Doesn't matter how things look, you want them to work correctly. Personally, I don't thing you're getting the right parts. If you keep grinding and filing various brake parts, you MAY be setting yourself up for a catastrophic accident when stress fractures from heat crack the weakened metal. I'm NOT an engineer or a mechanic, so I may be way out of line with my line of thinking. Why not just stick with STOCK PARTS and rest easy knowing that everything will work the way they're supposed to? After all, it's not just YOUR life you're playing with when doing brakes, it's everyone else traveling the same highways you're driving on.
















/ After all, when you're working on brakes, it's not just YOUR life you're playing with. It's everyone elses life on the same highways you'll be traveling.

 

Totally understood. For now, I am getting stock calipers to put back on there to get this car running. When Labor Day rolls by; I will put some time into making the mod'd brakes work. I filed off the casting flash from the molding process and a little material from the steering knuckle to make the brackets work. There is still a lot of material around the bolt holes. The reason why I am doing this to my daily driver is because the braking system on these cars is okay at best; but antiquated. My coworker's '08 Dodge Ram brakes much better than my car which is only a few years older. When I rebuilt the front end on my Mom's '86; which basically has the same system except for the rear drums and single piston calipers up front; there was only a marginal improvement. That I attributed to the Chevelle drag springs that I installed on that car; as they provided a much better weight transfer than the stock springs. Ford just never really made any improvements on these cars; or at least with mine; which is probably why they canned the full frame Panther chassis in 2011. It's funny (and a little frustrating) to see that the only difference in options between my '05 Grand Marquis and my Mom's '86 Crown Vic is the ABS and a cd player; otherwise almost everything else is the same (mine has a SOHC V8 vs her pushrod V8). We'll see what difference there is after I get my calipers on my '05; but I am not expecting a remarkable improvement.

 

I sure hope you're able to get the improvement you're looking for. Good brakes are a definite high priority for us all. I'll say this, you sure are tenacious! That's a compliment.

 

Unfortunately I've been there. When I was young and wanted to go faster; I spent time trying to make my Malibu; and later the Crown Vic; faster. I only started focusing on (important things) brakes and suspension after sailing through a stoplight one night in my Malibu on a Mexican highway. I realized then and there that I need to focus on making these cars stop. When I saw the GT500 brake upgrade for both the Crown Vic and my Grand Marquis; I jumped at it. Especially with the Crown Vic because if I ever get that car running; it will certainly need those brakes.

 

Well, if you stick with it long enough, I'm sure you'll be successful. I'm too old and tired to be that determined anymore!

 

We had a 91 Towncar from 95-06. It was hard on brakes because they were undersized for the car. They became just routine maintenance due to not having abs and no 3rd gear hold position in the shift quadrant. We live at 1250 ft elevation and it is downhill to town at 600 ft everyday. The aod only had overdrive, 2 and 1 available. The aode had an overdrive lockout button on the shifter but started in 92. I could flat spot the front tires easily and did a couple times. It was a wonderful car despite having the first year 4.6 engine and the last year aode transmission. We put 250,000 miles on that car. I put KYB police car rated shocks, LSC 16 “ wheels and dual exhaust from a state police car on it. At least it had the 3.08 diff which made the 210 hp engine do ok in a big heavy car.
We replaced the Towncar with a Navigator in 06 and still drive it daily. It has 225,000 miles on it and will likely be my wife's last car since I am close to retirement.

 

The Ford Panther chassis is a good vehicle. It's just for whatever reasons; Ford stopped developing it. Like I said earlier, aside from the ABS, cd player, and a SOHC V8, it remained the same from 1979-2011. But, that's just my opinion; and I am a weird guy for liking odd vehicles such as these.

As such, I took a test drive last night and the brakes are what I thought they would be; in fact, there is no improvement. So my quest for a mod'd brake system will continue.

 

So, last Friday during a quiet moment at work; I began to think about the Crown Vic. And for unknown reasons, I remembered that my Powermaster starter didn't come with wiring instructions or a wiring diagram. At the time when I installed it, I wired the starter like the OEM starter was wired. I may have errored in doing that. I went to their website to find the instructions, but they don't have anything available for that model starter (9403). But, they have wiring diagrams and instructions for their other starters for the small block Windsor Ford engines. I noticed that Powermaster had in bold print that vehicles with a remote starter solenoid must have a jumper wire installed between the battery terminal and the ignition terminal on the starter. Even though it is for other models of starters; I wonder if that applies to mine? So I sent them an e-mail this morning asking that question. I almost can't wait for the response.

 

It's confirmed; I needed to have that jumper wire for the starter. I wonder if that was the cause of the "no start" with the key condition. I am going to have to find the time to siphon all the old gas out, put in new gas (with a lot of cleaner), and prime the engine to find out if that was part of my problems.

 

That would be a pleasant surprise.