Wilwood brake kit wil-140-13477 from summit. Review/install

[jowens1126]

I ordered this kit from summit Wednesday and it came in today, friday. Great service from summit as always. The box was in tact. It had no over packing box. But it was undamaged,  which is amazing seeing it weighs 60 lbs.

Opening the box, it looks like a bunch of parts thrown in a box. No fancy styrofoam or packing blisters. They could improve their packaging. 

Inside you get 2 rotors, 2 sets of pads, 2 caliper brackets, 2 calipers, 2 hoses and fittings,  bolts for disc spindles,  bolts for drum spindles,  and bolts for the calipers.  Also you get bearings,  nut, cage and cotter pin and a shiney new hub cap. 

I took off the front tires, and then worked the drums loose on both sides.

Then I got the tire, flipped it over and placed in the rotor, caliper bracket and caliper. One of my big unknowns was if it would clear drum brake 14" magnum 500 wheels. I'm happy to report that there is plenty of clearance.  

Not in the kit but also required are, 71 mustang disc brake pedal,  brake booster, proportional valve, disc master cylinder.

Total Parts - $1000.00

Original 71 Mustang Disc Brake Pedal

$50.00 from a forum member.



Leed Brakes 9" Booster for 71 Mustang.   Part number PB0012  $199.00

https://leedbrakes.com/i-21155650-9-inch-power-brake-booster-black.html



Wilwood Front Disc Conversion Kit # Wil-140-13477 from Summit Racing. $575.00

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wil-140-13477/



Wilwood Proportional Valve # 260-11179  $90.00



Cardone Select Disc Master Cylinder 

CJ Pony Parts #13-1378 - $70.00



THE VERDICT!

Wow!  Talk about stopping power.  The car stops better than ever before.  Its like driving a completely different car now.  I highly recommend this kit.  The kit itself was easy to install.  The brake booster and new lines were somewhat more difficult, but mostly just painstaking to get to.  In the end it was more than worth it.

 

[Zatherith]

Awesome kit, but I thought all the 71-73 mustangs came with front disk brakes. My 73 had front disk brakes from the factory

 

[clevelandcoupe]

Jowens,

Looks like a great addition to your car for sure, once you get it sorted out. One of my buddies did a 4 wheel disc conversion on a 64 brand X with the same type of kit. He, who is a professional mechanic struggled with the instructions and many variable options and parts included in the kit. He felt the same as you when first opening the box...... The customer / technical assistance is marginal, at best. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and he was able to conquer this project and I'm sure you will too !!!

Thanks, Jay

 

[jowens1126]

I'm more than confident that everything will work great. I've seen a few videos and the only pain seems to be getting the calipers centered with the correct shims. This part should be a piece of cake.

The real bear of this is going to be the brake booster and brake pedal portion. All that stuff is buried under the dash and difficult to get to. But we will get it done!

 

[Don C]

Deep sockets, long extensions, and swivels help to get to the nuts that hold the booster. No easy way to get the hairpin, switch, and push rod off the brake pedal or the pedal pivot bolt out. I can't twist and bend like I used to, so taking the driver's seat out really makes it easier for me.

 

[Hemikiller]

Yeah, there's nothing fun about getting the nuts on or off the upper booster studs. The factory ones are a PITA as they are a displaced metal locknut - hard all the way off.

 

[tony-muscle]

Remove for sure the seat and opens up a lot of space. While you are at it, you could remove the steering column and replace the firewall seal. By doing this now you will open a lot of space.

Good luck!

Edit: i just realized these are the front brakes and not the rear so i deleted the part abot parking brake.

 

[tony-muscle]

Remove for sure the seat and opens up a lot of space. While you are at it, you could remove the steering column and replace the firewall seal. By doing this now you will open a lot of space.

Good luck!

Edit: i just realized these are the front brakes and not the rear so i deleted the part abot parking brake.

