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Brake Upgrade.

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 7:50 am
by B9472287
Since advertising my Tiger for sale in the STOC classifieds, I have been emailed on numerous occasions about the front brake conversion on the car. Hopefully this short description will be of help to some fellow Tiger owners.

In standard form my brakes were marginal, hopeless even, so when I put a few more ponies under the hood, something simply had to be done. Not only was the braking performance itself very ordinary, a spirited drive on a hot summers day resulted in the fluid boiling, and the pedal going to the floor. Clearly not good!

A company in Australia (hoppers.com.au) that specializes in custom brake conversions was given the task of coming up with a solution.

Firstly custom hubs were digitized and CNC machined in K1045 steel, and 11.5 inch, x 1.25 inch thick vented and slotted rotors were fitted. A 1750 kg (3850lb) Australian Ford Falcon GT was the donor car. Big twin piston calipers off the same car were used, which have twice, maybe three times the pad area of the standard Girling pad.

To correct the fluid imbalance, a 1 inch master cylinder identical in appearance to the original was sourced. A 5/8 inch bore power booster was also used.

To be honest, the initial test run with the new brakes and the supplied semi-metalic “police” pads was a little disappointing. It turned out that due to the huge brakes and light weight, the police pads simply weren’t bedding in. A switch to standard pads and the transformation was instant and dramatic. The brakes are now nothing short of breath taking! Fantastic bite and zero brake fade. Highly recommended.

Happy Tigering!