[whynotthinkwhynot]

In the driveway of course. I was supposed to start this earlier in the morning, but the wifey and I stayed up late last night ruining my usual early start to the morning. Now I'll have to don SPF 50 or suffer the consequences. I have no freaking shade here.

I also have a polyurethane kit, but I'm leery about taking on too much at once. I have a second vehicle, but don't want to be without the wagon. I'll consider it while I'm doing the brake swap.

Much thanks to Phoneix and Viney for their guides to this, and Mike at Hilbish and McNews for the parts [thumb]

I don't think I saw a bushing swap How-To, if there is one, someone let me know, otherwise I'll do my best to make one.

 

[Buickboy]

Gogogogogogo!

Brakes and poly kit are relevant to my interests

 

[grahama]

We want pics, we want pics, we want pics

oh sooo jealous!

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

ok pics of the final job later. I also have to add a few changes to 05+ models that I'll take pics of this morning. It will take some time though. I screwed up while doing my brake conversion, slashed the skin wide open across the back of my right hand. I can't type easily. I'll explain more when I can. I know I need some heavy duty drugs, but no such from the doc []

 

[Insane]

^^ ouch. Hope everything goes well for you.

 

[04junior]

In the driveway of course. I was supposed to start this earlier in the morning, but the wifey and I stayed up late last night ruining my usual early start to the morning. Now I'll have to don SPF 50 or suffer the consequences. I have no freaking shade here.

I also have a polyurethane kit, but I'm leery about taking on too much at once. I have a second vehicle, but don't want to be without the wagon. I'll consider it while I'm doing the brake swap.

Much thanks to Phoneix and Viney for their guides to this, and Mike at Hilbish and McNews for the parts [thumb]

I don't think I saw a bushing swap How-To, if there is one, someone let me know, otherwise I'll do my best to make one.

SPF 50 !!!!!...i wish.... it's getting cold here already 45 F....gl with the swap looking forward to the pics[whip]

 

[tangerine dream]

Hope everything's OK with your hand. I had quite a few knuckle busters when I did the conversion.

I see you're doing it on an '05+ model. At least you don't have the hassle of changing the front spindles like I did.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

OK, behind the rotor is the splash shield. That's what cut me. My hand slipped and I ran it right across the index and mid finger knuckles on the back of my hand. It hurts fairly bad, good clean cut though all the way down to the bone. I have a fainting problem with my own injuries, so that took a while to get over.

In the above pic, notice how tight the brake line is. I didn't like that. About 1/2" more would give enough slack to be loose for the full suspension range. I know a place here in town that does custom lines fairly cheap. Not sure about stainless, but I'll check when I go ask. The problem is going to be getting a line they can look at to figure out the ends.

Ok, the E-brake is changed from Ford's instructions for earlier model Foci: Ford Racing SVT install PDF I had to pry the end so I could remove one of the cables from the connector. In earlier Foci, you removed the fuel lines and stock clip that held the E-brake cable. On later Foci, the cable goes between the body and fuel lines on the passenger side, but I thought it was easier to remove that side and fish it behind the fuel lines.

No mention of this part, but it goes in the same area as the stock holder, but looks completely different.

]

Here's the front completed. I had a problem with the caliper, the bleeder was cross threaded. I hope I'll get a replacement without spending too much.

See the teflon tape on the bleeder, it would not seal without it, but that's only a temp fix, and I can't drive it like this. Just keeps the fluid off the driveway.

Here's the stock comparison.

Here's the back on the car.

It drives ok, takes a bit to wear off the anti-rust coating that is like paint. Front brake swap was quick and easy other than the bad bleeder. I kept the brake lines for when I need a replacement for the stockers. I'll probably convert to SS before I use the ones that came with the kit.

 

[mikebontoft]

wow....now I know what it looks like, I'd planned on doing the swap eventually as well [thumb]

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

OH, one more thing on the back brakes. E brake cable for the passenger side is marked green. The spindle and caliper for the rear passenger side is marked blue, and the driver's side is marked green.

There were no markings or numbers I could find on the front calipers to identify the correct side. I had to figure it out by the bleeder and brake hose fittings. The bleeder is always on the top. I gravity bled every caliper, then vacuum bled after I finished.