And now that I get my head straight I am realizing that this is the same kit I installed. The trickiest part of the install is that you need to drill two holes in the spindle. For these to be square you will need a drill press. I did it myself using a drill press we have at work. You should also buy a good thread tap of the size recommended in the instructions. These threads have to be square with the spindle surface so the calipers end up straight.

Edit: expect to have a lot of leftover bolts. They send a few different sizes and you won't use them all.

 

[jowens1126]

The holes in the spindle are for disc spindles I believe, at least that's what the instructions say.

Anyway, 3 hours in, were still cleaning crud off of everything. Its amazing how much caked on crap on all the suspension there is.

 

[jowens1126]

No problem getting the caliper bracket mounted.

 

[Don C]

One thing about it, all of that caked on grease is a good rust preventative, the spindle cleaned up pretty good.

 

[jowens1126]

Yea that is true. Nothing in there is rusted. It's all got 1/4" to 1/2" thick mud and oil. Some of this metal hasn't seen daylight in 30 to 40 years I think.

 

[tony-muscle]

Great job. And yes, i had disc spindles. Looks a lot easier with the drum spindles.

 

[Fabrice]

there's nothing fun about getting the nuts on or off the upper booster studs. The factory ones are a PITA as they are a displaced metal locknut - hard all the way off.

My 71 were rusty and each of the bolt threads resisted till last turn despite penetrating oil added days earlier, the upper ones even more as they are hard to reach. It's only when the last one resisted so much I thought: ok, the seat goes out! The thread went smooth 1/2 turn later and spend 1/2 hour looking for one of the seat nuts that rolled under the car 

 

[jowens1126]

yea I hear ya Fabrice. We fought hard today, We got the caliper bracket on one side, got the lines situated on both sides. The biggest pain today was finding a 12 point socket. I dont have any. The lock nuts for the caliper bracket were 12 point. So I went to Ace Hardware, nope, Advanced auto, nope. The guy at advanced said hey, go to sears around the corner, they are closing down and have great deals. So I went and got a nice mechanic tool set with 12 point sockets and 6 point sockets and some other stuff. The sticker was $70, I paid $40. Nice deal. We Also got the old master cylinder out. It was no fun.

I had to break off for half the day to do the weekend yard work. But my son cleaned and scraped for 2 hours on the drivers side. I still need to go in there and do a final clean.

More to come tomorrow.

 

[nailpounder]

yea I hear ya Fabrice.  We fought hard today, We got the caliper bracket on one side, got the lines situated on both sides. The biggest pain today was finding a 12 point socket.  I dont have any.  The lock nuts for the caliper bracket were 12 point.  So I went to Ace Hardware, nope, Advanced auto, nope.  The guy at advanced said hey, go to sears around the corner, they are closing down and have great deals.  So I went and got a nice mechanic tool set with 12 point sockets and 6 point sockets and some other stuff.  The sticker was $70, I paid $40.  Nice deal.  We Also got the old master cylinder out.  It was no fun.

I had to break off for half the day to do the weekend yard work.  But my son cleaned and scraped for 2 hours on the drivers side.  I still need to go in there and do a final clean.

More to come tomorrow.

harbor fright has the 12 point or star socket set on the cheep side  for anyone else that  do this project

 

[jowens1126]

Well phase 1 is complete! Brakes are on!

We test fit the wheel and there are no clearance ussues!.

Now comes the hard part, removing the master cylinder and installing the brake booster and disc master cylinder.

Getting the dust cap on was interesting. I suppose I could have just pounded on it till it went in, but instead, I beveled the outer edge of the cap lip with my dremel and a sanding drum. Went right in after that.

 

[Don C]

Looks great, good job.

 

[Canted 393]

Not to be a smart alec but every wilwood kit I have installed the calipers were on the front side of the axle/ spindle. Not ripping on you just saving you head ache, but I know yours where drums from the factory so maybe your kit is different.