Brake upgrade woes!!

[Big Block RS]

I have a 1981 Capri with 429 CJ with a C6 and a 9 inch ford. Just a typical street car. Drove it for years with the factory four cylinder brakes up front and they were pretty decent but upgraded to SN95 spindles ,calipers, and MC to improve so that my Son could drive and now they are horrible. Cannot run a brake booster because their is no room. It has 11" drums in the rear with an adjustable portioning valve. Any help is appreciated.

[Patrick Olsen]

You could perhaps do a hydroboost conversion using the hydroboost assist setup from an '96-04 V8. When Ford shifted to the Mod motor in '96, they ran into the same space issue that you've got - the vacuum booster wouldn't fit with the wider Mod motors, so they transitioned to hydroboost, which uses pressure from the power steering pump to provide the assist. Of course, if your '81 Capri doesn't have PS, then you'd have to add that, too.

[Greywolf]

There are also options for remote brake boosters, although the nice thing about the SN95 GT setup is it's plentiful, and it doesn't need a lot of modification to fit. If you don't have any room at all around the master cylinder, look up the remote boosters from various hot rod suppliers.

[Jack Hidley]

Manual brake conversion or hydroboost conversion.

https://www.maximummotorsports.com/M...tang-P677.aspx

https://www.maximummotorsports.com/H...Kits-C720.aspx

You need to specify what the year and submodel car the front brakes came from. Ford has used five different front brake combinations on SN95 Mustangs.

Did the Capri come with manual brakes from the factory?

[massacre]

Manual brake conversion or hydroboost conversion.

https://www.maximummotorsports.com/M...tang-P677.aspx

https://www.maximummotorsports.com/H...Kits-C720.aspx

You need to specify what the year and submodel car the front brakes came from. Ford has used five different front brake combinations on SN95 Mustangs.

Did the Capri come with manual brakes from the factory?

and does it have power steering?

[Big Block RS]

no, it had a brake booster factory and power steering but my friend had a junked Fairmont with a manual rack and manual brakes. Re drilled the front factory rotors to 5 lug and they were like I said decent but now it takes 3 times the distance to stop it!. Thanks for the replies guys!

[Big Block RS]

Brakes are from a 1994 mustang V6 car. Master cylinder is a new unit from NAPA for a V8 1994 mustang

[Big Block RS]

I'm wanting to put disc on the back( car has 15" rims) and one of friends said an explorer disc set up would work . If so what years do I need?

[Big Block RS]

great idea thanks

[Jack Hidley]

1994 Mustang V8 doesn't tell me if the m/c is for a GT or Cobra model. They use different m/c.

Look at the major diameter of the threads on the nuts which go into the outlet ports on the m/c. They are different diameters. Which port has the larger diameter, the one nearest the firewall or the one nearest the radiator? Do not look at the diameter of the hex on the nut. That has nothing to do with the port diameter.

What car did the bake pedal come from?

Any rear brakes from an Explorer are probably going to have calipers which are too large for the front brakes on your car, unless you are building a drag car. What are the widths of the front and rear, wheels and tires?

[Big Block RS]

1994 Mustang V8 doesn't tell me if the m/c is for a GT or Cobra model. They use different m/c.

Look at the major diameter of the threads on the nuts which go into the outlet ports on the m/c. They are different diameters. Which port has the larger diameter, the one nearest the firewall or the one nearest the radiator? Do not look at the diameter of the hex on the nut. That has nothing to do with the port diameter.

What car did the bake pedal come from?

Any rear brakes from an Explorer are probably going to have calipers which are too large for the front brakes on your car, unless you are building a drag car. What are the widths of the front and rear, wheels and tires?

Brake pedal is the factory 1981 capri one( little pedal because it was a stick shift) MC is for a GT 1994. back rims are 15x8" weld wheels with 295 50's and the fronts are 15x4" welds with skinny tires.

[Jack Hidley]

Wow! A third car involved in the swap.

Did the 1981 Capri have manual or power brakes?

If you don't know, measure the distance from the centerline of the pedal pivot to the centerline of the pin on the side of it for the pushrod.

[Big Block RS]

The car is at my sons house, I think the front port(closest to the radiator) is the larger port on the master cylinder. I ordered a 1994 mustang GT MC so that is what is on it, I hope

[Big Block RS]

it had power brakes factory

[Big Block RS]

Currently The 1981 Capri has a manual rack with manual brakes. 1994 in front and 9" Ford rear with 11" drum brakes

[Big Block RS]

Jack, I read on one of your posts that a power brake pedal is mounted in a different hole than a manual brake pedal. Do I need to move my factory 1981 brake pedal up to the top hole ? My car still has the factory 1981 brake pedal in it. The 1981 Merc was a 4 cylinder 4 speed power steering power brakes car. I built this car in the late 80's. I used the manual rack with the manual brakes off the 1981 fairmont. Now I'm trying to get better brakes. One of my friends suggested I put the 1994 mustang GT MC and calipers on it to improve the brakes . Which did not work. Thanks for your replies

[Jack Hidley]

To use manual brakes on any Fox chassis car, you must use a manual brake pedal and it must be mounted in the lower holes in the pedal box. I'm going to need to know the dimension I requested above of the brake pedal installed in the car, to be able to assist you.