back. Our plan of attack with this project has been to exceed the performance of the '93 R model, so we gave Baer Brake Systems a call to see what it could do for our venomous serpent.
Baer included braided stainless...
Baer included braided stainless steel brake lines with the kit. Luckily, Stolen Goods had its rear-axle brake lines still attached to the car, so we popped them in the holders on the 8.8 housing and connected the braided stainless lines.
As we've stated before, we plan to take Stolen Goods to the limit at various autocrosses and road courses once she's up and running. While the stock brake setup may be good for the average parking-lot cone-bashing session, real road-course duty is a different animal, with many courses offering an abundant amount of time at triple-digit speeds. Decelerating from these speeds takes its toll on the braking com-ponents, so you better have something that has been designed for just such an environment.
That's exactly where the Baer 6S and 6R calipers thrive, and that's what Baer recom-mended for Stolen Goods. The 6S (Street) and 6R (Race) Monoblock six-piston calipers are manufactured in-house at Baer from single chunks of billet or forged aluminum alloy. In order to make these race-oriented calipers friendly for street use, Baer installs road-going dust and weather seals. The Monoblock con-struction provides a much stiffer caliper, and Baer's "cost-effective Monoblock solution" makes these race-ready brakes affordable for the high-performance street enthusiast. If you're interested in the Monoblock calipers, visit the Baer Web site as it has a great slide show that takes you through the development and manu-facture of the 6S/6R caliper.
Since the majority of braking is done with the front brakes, the rear brakes do not need to be so massive. Baer sent us its Track Kit Plus, which includes a single piston rear caliper with parking brake, and vented 13-inch rotors. The Extreme Plus front setup that we're using employs 14-inch discs, and both front and rear rotors are zinc-washed, cross-drilled, slotted, and use Baer's two-piece design, which forms the center hub from aluminum for weight savings. This design also allows for differential expansion of the rotor plates and lowers thermal transfer to the hub, thus prolonging bearing life.
Installing the Baer brakes was pretty simple given what we've accomplished so far. Baer includes everything you need to mount them up, and the only real modification we needed to make was something we decided to do on our own. In order to connect the new front brake lines, which are braided stainless steel, you'll need to either bend the hard line to fit the new bracket, or use the provided bracket and mate it to the factory piece, which is what we did.
In using the Monoblock calipers, we needed to step up to 18-inch diameter wheels. Baer has seen some 17-inchers work, but 18s are far more common these days, so you should have a better selection.
With the axleshafts in, install...
With the axleshafts in, install the hub-centric spacers that are provided.
Slide the rear rotor onto...
Slide the rear rotor onto the studs and hub spacer.
The rear single-piston calipers...
The rear single-piston calipers already come loaded with brake pads. Installation is two bolts and you're pretty much done.