Doing A Brake Conversion Fiesta ST or Mondeo
#1
Posted 05 February 2013 - 10:05 PM
51 plate, 1.7 silver ford puma with 57000 miles and ordinary brakes under 9-spoke 15” wheels. They stop me fine in traffic and when bumbling but when pushed and used for a while when driving with zeal, they fade quite quickly, smell and become ineffective. MOT is coming up and I want newer, larger brakes before it goes in on the 1st of March.
My options:
The first is the fiesta ST conversion (280mm). The good points about this are that it is a straight swap (new hoses, bleed through and away you go), pad choice is apparently more varied and they fit under 15” wheels with no mods. Bad points are expense of calipers second hand, expense of discs and pads and being smaller than the second option by 20mm.
The second option is the cheaper 300mm Mondeo setup. These use ST170 discs which are cheapish, they are another bolt on mod and make friends with puma spec hoses. However, they require grinding to fit beneath 15” wheels, and enlarging of the holes in the knuckles…
I also worry about stones being caught between caliper and wheel, making me do a skid or even die.
Which would you plump for and why if you were in my position? Be as subjective as you like and if you have experience of either or both, please say so.
Best wishes,
Fred.
#2
Posted 06 February 2013 - 12:39 PM
Well ive only just done a conv on the fronts, changed the 239s for ST 280's. I cant say about the 300's unfortunately.
Have a look at my project thread here http://www.pumapeopl...=0
I chose the ST setup after a failed cossie 4 pot conversion, things i found were:
- ST brakes are cheaper from breakers than on eBay (the breakers dont care what theyre selling as long as they make money from it)
- No (very little i found) fettling to get them on the car, they are for all intents and purposes bolt on, plug and play, call what you will. The fettling was the removal (filing) of the casting lines/flashing from production, after they had been removed from the sides there was no problem
- No enlarging of bolt holes or tapping of hubs, no grinding the top of the caliper to "make" them fit.
- They're new(er) meaning that parts and consumables are available right now IF they go wrong, and also available in the future as they're from a performance model.
- I got my discs and hoses from motorsportworld.co.uk, brilliant company, Colin was incredibly helpful and went out of his way to make sure i had the right stuff. i settled on EBC OE discs (Just vented, not drilled or grooved) at £73 the pair, prob get Motorcraft standatrd replacment for slightly cheaper i dont know, the hoses are black diamond braided jobbies.
- ST Partco pads were £32ish
- Gap between caliper and inside wheel is around 12mm, would have to be a big stone to get wedged in there, i wouldnt fancy the gap on the 300's.
Andy
This post has been edited by JPTipper: 06 February 2013 - 12:45 PM
#3
Posted 13 February 2013 - 08:54 PM
I will be doing the ST conversion with braided hoses I think.
MOT is due 1st March so as soon as I can get brakes, I will send them in with it and get them done as I am not in a position to be able to do them myself (work and rugby take up all of my time).
#4
Posted 13 February 2013 - 10:04 PM
If i'm to be subjective, i would recomend the 280 st's unles you are planing to have bigger wheels.
But if I was to be completly honest, I would recomend the 300's with a rear disc conversion as wel, i did exsactly that, and hand on my heart, the are some of the best breaks I have ever used, they literaly pull you out of the seat when breaking hard, and I'we not been able to fade them, not even on the track.
Ofcourse this is costley, beeing that you realalisticaly need 16"wheels for it to work. And it's a lott of work, you may se my projekt tread in my signature for more
A 3 option would be to go for the standard "facelift" puma 260 brakes. As they are better then the 240's, and should be redely awailable for werry little money they arnt as good as the others thoug.
Realy it comes down to how much money you want to spend, and how mutch work you want to put in it
Projekt tread http://www.pumapeopl...pic=104790&st=0
Time, is the fire in which we burn
#5
Posted 14 February 2013 - 10:23 AM
#6
Posted 14 February 2013 - 11:15 PM
Looking at this myself as my front calipers seem to be perma-crap and I can get them fading under hard road use, never mind track.
Any differences in feel, stopping power, fade resistance, etc?
Sticking on my standard 15s, natch.
#7
Posted 15 February 2013 - 08:22 AM
They barely get warm in road use.
#8
Posted 15 February 2013 - 11:04 AM
AndyReact, on 15 February 2013 - 08:22 AM, said:
They barely get warm in road use.
Seconded.
#9
Posted 20 March 2013 - 08:00 AM