Rear Disc brakes

[Aussie Ford]

Not having anything to do I decided it was time to finally install the parts I've had sitting on the shelf for years..... LOL

After putting PB Blaster on everything I started gathering everything together.

Hubs
P-brake cables
Calipers
Brackets
Brake discs
Brake hoses
New pads
Bolts & stuff

Then sort it all out and make sure everything is ready.
I had two sets of p-brake cables and both were frozen up...... I know they were ok when I set them on the shelf several years ago.... darn..... order new ones from Rock Auto.

Hubs were ready all cleaned and painted. Brackets, what the heck only one got painted...... Disc's need cleaning and paint..... Hoses are good. Ok hurry and clean discs and paint them and one bracket. Let dry hey while I'm waiting I'll swap out the rear swaybar. Raise the rear of the car and put it on jack stands. unbolt the sway bar end links, remove the two brackets. Fight the bar past the gas tank and the new one in. Bolt the brackets in place. Now I have the 18mm SE swaybar.


Pick a side unbolt everything from the rear hub. Remove the hub retaining bolt (17mm)
Take a big ford tool and beat the hub off of the strut.

Clean up the bottom of the strut and lightly lub it. I used some silicone spray.

Take the big ford tool and install the new hub.

Reattach the arms, and links you removed.

Install the disc.

Install the cliper bracket.

Install the caliper and brake hose.

Drop the exhaust system from the hanger to the flex pipe.

Remove the heat shields.

Swap out the p-brake cables.

Put it all back together.

Bleed the system.

Test the p-brake.

Put the tires on and take your dog to a park for helping so good....... :laugh:

Square a few corners on the way with that new swaybar in place What a difference.

AF

 

[Scorpion8]

Nice! I assume with the rear discs instead of drums that you have to move up to a bigger wheel than stock for clearance?

 

[blu_fuz]

No, you don't have to upgrade wheel size when installing disc brakes on the rear of any contour . Nice upgrade! Feels good, eh?

 

[Aussie Ford]

As you can see I do have E0's on my GL, but you can run any Contour rim as this is a stock application. The SE swaybar make a really big difference. I was going to do an SVT one but it had two bolts in lieu of a tab and one bolt. To do that one would have to use an SVT sub frame also...... or ???

That completes the SE suspension upgrades to this car. BTW 95 SE swaybars would make your 98's feel better too as they can be used on some 98's.

AF

 

[Scorpion8]

Nice upgrade! Feels good, eh?

What are the best donor vehicles, Mystiques or SE's of the same vintage?

 

[Aussie Ford]

Here is what BAT INC says about sway bars - " Sway Bars-
We recommend increasing the diameter of the rear bar only for better "balance". For this
we offer a 19mm bar upgrade for standard cars (normally equipped with 16mm), and a 21mm for SE/SVT cars (normally equipped with 18mm). We do not recommend increasing the front bar diameter on front wheel drive cars such as the Contour. Installing a larger front bar would increase understeer which would not be desirable. The 19mm bars are European Ford imports, 21mm bars are a BAT produced item."

The 95 - 97 SE (V6) had the 18mm rear that I installed and it will work on all non SVT tours.

The rear disc hubs can come from any Tour that has them including SVT's. The rear's are all the same.

Many people just don't know that ALL front disc and ALL rear disc are the same for ALL Contours & Mystiques. The one exception is for the 98 E0 SVT's the fronts are larger. If you want them it is a simple two bolt swap (assuming you have all the necessary parts).

AF

 

[shotwell]

...The one exception is for the 98 E0 SVT's the fronts are larger...

The front rotors are the same size on all SVT Contours. The caliper bracket and caliper are different for the E0.

The front rotors on SE / GL are smaller than SVT version.

Rear rotors (if equipped) are the same on every Contour.