Wilwood brakes

[std9205]

Has anyone tried the Wilwood 12.19" front brake upgrade on their SVO? I am planning on future power upgrades to my 86 SVO and one of the first things I plan on doing is upgrading the front brakes. Any and all input is most appreciated.

Thanks and have a good and safe Labor Day.

[kiwi]

Price?

Rome, Let me know what price you get/ I can check for you too......I'd like to do the same for both my 1C & my '85 GT.......You have to have the stoppin' power......

[std9205]

Kiwi - I talked to Stainless Steel Brakes and as I recall they do not make a kit for the SVO. Baer Brakes would custom build one but you have to send them the exisiting brakes and spindles and it would cost around $1150 and it uses a 2 piston caliper.

I ckecked with Precision Brakes Company. According to their website they carry Wilwood, Brembo, Alcon and others. I was intersted in the Wilwood kit for 2 reasons, size and cost. The kit uses 12.19" rotors which in theory would allow me to retian my stock wheels. Which is what I really want. Also, Wilwood makes 2 versions of the kit, a race version that goes for $1100+ and a street/strip version that goes for $999. And if I'm not mistaken they both have 4 piston calipers.

I'm not sure as to which kit I'll get, race or street/strip. It's going to depend on the best price I can get.

If you get them before I do, let me know how you like them.

[sar4497]

Someone with larger brakes and stock wheels, please speak up. I want to upgrade but am not willing to ditch the stock wheels. x-drilled rotors are not an option for me either.

[Black86]

Originally posted by std9205
Kiwi - I talked to Stainless Steel Brakes and as I recall they do not make a kit for the SVO.

Call Summit,that's where I got my Wilwood stuff.
Part #'s WIL-140-3266 $752.69
WIL-140-3018B $487.69
That's for front and rear "kits".
Now,keep in mind that I bought this stuff in July of 2001,so prices may have changed.

[CP86SVO]

I obtained the Baer templates for the 12 inch A-sedan brake system for the stock SVO spindles a while back...the 12 inch Baer brakes DO NOT fit the stock SVO wheels. The "webs" on the back side of the stock SVO wheels interfere.

Gary M. on this board uses the Wilwood 12 inch rotor (0.81 inch thick) system on his SVO...maybe he'll add his input.

I wound up using 13 inch SN95 Cobra brakes and 1998 Cobra wheels on my SVO...

HTH WS

[std9205]

Udpate: I followed Black86's suggestion and called Summit. They no longer have it and suggested that I call Wilwood direct, which I did. Wilwood says they no longer make the 12.19" front kit. The only kit they now make is a 13+" 6 piston kit for a small sum of $1,700. Since my birthday has already passed I guess I'm not going to get that one.

My goal with this car was to get 350-400rwhp, reliable-streetable hp. At the same time I do want to increase the stopping power of the brakes. I have this thing about wanting to stop as well as making it go fast. I also wanted to keep the original wheels on the car. If I go to a 13" brake set up I will need to go a different wheel.

This is my first SVO and I am not very familiar with the cars technical aspects. Question, how are the stock brakes on it? Are they sufficient for the kind of power I want out of the engine? If I do go with a 13" kit, how will affect the suspension geometry? Any help you guys can give would be great.

Thanks again and stay safe.

By the way here's a picture of the car:

[std9205]

Sorry about the photo. I can't get the link to work and i't's time for me to go home. I have been in the office too long already. Have a good one. I'll try to post the photo tomorrow.

[CP86SVO]

To answer your questions, std9205...

1. The stock brakes are "OK" if everything is in good repair and the brake fluid is fresh. They're plenty good for the street, but fade (fluid boil) with continued, heavy use such as open track driving.

