olepokey Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I know that the car needs several upgrades, but budgets only allow one or two at a time. The car is a 94 Mustang GT and a set of Brembo front brakes are needed, also need a sway bar and a couple of other suspension items. Which upgrades would be in order first?? Brakes & 17" wheels and tires, suspension, Cooling ducts for brakes, Steeda 5 link rear? questions go on and on. any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDenbigh Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 White_2kgt can comment more on this, but I think your best best would be to do all the suspension stuff first. The brakes are fine, just get some uprated pads. You don't start burining through brakes until HPDE 2 solo/HPDE 3 anyhow. Adding cooling ducts for the brakes is a cheap and easy project, so go ahead and do that. That will help prolong your pads and rotor life. How many events have you done? If you have only 0-3 under your belt, there's no need to upgade the car at all. At that point, the best upgrade you can do is to improve your driving via money spent on track time. Once you have time on the track and learn the car, you'll start to learn what it needs. Is it pushing in the turns? Bigger rear swaybar. Is it handling like crap? Better suspension goodies. Are your brakes fading at the end of a session? Better pads. Etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfranci3 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 If you haven't done an HPDE, just get your car in good running condition. This means new shocks if their worn, bleed the brakes, fresh pads. IF you've done a few hpde and identified the brakes as a problem area, try upgrading to a race pad first. Mustang specific advice- Websites: There's great informatoin out there at the http://www.corral.net/forums and http://www.corner-carvers.com Brakes - Don't spend $$$ on brembo brakes. The pre-99 brake kinda suck. If you want to upgrade to anything, upgrade to the cobra front brakes. This should cost $400. Some guys even race with these brakes. If it's your first HPDE, try getting a set of good brake pads before you upgrade the calipers, but honestly the cobra kit is so cheap and you'll enjoy it on the street - you might as well go for it. You need 17' wheels for these though 17" wheels - there are two reasons to go to 17's 1) tire selection 2) brake clearence. Here's the best deal out there http://www.buyfordracing.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=575 These are 17x9's so you can mount 275's, and they'll clear most big brake kits. 17x8 will work too if you go for the std cobra calipers. Suspension - Again, first make sure everything is in working order. Upgrading anything when parts are worn is going to magnify the bad bits effect. Check your shocks and bushings. For your first HPDE, take a stock-ish car. Beyond that, The bullitt kit is a good, cheap spring/shock package. Beyond that, Most guys will recommend maximum motorsports bits over steeda. They have packages - http://www.maximummotorsports.com/packages-asp.asp here are some links you'll find helpful: -http://www.miracerros.com/mustang/t_suspension.htm -http://www.corner-carvers.com/wiki/index.php?LaterYearsPlasticSpoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olepokey Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 and I will be ordering a set of the 17" wheels monday morning. THANKS for the info. I would like to install new cobra brakes within a few weeks. Yes I have made a hpde at Road Atlanta last month, and I really liked the track, and soon realized I need a better braking system (or a parachute!!) I am registered for a event at Roebling Road next month and I was trying to get the car ready for another run at Road Atlanta this fall. The car is a decicated toy, so I don't rely on it as a daily driver so this is why I want bigger brakes and a sway bar before my return to Atlanta. I have decided that I want to play with the car to make it handle a bit better.Thanks for the info, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfranci3 Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 and I will be ordering a set of the 17" wheels monday morning. THANKS for the info. I would like to install new cobra brakes within a few weeks. Yes I have made a hpde at Road Atlanta last month, and I really liked the track, and soon realized I need a better braking system (or a parachute!!) I am registered for a event at Roebling Road next month and I was trying to get the car ready for another run at Road Atlanta this fall. The car is a decicated toy, so I don't rely on it as a daily driver so this is why I want bigger brakes and a sway bar before my return to Atlanta. I have decided that I want to play with the car to make it handle a bit better.Thanks for the info, RA is the worst case senario for brakes. Sway bar? Who gave you that idea??? The only people who change the sway bars on mustangs are autocrossers in the FS class, people who buy every part in the Steeda catalog, and guys with full blown race cars. You might want to do a little more research before you part with your $$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firehawkclone Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 I would say go get the safety equipment first! At least a rollbar, seat, belts, neck coller/Hans..... And do it all once by a PRO! After that, just do ALL of the routine maintance, check every bushing ect... Brake's, some racing pad's/ fluid and Home depot(you get the idea ) cooling duct's should be fine for your first year. Drive with in the car's limit! That make's a good driver! And have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olepokey Posted April 17, 2006 Author Share Posted April 17, 2006 A roll bar has been ordered, not sure about which harness to go with. My concern for more braking is because i like RA and plan many return trips. Are the rotors listed in first link a 13" rotor?? I can call tomorrow and find out..THANKS for the info about the brakes and the links. My trip last month was a eye opening experence as for needing a panhard bar and brakes. And yes, I was guilty of overdriving my car in a few of the sessions. I guess I just want to squander some mad money on my car.... the old geezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfranci3 Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 A roll bar has been ordered, not sure about which harness to go with. My concern for more braking is because i like RA and plan many return trips. Are the rotors listed in first link a 13" rotor?? I can call tomorrow and find out..THANKS for the info about the brakes and the links. My trip last month was a eye opening experence as for needing a panhard bar and brakes. And yes, I was guilty of overdriving my car in a few of the sessions. I guess I just want to squander some mad money on my car.... the old geezer Take your time, do your homework, don't just throw money at the problem. You'll get a lot more satification from this hobby if you take the time before buying parts to research the problem. And yes, the Cobra/mach1/bullitt brakes are 13". