Hello all. Newbie Mustang owner here.
My son just inherited a 67 coupe, 289 V8 from his aunt and one of the first things I decided we should do is convert the front brakes to disc brakes. I was shocked to find a range of prices for the conversion kit from $545 to $1425. I’ve heard good things on this forum about discbrakeswap.com so I think I’ll be going that route. I’m not comfortable with doing the conversion myself so I checked with a Mustang restoration shop in my area and they gave me an estimate of about $550 to do the conversion (price does not include the kit). Should I stick with a shop that specializes in Mustangs only? Or has anyone had any good experiences with any of the 100’s of run-of-the-mill brake shops found in every city? I haven’t tried calling any of them yet to see if they would even do that type of work. I wanted to get everyone’s opinion before I called Brakes-R-Us.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

1st of all Welcome to the Forums.

Secondly, I am 16 and I did this very same conversion for about $800 bucks total. It is a very simple bolt on application. I ordered my brakes from MPBrakes.com but there are also other kits out there such as Stainless Steel Brakes Corp, Baer, Wilwood, and a couple others. I would suggest you and your son research this topic a little bit, and do this together as a father/son project because this is a fun and easy swap. Later on I am sure he will want to change a few other things that will cost quite a bit of dough. In my honest opinion the local Mustang resto shop is charging way too much for as simple a swap as this. The only things you need are a few tools and a login name on Mustang Forums in case you have any questions while you are doing the swap. I know I have had many questions answered by the friendly people here on the forums, so I'm sure you will too. I hope your son has fun with his "new" mustang.

 

550 not including the parts is too much in my opinion.. Look around for other shops

 

Do the swap yourself. Then take the car to Brakes-R-Us and have them bleed and adjust them. They'll be happy to tell you if you did something wrong, since they'll be looking for ways to make and extra buck or two.

I recently converted the front brakes on my '67 Coupe from drum to disc. I used the original 4-piston calipers. I also added an SSBC booster and master cylinder. While I was at it, I put new cylinders and shoes on the back and turned the drums.

By the way, that's my advice. Don't forget to do the back brakes - new cylinders, shoes, and turn the drums.

 

If you are new to mustangs and you don't want to go through the hassle of doing it yorself, in my opinion, I would let the professional do it. Especially with brakes. Also, if you go to brakes-r us, you will typically have some kid or person who does not give a crap about your car. I remember taking my first mustang to one of those shops for ball joints and a lube and it came back with two big holes in the shock towers. My point is, maybe the would install for a hundred or two less, but I would rather spend a little extra money on having someone who works on mustangs every day.

Also, I would also consider spending a little extra money and putting in new steel brake lines (go to classic tube, they make the exact replacement and are reasonably priced) and fully doing the rear brakes as well (stock rebuild would be sufficient) Remember, this is your child. Brakes are nothing to chince on.

Good luck.

 

If you are not comfortable doing the conversion yourself then don't!

Brakes aren't anything to screw around with. Have it professionally installed, sit back and enjoy!

 

Thanks for your opinions guys. I'm leaning towards letting a shop that specializes in Mustangs do the work. Spending a couple or three hundred dollars more to have it done right by a professional (or so I hope) is well worth my son's safety.

 

just remember if you need pads or rotors you need them from a ford granada not a mustang since thats what the spindles and brakes are from.also might want to think about a baer tracker kit its a tie rod end that will remove bump steer.bump steer is when you hit a pothole and the car wants to go in the other lane thats never good.

 

Dennis, who is the owner of discbrakeswap.com includes everything you need in his kit so you won't need to go to the store for anything. You will need 15" or bigger wheels for the conversion though. 14" wheel won't fit. Yeah, even though the conversion is an easy job for a wrench turner, if that's not you, then let a pro do it.

 

Being a Mustang newbie, I'm learning a lot here on this forum. Lot's of good info from knowledgable guys. Thanks for bringing up the bump steer issue. Is it really that much of a problem? Should I have the Mustang Restoration shop install the baer tracker kit while they're doing the brakes? Can you give me an idea of the cost involved with that (parts and labor)? Again, safety is my primary issue right now, so if a modification is warranted, I have no problem shelling out a few more bucks for piece of mind.