[DeTomaso] FANTASTIC brake rotor news!

[Mike Drew]

Sorry, that first link doesn't work directly. You have to enter make, model and year. Enter 1965 Ford Mustang, light duty rotors and all 16 will appear.

Mike

Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 20, 2017, at 22:04, Joseph F. Byrd, Jr. <byrdjf at embarqmail.com> wrote:
> 
> THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
> I have all ideals when I got around to shaving off the rust from my original
> rotors they would be pretty thin.
> 
> PLEASE continue the search for rears
> 
> Joe/NC
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com] On Behalf
> Of Mike Drew via DeTomaso
> Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2017 0:40 AM
> To: B Hower via DeTomaso
> Subject: [DeTomaso] FANTASTIC brake rotor news!
> 
>> Hi guys,
>> 
>> Some years ago, some smart people here figured out that 1965-1967 Mustang
> front brake rotors were a perfect replacement for the stock Pantera front
> rotors, with the advantage that they were vented.  The Euro GTS had vented
> rotors as an option, but original Euro vented rotors are rare and
> exceptionally expensive.
>> 
>> Stock Mustang rotors were cheap and readily available until a few years
> ago.  Then the industry changed, and instead of manufacturing them like
> before (where the hub and the rotor were two separate parts, as on the
> Pantera), they went to a one-piece casting where the hub was cast integral
> with the rotor.  While they were a cheap and reasonable option for the
> Mustang crowd, that made them no longer suitable for Pantera use.
>> 
>> A few years ago, I stumbled across a Mustang vintage race prep shop in
> southern California that said they had tooled up to reproduce original-spec
> Mustang rotors, produced by a company called Centric.  Besides the normal
> option, they also offered them with nice optional features, such as slotted
> surface, cryogenic treatment, or both.  I organized a group buy here, and
> over 100 of you ordered some.  I filled the orders, but then it wasn't
> possible to get any more unless I did another volume buy.
>> 
>> Fast-forward to 2017.  Turns out Centric is the OEM arm of the aftermarket
> company Stoptech (or perhaps Stoptech is the aftermarket arm of the OEM
> supplier Centric).  And it further turns out that these discs are now
> readily available from multiple sources, for a fair bit less (maybe even
> substantially less) than what I had to pay, and was selling them for.
>> 
>> I just ordered a pair of slotted, cryo-treated rotors from Summit for a
> guy in Germany, and they are PERFECT.  They will bolt right up to the front
> end of the Pantera in place of the stock solid rotors.  The outside diameter
> is ever so slightly different (no factor), as is the offset.  However, when
> De Tomaso engineers designed the front end, somebody forgot to carry a '1'
> and the caliper offset was incorrect relative to the stock solid rotors, so
> a thin spacer had to be introduced to space the caliper inboard.  The
> different offset of these Centric rotors means that band-aid spacer is
> removed, and the caliper is thus perfectly centered on the rotor.
>> 
>> Centric offers a dizzying array of options, starting with a plain,
> standard OEM-style Mustang rotor, all the way to a cross-drilled, slotted,
> cryogenically treated rotor (slotting makes them handed, with different part
> number for left and right).
>> 
>> This link takes you to the Centric catalog where all the rotors are
> listed--16 in all:
>> 
>> 
> https://centricparts.centriccatalog.com/Inquiry/PartInt.aspx?pn=121.61053&id
> =WEB_DISC&v=LD&y=1965&m=54&mm=688&uid=ANR&sid=0
>> 
>> There are actually three different brand names used.  I think C-Tek is the
> 'bargain' brand, although I'm not sure.  Centric is the premium OEM
> replacement brand, while StopTech is the high-end brand.  All three seem to
> use the same basic design, but the Centric and StopTech rotors use better
> materials and feature a premium finish.  Here's a link to the description of
> the Centric premium rotors:
>> 
>> http://www.centricparts.com/products/centric-premium-brake-rotors
>> 
>> And here is the description of the higher-end StopTech rotors, which are
> the same as the Centric rotors except with the benefit of optional features
> such as cryo treatment, slotting, drilling, or any combination of the three:
>> 
>> http://www.centricparts.com/products/stoptech-sport-rotors