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swdouglass Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 The best advise I got from ryan was to invest in some used race tires. They are cheap and will give you a great feeling of what the car will do. From there invest in everything else to fine tune the specifc problems with the car. but as you get closer to racing speeds the safety equipment should be paramount. A car without a driver is not worth much. JMHO, Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granracing Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 You should also take some time to define some of your goals. Where/how you spend money will be much different if you want to run this car then get into w2w racing with another car vs. sticking with hpdes and using this car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 White_2kgt can comment more on this, but I think your best best would be to do all the suspension stuff first. The brakes are fine, just get some uprated pads. You don't start burining through brakes until HPDE 2 solo/HPDE 3 anyhow. Adding cooling ducts for the brakes is a cheap and easy project, so go ahead and do that. That will help prolong your pads and rotor life. Thanks for the plug pete! I always had the cobra spec brakes on my car and like others have said you need to upgrade the 94 brakes to cobra, that will be plenty. I'm still running them with carbotech xp pads and they do great, with proper cooling. I'd also like to agree with the safety stuff, along with the rollbar get a seat and harnesses. After that, anything you do should be done to make the car reliable. Doing HPDE's you really don't have time to wrench on the car, goto class, watch the races AND drive. So you want something you can show up in, beat on all weekend at drive home (or trailer) working on it at the track just sucks. So focus on that. After that is taken care of evaluate what you want to do. Building a track car can be tons of fun and a great learning experience. Building a race car can be frustrating and expensive. So picking the one you want and a path early is your best choice. If you have some attachment to your 94 and just have to use that (understandable) then pick an aftermarket vendor and stick with them. Their parts are designed to work as a whole. Call them, talk to them about open tracking, evaluate their recommendations against your wallet and other people reviews and most importantly, how similar equipped cars on track perform. While at the track just ask people with mustangs what they have done, how they like it, everyone I've talked to has been more than happy to share info, I know I am. Just look at my website (http://www.2kgt.com). Everyone knows the suspension on the mustang in stock form sucks, that's a great place to pickup some time vs tearing into the engine, for now, just make that reliable and start from the ground up, tires, brakes, suspension, etc. If you have anymore specific questions let me know, I'll be more than happy to help. I'd suggest fixing the brakes (ie replace them w/ cobra ones) getting good pads and new rotors all around and taking it out in stock form, them attacking the suspension, you'll start to see what needs work, just like you did with the brakes. You just have to decide how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olepokey Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 Thanks for all the input. I ordered a set of 17"x9" wheels today (99.00ea) now am in need of a set of tires. Don't know if I can do tires wheels and brakes all at the same time. Looking to buy a used set of race tires from a vendor in Grassroots. Just bought a new set of 16" Sumototo (300 miles)before going to RA, now looking to replace them??I am planning on making 5-6 events a year for a few years doing the HPDE"s and then just have fun with it at open track days. Don't plan on being as serious as 2KGT is. Don't think I can hang with that crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfranci3 Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 If you've already bought wheels... Tires: Go either 255/40 265/40 or 275/40/17 size. Preferably 275/40. Are these tires for the street or just track trires? -if street: Get something like the Kumho MX, Goodyear DS3, Nitto 555RII, etc. Something that can deal with rain. -if track only: Lean towards more track orientated tires with larger tread blocks. Stay away from R-comps now. Go with Nitto NT-01, Falken 615's, BF Goodrich KDs, etc. Brakes - BuyFordmotosport.com has the best deals I've seen. Both white_2kgt and I recommend the Corbra/Mach 1/Bullitt (pick your favorite color) brake kits for the price, perfomance, and OEM parts. Just get the fronts now. If you want to get crazy, They have the brembo Cobra R kit there for $825. These brakes won't work with most Ford wheels! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granracing Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Looking to buy a used set of race tires from a vendor in Grassroots. If there are any races near you that have cars which run on 17s, attend the events. While there, make several trips to the tire vendor on site. (First verify that the event will have this type of tire support.) The vendor will give you any used tires - it beats them having to lug them back to their shop and pay to get rid of the tires. If you go to a series that has competitive racing, you can find tires that have plenty of life left on them. They will not be the 100% fastest, brand new tires, but will work well for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Thanks for all the input. I ordered a set of 17"x9" wheels today (99.00ea)now am in need of a set of tires. Don't know if I can do tires wheels and brakes all at the same time. Looking to buy a used set of race tires from a vendor in Grassroots. Just bought a new set of 16" Sumototo (300 miles)before going to RA, now looking to replace them??I am planning on making 5-6 events a year for a few years doing the HPDE"s and then just have fun with it at open track days. Don't plan on being as serious as 2KGT is. Don't think I can hang with that crowd. For goodness sake, DO NOT run race compound tires on those stock brakes. Next you'll be looking into body kits. The stock brakes cannot stand up to hard use just on street tires, on R comps you will destroy them. Hey, we all started somewhere, you are doing the best thing you can, asking questions, never stop doing that. I had a pretty much stock 2000 GT when I started down the rabbit hole! and there are many much deeper than I! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granracing Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Stock brakes and DOT race tires are not o.k.? Mustangs are raced in many series that do not allow the brakes to be modified other than pads and fluid. Heck, take a look at the show room stock class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Stock brakes and DOT race tires are not o.k.? Mustangs are raced in many series that do not allow the brakes to be modified other than pads and fluid. Heck, take a look at the show room stock class. Considering you do not need to conform to stupid SCCA rules a $400 brake upgrade is cheaper than putting your car into a wall. Pre 99 brakes are just plain out scary on track with R compounds. Also, I bet that the Showroom stock cars have pretty decent cooling ducts and the driver is VERY conscience of brake performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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