Some of youÔÇÖs may or may not be aware but the 300mm brake upgrade is really easy to do and I feel itÔÇÖs really worthwhile for the effort evolved, a lot of mk2 ST Mondeo owners do this upgrade but IÔÇÖm not aware of many Cougar owners doing it, I thought I'd do it since I was replacing my brake pads and discs anyway. I let my brakes bed in before I put up some pictures. IÔÇÖve now done over 500 miles now with my new brake set-up and so far no problems what so ever. (well since finishing them, had a problem with the rear calliper and hand brake cable when I was changing the brakes)
I got a pair of brake callipers from an Mk3 Mondeo from EBay for ?ú60 including delivery, it was a guy breaking a 53 plate TDCI, and I painted them with red high temperature enamel paint. Then got discÔÇÖs 300mm disc for a Focus ST170, (you canÔÇÖt use the Mondeo discs as they have 5 stud hubs). I got 300mm EDC turbo grove disc for the ST170 with EDC red stuff pads for the Mk3 Mondeo and black diamond braded hose lines from Active, send him a PM for a up to date price, I sure heÔÇÖll get you a great deal. Really fast service too! Thanks again Active!
Heres the before picture:
And heres the after picture:
The observant amongst you will notice I also fitted Eibach springs at the same time.
Heres the brakes with the ST170 wheel on. (I know they need cleaned, and they are kurbed, I would blame someone else for them being kurbed but I'm the only one that drives the car):
Good news the standard wheels fit over the brakes, but the space saver wont. If I kept the space saver in the boot and got a flat I would have to move the back wheel to the front and put the space saver on the back, but I desided to keep one of the standard wheels in the boot well. I felt it would be a lot better to use the full size wheel than the space saver. Just that extra weight might have a an effect on the fuel consumption, will need to go on a diet, nah!
I also changed my back brakes at the same time with EDC turbo grove discs and EDC green stuff pads and the black diamond hoses, again, thanks to Active. Since I was changing the brake lines I also changed the brake fluid from DOT4 to DOT5.1. Old brake fluid was a horrible colour, I was sure I took a picture of it but cant find it.
I canÔÇÖt really comment on the difference between the standard brakes to this setup, as my brakes previously were so bad any change would have been an improvement.
The front callipers need to be spaced out to fit over the ST170 disc, from the mondeo forums they say using 3mm thick washers, but it was so hard for me to get 3mm thick washers. I went to a number iron mongers around Glasgow and all I could get was 1mm and 1.5mm thick washers. Which was a good thing in the end, cause for me the spacing was different for every bolt. From memory I used two 1mm washers on the bottom bolt and two 1.5mm on the top bolt. But when I measured the two 1.5mm washers with a micrometer they measured 2.78mm not 3mm. So washers donÔÇÖt need to be that accurate, just to shim out the calliper enough so the disc doesnÔÇÖt touch the calliper when it spins.
Heres the finished cat with new brakes with eibach lowering springs
I got a pair of brake callipers from an Mk3 Mondeo from EBay for ?ú60 including delivery, it was a guy breaking a 53 plate TDCI, and I painted them with red high temperature enamel paint. Then got discÔÇÖs 300mm disc for a Focus ST170, (you canÔÇÖt use the Mondeo discs as they have 5 stud hubs). I got 300mm EDC turbo grove disc for the ST170 with EDC red stuff pads for the Mk3 Mondeo and black diamond braded hose lines from Active, send him a PM for a up to date price, I sure heÔÇÖll get you a great deal. Really fast service too! Thanks again Active!
Heres the before picture:
And heres the after picture:
The observant amongst you will notice I also fitted Eibach springs at the same time.
Heres the brakes with the ST170 wheel on. (I know they need cleaned, and they are kurbed, I would blame someone else for them being kurbed but I'm the only one that drives the car):
Good news the standard wheels fit over the brakes, but the space saver wont. If I kept the space saver in the boot and got a flat I would have to move the back wheel to the front and put the space saver on the back, but I desided to keep one of the standard wheels in the boot well. I felt it would be a lot better to use the full size wheel than the space saver. Just that extra weight might have a an effect on the fuel consumption, will need to go on a diet, nah!
I also changed my back brakes at the same time with EDC turbo grove discs and EDC green stuff pads and the black diamond hoses, again, thanks to Active. Since I was changing the brake lines I also changed the brake fluid from DOT4 to DOT5.1. Old brake fluid was a horrible colour, I was sure I took a picture of it but cant find it.
I canÔÇÖt really comment on the difference between the standard brakes to this setup, as my brakes previously were so bad any change would have been an improvement.
The front callipers need to be spaced out to fit over the ST170 disc, from the mondeo forums they say using 3mm thick washers, but it was so hard for me to get 3mm thick washers. I went to a number iron mongers around Glasgow and all I could get was 1mm and 1.5mm thick washers. Which was a good thing in the end, cause for me the spacing was different for every bolt. From memory I used two 1mm washers on the bottom bolt and two 1.5mm on the top bolt. But when I measured the two 1.5mm washers with a micrometer they measured 2.78mm not 3mm. So washers donÔÇÖt need to be that accurate, just to shim out the calliper enough so the disc doesnÔÇÖt touch the calliper when it spins.
Heres the finished cat with new brakes with eibach lowering springs