>> 
>> Best of all is the price--these high-quality rotors are much, MUCH less
> expensive than custom Wilwood rotors, or rotors that are intended for other
> applications (such as Porsche) that go through an extensive/expensive
> machining/klugeing process to make them suitable for Pantera use.  For
> literally less than half the cost, you can just pull quality rotors out of a
> box and bolt them right up to the front of your Pantera.  Happy days!
>> 
>> The standard rotors are available from Summit, although their online
> catalog isn't smart enough to list them by application (1965-67 Mustang).
> Going backwards from the Centric catalog and searching on the part number,
> these appeared:
>> 
>> https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ceb-120-61053
>> 
>> The rest of the offerings can be found in a similar fashion; here's an
> ugly link to the StopTech offerings:
>> 
>> 
> https://www.summitracing.com/search/year/1965/make/ford/model/mustang/depart
> ment/brake-systems/part-type/brake-rotors?SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending
> &N=4294947032%2B4294951343%2B4294951333%2B4294947838%2B4294947817%2B402150
>> 
>> A word on drilled rotors--most people who run cars hard agree that drilled
> rotors are a bad idea.  They were fashionable for awhile, as they nominally
> offered better cooling, but they also tend to lead to cracks.  Race cars
> that used drilled rotors usually see them thrown in the trash at the end of
> the day.  They look cool, but aren't really a good solution, and most race
> cars no longer rely on cross-drilling.
>> 
>> Slotting the rotors does seem to pay big dividends with no penalties.  The
> slots sweep away pad debris and water, offering superior stopping
> performance.
>> 
>> Cryo treatment also pays dividends.  Through some magic that isn't
> well-explained (I'm sure you can Google it and find out specifically why it
> improves rotor life), cryo treatment makes the rotors last longer.
>> 
>> So, to my mind, the best possible option would be a cryo-treated, slotted
> rotor.  The slots make the rotors 'handed' (that is, there is a left and
> right side rotor), while the plain rotors are designed to be run on either
> side.  The part numbers for the slotted rotors including "L" or "R" at the
> end accordingly.
>> 
>> If you search on the part number, you can find these rotors on Amazon,
> PartsGeek.com and other places as well.  Generally the parts prices are
> lower than Summit, but Summit offers free shipping while the others charge
> $25 each or something like that, meaning that the best overall deal is
> probably from Summit.  You can probably also order them direct from your
> local auto parts store, if that turns you on.
>> 
>> Over 100 of you have already installed these rotors on the front of your
> Panteras, so you know that they fit and they work great.  That means the
> rest of you can buy with confidence.
>> 
>> One final word on this subject:  The stock solid brake rotors work
> absolutely fine for 90% of Pantera owners, perhaps even more.  If you have
> never pushed your car hard enough so that the brakes overheated, so the
> pedal got squishy and the pads started stinking, then you will see
> ABSOLUTELY NO BENEFIT from changing to these vented rotors.  However, if you
> have found yourself at the bottom of a winding mountain road with a long
> brake pedal, or had to back off during a track day because the brakes
> started going away, this is a very simple, cheap way to at least initially
> address the problem.
>> 
>> Granted, a full-on Godzilla Wilwood brake setup will certainly offer
> superior performance under extreme use.  But for aggressive street driving
> or moderate track-day work, these vented front rotors, in conjunction with
> the stock rear rotors, with good Porterfield pads, braided stainless hoses,
> a master cylinder in good condition, and the stock proportining valve in
> good working order, will likely produce all the braking power you will ever
> need.
>> 
>> (Note that the stock Pantera rear rotor has a larger diameter than the
> front rotor, so these rotors will NOT work in the rear.  It's quite likely
> another Ford product has a rotor that would do the job, but unfortunately I
> don't have knowledge of that, although I do plan to research it someday....)
>> 
>> Photos of the StopTech 126-61053CSL (slotted/cryo) rotor appear below.
> 
>