How To Install Disc Brakes - Gimme a Brake!

6 The clearance was checked on the caliper to make sure a pad was not dragging on the rotor, and shims were provided to add a little extra spacing here or there. Unfortunately, there was not enough clearance between the caliper bracket and the rotor...

...so the caliper bracket had to be machined to ensure it will not scrape along the edge of the rotor at speed. Once this is accomplished, the caliper bracket can be reattached, and the 13mm bolts that attach the caliper to it can be treated to some red Loctite before being tightened down. The last step is transferring the brake lines over by loosening the 7/16-inch nut, and torqueing down the new connection to 20-30 ft-lb.

7 On to the front brakes, Robert removes the caliper with a 12mm wrench on the end nut, while a 16mm open-ended wrench is used to keep the caliper attached to the caliper bracket. Once both nuts are removed along with the caliper and bracket, Robert makes short work of the two 15mm bolts on the mounting bracket with a swivel socket. The brake line can also be disconnected with a 3/8-inch wrench.

8 Robert likes to take a steel brush to the hub and add a little "cheese" (antiseize), so that the rotor won't oxidize to it making it harder to remove later on.

9 Two 3/4-inch bolts and washers are provided with the (powdercoated) mounting bracket extensions, which are attached on the inside of the factory bracket and torqued to 90 ft-lb.

10 The calipers are installed with the writing facing outward (and the bleeder screw pointing upward), and two 5/8-inch bolts attach it to the bracket.

Shims are used as needed to provide additional clearance for the caliper...

...bracket, and rotor, as in the rear.

11 Unlike the rear brakes, which require removal of the caliper to change the pads, the front brakes were designed for quick, trackside pad swaps. The pads slide down on both sides of the rotor and are held in place with pins. A bracket snaps down over the top to provide tension on the pads so they don't rattle loose, and cotter pins secure the pad pins on the inside ends.

12 A 7/16-inch line wrench is used to remove the OEM brake lines and install the new braided stainless lines.

13 Unfortunately for us, the passenger-side brake line fittings did not match, so Valley proprietor Alfredo Bollotta had to flare a nut onto the line to make the new braided stainless line connect to the hard line from the master cylinder. SSBC Marketing Coordinator Mark Christensen says they received an improper set of lines in one of its shipments from the vendor, and unfortunately a few kits were shipped out before they caught the problem.

14 The brake line bracket needs to be ground out to fit the new lines...

...and then it's just a matter of tightening the nut and making sure there is no interference or twisting when the wheels are turned.

15 The brakes certainly looked the part--it's a shame the rotors won't look this clean for much longer. After bleeding the brakes and adding both bottles of Quaker State DOT 4 brake fluid, the car needs to be taken out on the road to bed the rotors. A series of 25-mph and 50-mph stops enables some of the pad material to fill the crevices of the rotor before taking the car to the track for testing.

Three stops were made back-to-back from 60 mph. Braking distance increased steadily from 128.59 feet on the first run to 144.17 feet on the second. When replicated from 100 mph, our cool Gangsta came to a screeching halt in 339.56 feet, and 362.19 feet two runs later.