As much as we all love our classic Mustangs, I have to admit that modern electric disc brakes have spoiled me. The old manual drum brakes from 40 years ago don’t seem to work anymore. So what options do you have? There are certainly plenty of options, from the big brake kits with huge rotors and multi-piston calipers to very simple “I just want my car to stop really good” brake conversions. But make sure of one thing! Not all kits are the same!

Here are four hard and fast rules to keep in mind when shopping for a brake conversion:

1. If you have to change your spindles, look elsewhere.

2. If you have to change the tie rod ends, keep looking.

3. If you have to change or modify your brake pedal, that’s not the right kit for you.

4. Can replacement wear parts be purchased from local suppliers? If not, you should move on.

There are kits that are made to fit your car, if you are doing any of the above you are retrofitting a generic kit to your car.

You can tell a well designed kit by how it is installed. A good kit will bolt right into your current spindles without replacing or modifying them. Using all new bearing and seal installations like this is a breeze. The booster master combination is key! Why would you want to go through the expense and frustration of modifying your brake pedal? Quality kits are available for use with either manual or automatic transmission cars. Those kits bolt directly to your firewall and your brake pedal.

Drilled and slotted rotors, actually I have them in my car. Do I really need them? No. I just think they look cool. I don’t do any performance driving and I’m pretty good at not hitting the brake pedal. So if you’re not overheating your brakes, you may not really need them. But, like me, you might like the way it looks. In that case, what the hell. In most cases, the same is true of multi-piston calipers. If you think about it, how many modern cars have multi-piston calipers? A very small percentage. True, on my 98 Mustang I have the Cobra multi-piston calipers, again mostly for looks, but on my 66 I went with the “I just want to stop real good” single-piston version.

Next I guess we should talk about the powder coating on the calipers. For me this is much less optional. I want my calipers to look good and be protected. I’ve tried painting them but haven’t really had much luck with that. After a short time they chip, the paint falls off, etc. I don’t want to take the time to do that job over and over again. Now that powder coating is available for most calipers and relatively inexpensive, it’s a good choice for me personally.

If you have any questions about disc brake conversions I’m happy to help at [email protected].