Winter Upgrades

[MY-S281]

Going to be doing some minor upgrades to the Saleen come spring and have already started the purchasing of the Parts.

Mostly suspension / handling upgrades / replacements.. The car has almost 150K so its prob time to replace a few things here and there.

Already got a great deal on a BBK Rear Upper and Lower control arm kit , looking at some new Bilstein shock and struts , Pretty sure the RaceCraft suspension the Saleen comes with is just relabeled Bilsteins from what I found in the limited research I have done.. I was looking to see if I could by some new RaceCraft Parts but had no luck .. Also considering ditching the quad shocks now that I will have much beefier LCA's .. Then I will prob go with a new set of Staggered 18" Chrome Saleen wheels with Fresh Nitto rubber.

Next I think I will be replacing the Clutch Set up, never been thrilled with the Spec Stage setup I went with a couple years ago with the mated Aluminum flywheel.. Just seems like have chatter from day 1 and just never went away after normal break in .. Thinking I will Prob go back to the steel flywheel, and looking for some suggestions that wont break the bank !! I am basically putting 400 to rear wheels and dont anticipate any major power changes in the near future ( Knock on wood ) so I dont think I need to go with anything radical !! just something about the set up I have now verse the stock one hasn't thrilled me. there are many options out there so I am sure I will hear plenty of opinion and thats what I am looking for .!

I've had enough of winter already !! Bring on Spring !!

[ToplessPony94]

Barry, sounds great! Good luck with the project! FWIW, I have a McLeod clutch with a Fidanza aluminum flywheel and it's great. Never had any chatter or any other problem.

Don't forget to replace the axle housing bushings for the upper control arms while you're in there. They will need it, and should be replaced even if they don't look that bad. If you need access to the puller/press tool for doing that, give me a shout. I have one and it works great. Did mine last winter.

[390gtconv]

Todd, what are your winter car plans, when do you start?

[chachee52]

Todd, what are your winter car plans, when do you start?

Right now I'm thinking about getting new regulators for all the windows. That way you can mess with my rear windows and I can get them back up after the show!!
Later this winter I'm taking Jen's Mini and putting it into the mustang. Might put a coyote engine in the mini while I'm at it. That won't be until closer to the spring though

[ToplessPony94]

It wasn't originally on my list for this winter, but I'm about to embark on a project to refurbish/replace/upgrade the brake system on my car. All of the bits and pieces are now here, I have a line bender tool and the flaring tool should arrive tomorrow. (I managed to find a flare set at a reasonable price that will do single (inverted), double and ISO bubble flares!)

My car currently has Power Stop 13" rotors and PBR Cobra calipers on the front; Power Stop stock size GT rotors on the rear with stock calipers. All flexible lines are braided stainless.

So far I have acquired:

- New 95 Cobra master cylinder
- Lines for the Cobra M.C. to adapt to GT.
- Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve
- M10 and M12 bubble flare unions (removing the stock proportioning valve)
- EBC "Red Stuff" pads front/rear
- Russell speed bleeders (4)
- Plenty of Motul RBF 600
- POR-15 caliper paint kit to refresh the appearance

And I'm also looking for some advice. I'm undecided about replacing the vacuum booster. The one I have is working fine, but it's getting rusty and ugly. It has enough brake fluid on it (had a leak many years ago) that I don't think repainting it is a good option, unless someone knows a trick I haven't heard about for getting the paint to adhere. My first inclination was to replace it, but there don't seem to be new units available (OEM or otherwise). There seem to be rebuilt units by Cardone and by Centric. The Cardone boosters (as well as their rebuilt master cylinders) seem to generally get reviews from poor to downright bad. What reviews I have found for Centric units seem to be good, but I can't find many reviews for them.

I'd like to hear from anyone who has pertinent information to help me make the decision about what to do about the booster. Thanks in advance.

[390gtconv]

It wasn't originally on my list for this winter, but I'm about to embark on a project to refurbish/replace/upgrade the brake system on my car. All of the bits and pieces are now here, I have a line bender tool and the flaring tool should arrive tomorrow. (I managed to find a flare set at a reasonable price that will do single (inverted), double and ISO bubble flares!)

My car currently has Power Stop 13" rotors and PBR Cobra calipers on the front; Power Stop stock size GT rotors on the rear with stock calipers. All flexible lines are braided stainless.

So far I have acquired:

- New 95 Cobra master cylinder
- Lines for the Cobra M.C. to adapt to GT.
- Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve
- M10 and M12 bubble flare unions (removing the stock proportioning valve)
- EBC "Red Stuff" pads front/rear
- Russell speed bleeders (4)
- Plenty of Motul RBF 600
- POR-15 caliper paint kit to refresh the appearance

And I'm also looking for some advice. I'm undecided about replacing the vacuum booster. The one I have is working fine, but it's getting rusty and ugly. It has enough brake fluid on it (had a leak many years ago) that I don't think repainting it is a good option, unless someone knows a trick I haven't heard about for getting the paint to adhere. My first inclination was to replace it, but there don't seem to be new units available (OEM or otherwise). There seem to be rebuilt units by Cardone and by Centric. The Cardone boosters (as well as their rebuilt master cylinders) seem to generally get reviews from poor to downright bad. What reviews I have found for Centric units seem to be good, but I can't find many reviews for them.

I'd like to hear from anyone who has pertinent information to help me make the decision about what to do about the booster. Thanks in advance.

Bruce if you want me to glass bead your booster, that'll clean it from everything.

[ToplessPony94]

Bruce if you want me to glass bead your booster, that'll clean it from everything.

George, if that would work, I'd be very grateful!!!

[ToplessPony94]

George, if that would work, I'd be very grateful!!!

So here we are 4 weeks later and everyone expects to see a picture of a nice glass-beaded brake booster reinstalled in my car, right? Wrong.

Jay and I began removing stuff weeks ago starting with the master cylinder, proportioning valve and the lines between the two. The brake booster just did not want to come out. Period. No matter what we did it looked like the strut tower had to come out somehow. Crazy because the strut tower was there when it was put in, of course.

After much cussing and some much appreciated help from club Prez Rick, the booster came out yesterday. Hail to the Chief!

The booster was a nightmare. Two pry bars were involved. The instructions in all of the manuals I could find and everything Google found were completely useless. But it's out now and I've decided to repaint the old one and hope we can figure out how to get it back in before the season is over. I delivered it to George yesterday for media blasting and hopefully (after a bath in caliper cleaner) I will be able to get some paint to stick on it! Then, assuming I don't put too many coats of paint on it, it will hopefully go back in by the same whisker's width of space that allowed it to come out. "Pray for us!"

Edit: George is fast! He has it blasted already and then asked if I wanted him to paint it, too! Thanks George - you're a real friend!

[Jays66gt]

Sounds like mid 40's on Saturday. Time to uncover the 66 and let her warm up in the sun.

Come on Spring. Let the pothole repairs begin!