2. Stock brakes MAY be ok if you only drive it on the street, but just barely. Even with slotted rotors, high temperature brake pads, stainless brake lines, stainless caliper pistons (for the front brakes), metal caliper guide sleeves (for the front brakes), high temperature brake fuild (like Motul 600) and brake cooling ducts, you still be getting brake fade, just a bit longer over the stock brakes. Also, the stock SVO wheels are heavy and cooling slots are very small in the wheels, so cooling air doesn't have much place to go. Another thing to keep in mind is the power you're anticipating to have and the stock SVO wheel size. I don't think you'll be able to find a tire that can harness all of that power AND give you good braking performance; I used a set of sticky 225/50/16 Yokohama A032R on my stock SVO wheels and found them adequate for open track driving on my mildly modded SVO motor. If I had more power, I would have surely slid off the track after a couple of laps.

3. To find out more about the changes in suspension geometry differences between the SN95 and SVO spindles, check out www.corner-carvers.com suspenion tech forum. I started a thread a while back on this very subject, and it's still active.


HTH

WS

[nemiro]

FWIW, this is what I recently did on my 86 SVO. The ball joints were shot, and the D&D LCA's are still vaporware. This being the case, I had to do something. Here is my grocery list: I went through a SN95 conversion. I went with Maximum Motorsports caster/camber plates, Adjustable bump steer kit, and 3/4" forward offset tubular control arms. To use these, I went with a X2C Motorsports coil over kit, 84 SVO style adjustable Koni's (more on that in a minute), and SN95 (96+) spindles, hubs, and 2000 GT dual piston PBR brakes. I also went with a set of Russell stainless braided brake lines at the same time. Grand total on this was about $1200. I have nearly zero bumpsteer, the handling is *very* crisp and predictable. I went this route for a number of reasons, but for the money, I now have almost endless options on brakes and other pieces, and best of all, I have stock SVO wheels on the setup. I do have some tire rub in reverse while turning, but I found out tonight that it is strictly a front fascia bolt rubbing the tire (yes, it's that close with the 3/4" offset), which is easily remedied. The car aligned perfects, with good camber settings and about 3.5° of caster. Looks like there is still plenty of adjustment left, if I wanted more. Aside from minor changes, the only thing left that I want is the Flaming River steering shaft to replace the rag joint. Just thought I'd share the way I did it. One could probably do this conversion for far less than I did, but I was trying to go first class the whole way. Right now, the brakes are stock (2000 GT), but I do plan to upgrade in the future.

[svoman2300]

Do you have to use coilovers when going to the SN95 stuff to get the proper ride height or did you do this just because you wanted to?

[nemiro]

If you want to use the MM (or several of the other aftermarket) control arms, you will have to go to coil overs. If I were on a budget, I'd use stock SN95 arms, spindles and hubs. That conversion could be done fairly cheap. To use the SVO Koni on the SN95 stuff, you need to elongate (grind) one of the mounting holes, and then make up some shims to take up the slack of the strut to spindle mounting area. The SN95 spindle is not quite as thick as the SVO. This is not a big deal at all, in fact, I just used some very large washers, and ground them flat on one side. I've done this on a couple of non-Ford cars with great results (same sort of swap).

[std9205]

A quick update: Since the last time I posted I called Precision Brakes Company and spoke Mark and explained the situation. Since then Mark has contacted Wilwood to see what if anything can be done to put together a direct upgrade kit for the SVO.

Thanks for all the responses that you have posted. After having read them over the more I realize it's going to be difficult for me to do anything unless I can get a direct upgrade kit with little or no modification being done to the front suspension. Since I'm here in Rome, Italy and the car is in New England I need to have someone back there do the upgrade without my being there. I guess I'm trying to say is that I don't want to be taken for ride since I'm new to the SVO seen and not very familiar with them.

Anyway, I'll update you on what I hear from Mark at PBC. Until then ciao from Rome!

[svoman2300]

One more quick question is there a difference between the V6 control arms and the V8 because I've been searching all over the internet and nowhere do I see it be specified as one or the other but when I search some used auto part companies online it asks me if I want V6 or V8.
Thanks

[CP86SVO]

svoman2300,

The control arms are the same for all SN95 cars. The later SN95 arms (I believe starting 2001) allowed for a bit more clearance for the wheels at lock to lock...



HTH WS