Photography by Tim Suddard
We replaced the stock drums with Cobra Automotive’s HSR-legal disc brake kit–basically a duplicate of the parts used by Trans-Am teams back in the day–but we still needed to figure out the rest of the system. Fortunately, everything we needed could be easily ordered, mostly from Wilwood.
[How to add period-correct big brakes to an early Mustang]
While our car did come with a dual master cylinder from a 1967 Mustang–an upgrade over the original single unit–we upgraded to this lightweight Wilwood 1-inch master, perfect for our manual system.
Since the stock firewalls can flex–not good for feel or safety–we mounted the master cylinder to a Cobra Automotive brace. We then mounted a Wilwood proportioning valve to the side of the master cylinder. While some prefer to have the prop valve inside the cockpit, some people have mentioned that can make the system harder to bleed.
Road racing requires functioning brake lights, so we needed the appropriate switch–meaning another item from the Wilwood catalog. This switch turns on when the pressure reaches 60 to 100 psi and comes with a 1/8-inch male pipe inlet, making it easy to plumb into the rest of the braking system.
We ordered fresh brake lines from Classic Tube, famous for its stainless brake lines and related products. We chose the, mild steel lines, however, as they’re less expensive and easier to work with–at $250, we didn’t think it was worth bending our own lines.
While Classic Tube will custom bend anything, we know that the owners know Mustangs and had faith that its off-the-shelf setup for a 1965 Shelby would perfectly fit–and it did, although we just had to make a few expected tweaks to accommodate our Wilwood master cylinder.
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