I know what you're thinking, as I have heard it from others many times before…What do you need new Rotors for ? ?  Yes, to some it may sound like a waste of money to replace the factory units with new aftermarket parts so quickly.  I get that, and I see where they are coming from…But this car isn't about anything practical.  If I was looking for something practical, I would have purchased a different car or atheist a different module.  The Boss 302, while being a very nice car, is not practical.  At least not in the normal sense of the meaning. 

     I do not use this car every day.  It will never be used in a conventional way like most use their cars.  This is a personal test car, a auto cross car and mostly a fun car.  So you see, the usual logic does not apply here, or at least that’s how I see it.

     This subject didn't just pop up into my head one day as I was bored and thinking about ways to spend money.  Not at all, I started this aspect of the car build as a general way to improve the cars braking ability and aesthetics as well.  I have always been puzzled by why Ford allowed the Boss 302 Brembo Calipers to be so dull and ugly.  These are some very good brake calipers.  Large, 6-Piston units from the same line-up that supplies many of the world's most revered sports cars.  Manufacturers like Porsche, Ferrari, Audi, BMW, McLaren, Mercedes Benz, Subaru, Nissan and many more that make performance oriented machinery.  In each and every one of these installations, the manufacturers has gone with the regular, brightly painted factory Brembo caliper.  From the most popular Brembo Red, to Yellow, Back, Blue and Silver standard colors or sometimes with a special event color chosen by the buyer.  Also, in every case the Calipers were chosen not only with the beautifully painted, and highly clear coated colors, but they also wore the standard Brembo decals with custom features like Stainless Steel hard lines connecting the right & left sides of the caliper.  This represents a overall package that is the quintessential Brembo Big Brake Package.  The look is undeniable, and shouts High Performance.  But, what did Ford put out to its car buying crowd?  That same car buying crowd that is willing to spend more money for the performance oriented packages and options, that make these cars special and amazing all at once?  A dull, almost road grime dirty looking painted caliper, that is to say the least, less then inspiring. 

    You see it's not just a color issue here.  It's not even just a personal taste issue, or a bling issue.  The real beef lays in the fact that on every other car in the world fortunate enough to where such a high performance brake system, those brake calipers come in a glossy, clean , bright color.  This has come to be expected by great aftermarket braking systems.  Who doesn't love the famous Yellow Brembo calipers that peek thought every real road worthy Porsche?  The bright Brembo red calipers that the Corvette, and Ferrari's wear?  Or the Blue Brembo calipers from all higher end Audi's?  Here's the rub…You have the best track car Ford has built, ever!  They do the things we wanted them to do for years…They took the time to re-create the original Boss 302, the famous Road Racer from the late 60 early 70's that beat the best of the best at their own game, and on their own tracks.  They put all this thought and detail into a car that speaks performance with every corner or view, but somehow forgot to use a regular color available from Brembo.  This was no mistake, for someone had to specify this horrible color, and I guarantee it wasn't on the Brembo end of things.  Why, Why Ford would you allow this ugly, dull, OEM like color to grace these Calipers?  Only Ford management knows.

    People that own cars like this are much more picky and detail oriented then someone seeking daily transportation.  These Calipers look dirty, right off the showroom floor, much less after a little use.  It's just a small thing, but of all the small details to leave out, this is the most obvious and cruel.  Personally, I feel responsible for my car, how it looks and the maintenance it receives.  These Calipers make it look as though I neglect by car, like I'm too lazy to keep them clean or something to that effect.  You see them in beautiful contrast to the other parts on all other performance cars, so people expect that on this one, that makes for a disappointing view.

    Well, not any longer, as I'm about to correct what Ford fudged up.  Honestly, the Calipers are only missing the right paint, as they are the same HP brakes used on most other performance cars.  So it's not like you have to change out parts for better parts, or more expensive parts.  The original parts were plenty strong, repeatable, durable and aggressive…it's just the color that Ford did not bother to research and get right.  What a shame, as this would have been a huge and important psychological purchasing factor for many.  I am torn between the most popular color of Brembo Red for my Calipers or Yellow.  I am leaning toward the Yellow, but of those I have asked there opinion on the matter, they all prefer the Red.   Either one will be a huge improvement no matter how I go, it's all really about making the right choice that matches and compliments the car.  Our Boss is School Bus yellow, so you see the delimbia.