Also, the rears are not as difficult as Ford's directions. Simply unbolt the 4 bolts that hold the hub on, and the drum comes off. I then cut the hard brake line, and folded it with pliers so I could work on the rear without worrying about brake fluid (I hate brake fluid) on the driveway. That stuff is evil, have something handy to clean it up immediately if you like your parts to remain painted. Purple Power cleaner left no residue on the pavement after spraying it on leaked brake fluid as soon as the leak was fixed.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

wow....now I know what it looks like, I'd planned on doing the swap eventually as well [thumb]

Yours will be exactly like the Ford Install PDF I listed. You will have to swap spindles on the fronts as in those directions.

For better front braking, I'd go to a junkyard and get spindles from an 05+ Foci. That could save you a lot, and the rotors are larger than the earlier Foci. Then you can buy my old calipers for $50, hehehe. No seriously, you can get those from the yard too. That will help your braking a lot.

 

[tangerine dream]

Nice job! I went with SS brake lines when I did my conversion, and I can't recommend them highly enough. The set I got was the 4 hose set (before they made the 6 hose SVT set) and the rear hoses are long enough that I don't have any tension problems.

When you described your cut, I cringed. I was afraid of that exact thing happening when I did my install, so I opted to forgo the splash shields altogether. I got some spacers from Todd at TCE Brakes so the offset would be the same. It makes working on the rear brakes a whole lot easier.

 

[mikebontoft]

Yours will be exactly like the Ford Install PDF I listed. You will have to swap spindles on the fronts as in those directions.

For better front braking, I'd go to a junkyard and get spindles from an 05+ Foci. That could save you a lot, and the rotors are larger than the earlier Foci. Then you can buy my old calipers for $50, hehehe. No seriously, you can get those from the yard too. That will help your braking a lot.

wait, what? lol....

 

[zx505focus]

looks good man, how much did the kit cost????????????????????

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

wait, what? lol....

Yeah, read the PDF I had up there. That's Ford's instructions for the kit. On earlier models you must replace the spindles. On 05 vehicles, the suspension is the same, except the spindles are different and the brakes are larger- just not as large as the SVT brakes. I'm sure 05 models will fit, so if you can find a car made between 6-04 and 5-05 in a junkyard- that will give you the spindles you need- and larger brakes until you can do the SVT swap. You save some money by going with the other kit.

I'm not really sure on the price because I also got a fuel line, a door guard for the rear left, sway bar end links, and $40 worth of bushings for Aerostars. All that + shipping cost me $947. You'll just have to call Mike if he's who you want to get it from. As I remember, the prices on the brake kit was about $150 lower than others. He doesn't get as much of a discount on FRPP.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

OK, for those of you with 00-04 cars, there is a new kit to upgrade your front brakes to 280mm brakes like my previous front brakes. This comes with the SVT steering knuckes, 05+ calipers, and rotors. As far as bang for the buck- this is your best idea IMO. The cost was low, like just over $400 from Mike for the fronts only. There is also a complete kit to get you to 280 mm discs all around which is a lot cheaper than the SVT 300/280 kit. I currently can't claim what difference there is in braking by going from 280 to 300 on the fronts because one of my front calipers is faulty. I don't expect a big whopping difference, and if I do feel one, then it's more likely due to the change from ceramic to semi-metallic pads. Even with the ceramics, the braking on my car was very good until the rotors were worn, and for someone who wants increased braking power at a low price- this is the way to go. You can always convert the rears later when you can afford it.

By the way, I commend Mike on excellent customer service within his means. SVT calipers are rare, and difficult to order. I'm going to keep my stock calipers because in the future the best idea cost wise for me might be to swap back the fronts if I can't get the SVT parts for the next brake change. Mike offered to pay me back for shipping the faulty caliper to him, and also get me the replacement part for free. I don't care much about the shipping, and I do understand that it will take some time for me to get a working part from him. I'll let you know how it goes, but it's going to take some time on his end and mine. My hand injury and rain are keeping me from working on the car right now.

 

[Sonicbluezx3]

Do you know if I were to get the SVT kit (just the rear brakes) and keep my 05 front brakes.... if I went with the SS lines, would I haev to get the zx3 kit or the svt kit?