larger brakes on m.g. front end

[cobra429]

I recently bought a unique cobra with an M.G. front end and would like to put larger brakes on the front. It's got a Jag. rear with a Chevrolet lug pattern so if possible I would rather use a Chev. rotorr on the front. I'd love to hear from anyone who has done this conversion and could help out with some of the info.

[Cobra20646]

My older Unique also has the MG front end, but mine was set up with Chevy rotors (70's MonteCarlo) with 75 Dodge Aspen calipers. Others on this site have similar setups. What size/make rotors/calipers are on your car?
- Jim -

[cobra429]

I belive it has MG rotors on it they are 4 lug with adapters to a 5 lug ford pattern. I bought a 70 monte carlo rotor and the clearances with the tie rod end and caliper bolts seemed too close if the 90 thousanths were shaved off. Do you know if any other rotors will fit the MG spindel? Al.

[greenwater]

My car (Hawk 289) also has the MGB front "splinned" hub. As I have not built the car myself the infos I have are limited. But I can say that initially it was rigged with the MG's rotor/calipers and its been converted with 1990 rear corvettes rotors ,12 inches or could be 11 1/2 not sure and the calipers are PBR that are on mustang GT. A possibly difference with your set-up is that I have splinned hubs same as MGs...for the wire wheels. I can say that these have over 2000 miles on and works fine. Looking at it I figure that all it needed was a special machined bracket to attach the caliper and the rotors to be drilled to fit on the hub base. Anyway if it could help you I could put you in contact with the person who built it. Just e-mail me for this if that is what you want.

regards.

[GT40Dallas]

Hello, I am the guy who built the above mentioned Hawk 289 Cobra. Assuming you have MGB spindles here is how to have incredible stopping power. Get the rear 12" rotors for a '90 Covette and the front calipers for the same '90 Corvette. These calipers are finned aluminum and look very good on a Cobra. These calipers can also be found on the SVT Cobra Mustang with "Cobra" embossed on them. BEAR Racing BearClaws are also the same. The Corvette are easier to find and have more of a vintage look. You will need to have a machinist make an adapter plate to bolt up the calipers. This plate is very simple. I probably should have traced it before installing it. The guy who has the car now may be willing to trace this for you. It is basically a flat piece of steel with four holes. Then two of the holes have had material welded on them to raise it about a 1/4 of an inch so that the caliper is centered over the rotor. The rotor mounts to the rear of the hub with four bolts. The center hole was opened slightly to match the MG rotor and the MG bolt pattern (to disc not to wheel) was drilled. This is a very easy way to upgrade your brakes. If you want to spend more you can get a bolt on kit from DWPilbeam@aol.com in England.

[GT40Dallas]

One moe thing. If you have the stock steering arms bolted to the back of the MG spindles you will need to slighltly space them in to avoid contact with the thick rotors. I used a couple of grade 8 washers to do this.