    Besides the caliper issue, I also want to modify the brake system like it should have been modified from the start, and that includes adding in new Rotors, ones that have several upgrades and performance features.  The Rotors I have purchased for the job are from DBA, or Disc Brakes Australia, an Australian Disc Brake maker that specializes in HP Braking Systems.  The Rotors special features are mainly the two-piece design.  Most Rotors are of a single piece cast from simple cast iron, these Rotors are heavy and very durable.  Production cars wear them as they cost much less to produce and are very durable.  But in a performance setting, those Rotors and or stock Calipers would soon be over-whelmed by any type of aggressive braking.   The DBA Rotors are special made to assist in the cooling of the brake system while in use.  They have cooling vanes that allow air flow thru the Rotor itself, and this helps keep the system from overheating.  The material used is also much stronger and durable than regular cast iron Rotors.  The hub, or center section of the Rotor that mounts to the suspension, is made of aluminum and is a separate part from the main Rotor body.  This means the total weight of the part is dramatically less than a single piece cast iron Rotor, and it make the part serviceable.  Meaning it can have the Rotor section replaced at a considerable savings as replacing the whole part.  Same goes for the hat, it something would happen to it, you could replace that with a new one and go ahead and continue the race .  Because the part is two pieces and those pieces being of lighter materials, the end product is a stronger and lighter part, yet repairable.  The Rotor itself, is also available with several up-grades, as in the drilling and or slotting of the Rotor disc surface.  This process makes the Rotors lighter and also helps with braking, as the un-uniform surfaces give the hot gases from the pads a place to dissipate and not get trapped between the pad and rotor surface.  Disc brakes use friction to work, in the generalist terms, the pad squeeze the disc rotor and rotational energy is transformed into heat energy by the physical braking action.  Since we are converting rotational energy into heat, the brakes get very hot.  Basically, the faster you have to stop the faster the temperature rise in the Rotors and braking system, again another reason why lighter better cooling more efficient brakes are so important.  If allowed to overheat, braking efficiency is severely diminished.  As such, when ever thinking about making a change to any braking system, you have to look at the effect that change will have on the entire system, not just the single part your replacing.  It's always a TEAM that wins..  Other items to consider, would be the need for better fluid, more or additional cooling, different pads, and maybe increased maintenance.  More aggressive pads will make more heat, so cooling and the brake fluids boiling point may come into play.  Mounting larger then stock Rotors may also effect the tire/wheel combo you can run.  Most Rotor changes would mean same or larger diameter Rotors being installed, this may affect wheel clearance, and should always be checked.  Generally we want more pad contact, and to get that we generally need larger Rotors.  The more surface are you have the less brake pressure you need to apply to get an equal stopping force.  Since all braking system are hydraulic, we are dealing with simple functions of area (square inches) and pressure (PSI). 

Front Disc in Black    

Rear Disc in Gold

Once the surface as been smoothed, we will clean the parts one final time and then we will be ready to apply some paint.  Remember painting is 90% preparation, so take your time and get it right. 

    Painting:   I removed the Front & Rear Brake Calipers from the car the same day we went to the garage to install the WhiteLine Watts Link, Swarr Bar and WhiteLine Rear Sway Bar.  As of this date, I still do not have the Front DBA Rotors, so it looks as if the car will just stay on the lift till we get back from Miller Motorsports Park, in Salt Lake City Utah.

     The Calibers only had 408 miles on them when pulled, so really the only grim was some light brake dust.  However, I still needed to get down to aluminum so the calipers went for a bath in my sand blasting cabinet.  I used glass beads to remove the grime and black flat paint the calipers were painted with.  Just be sure to strip the calipers down, and plug the fluid ports so no contamination will occur.  I also, masked over the pistons, and rubber parts.  It was very quick, about 2 minutes each, and they were clean as a whistle.  Now I just cleaned the surface with a wax & grease remover and masked them up.  On the rear calipers I covered the emergency parking brake bracket, lever and spring.  I did not want to have any sticking problems with the moveable parts, so they will remain black. 

   Painting was on a early Saturday morning, the weather was hot, calm winds and no chance of rain, in other words…Perfect for painting.  I gave them all a coat or two of sealer, then 4-5 coats of yellow urethane, followed by about 3-4 coats of clear.  I generally always use a 2-part urethane paint, as it holds up very well to the elements and everyday wear.  Make sure you take the proper pre-cautions if painting with such a toxic substance!  Also, I generally use House of Kolor, Imron or Summit Racing's Urethane paints.  The quality of paint is almost always directly related to the cost, so expect a job like this to cost more than you might otherwise budget.  My total materials cost was about $325.00.  Now I didn't use all the paint, but the lowest denomination in which you can purchase this paint is of the one quart size.  Too that you need Activator, Reducer, Spray Materials like disposable cups, mixing containers, mixing sticks, ratio mixers (this paint was mixed with a ratio of 4:1:1), and the usual clean-up supplies like paint thinner, gun cleaners and so forth.  Not to mention the hoses, spray guns, adapters, mixing adapters, gauges, regulators and safety equipment.  Hopefully you have most of this stuff, or it might be much cheaper to have a shop paint the calipers for you?  Personally, I love to paint.  So, I don't mind the time, preparation and work it takes to do this, you might or might not?  I generally like to take advantage of my time, and group things that need to be painted into one session.  So this time, I had the calipers, but I also had a factory Sway-Bar from the Boss 302 and about 12 engine parts from another recent project that needed painting.  After all, it takes a lot of time to get everything out, set-up and ready to paint, so managing my time is as important as doing a good job.  Once set-up, which took at least an hour to an hour and a half, I mixed up the Sealer.  I used a House of Kolor Metallic Silver Sealer, it comes in Grey, White , Black and other colors, but I choose the metallic because I had Silver metallic parts to paint and a few Blue Candy parts as well, this will cover all parts I have and the metallic in the sealer will help with the final color of the candy parts.  Seal is there to protect the new paint from anything that might bleed thru or not coincide with the new paint.  It seals out the old in preparation for the new.  2-3 full coats is plenty, and this flows very nice, you don't have to worry about runs generally with sealer, as it coats very well.  Normally you have to allow the paint to flash, or surface dry…but in today heat, the paint ws ready as soon as I was.  Next I shoot everything that was Silver Metallic, then moved on to the Yellow and then finally the Blue Candy….then clear coated everything we had.  Most paint was applied pretty heavy in about 3-4 coats, except for the candy which took 6-7 to get the color I needed.  You have to apply paint much heavier in full sun, as the paint dries so fast and the parts have a lot of heat in them.  If you simply apply a regular or light coat, the paint will dry to fast, and not flow out correctly, and you will end up with a lot of orange peel.  For what we were doing, it turned out pretty good.  One larger pieces I would have had to put up a canopy to cover the parts from the direct sun light.

The Final Look:

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