[JAJ]

I just took delivery of a set of Stoptech brakes for my Mustang - ST60 calipers. Having read this thread (and responded above) I took the calipers out of the packaging and checked the fit of the pads as supplied.

- the pads are 152.00 mm (measured) length. That's EXACTLY on-spec for that pad type.

- the abutment plates - the spring-loaded clips that hold the pads in place end-to-end - are too tight to put the pads in. If you look from the opening of the pad pocket, the clip at the "upper" end of the pocket is bent at slightly less than 90 degrees, making the distance from one plate to the other shorter.

I don't know if this is a manufacturing defect or a design feature, but one way or another, getting pads into these dudes is going to be a challenge. The abutment plates are held in place by a Torx T25 screw, so popping them out and re-bending them might be the best solution.

These pad pockets are simply too tight; even if I can get the pads in, they'll drag because they can't release properly.

UPDATE: So I went back out to the garage and looked more closely at why the pads won't go in. It's easy when you have the calipers in hand and you can take the bridges off and just see how they're put together.

- the abutment plates are stamped stainless steel. When they're made, the stamping machine leaves a burr. Because they're stainless, it's a very hard burr. The burr is on the inside of the pad pocket, and it catches the rough edge of the pad and holds it. Filing off the burr, and filing the corresponding burr off the edges of the pad made the pads slide into the top part of the pad pocket reasonably smoothly. When I started, they just plain weren't going in. So this is progress.

- one abutment plate of the pair that holds each pad is formed with a bump that acts as a spring to keep the pads tight in the pocket. Even when the burrs are gone on all the metal edges, the spring is still pretty tight. I hammered a pad into place with a soft-face hammer and then slid it out through it's operating range (simulating pad wear) with a pry bar. It's really tight in there - it will get looser as the pads hammer the bump down with the force of stopping the car, but that will take a while, and meantime you have to lever the pads out and hammer them back in. Not a good solution. When I had this problem on my ST40's back in 2003, I used a file to cut the bump down a bit. Or I can take the bent abutment plates out and hammer them flat on an anvil. I might just contact Stoptech and see if I can get a set of four "unbent" abutment plates. I've had AP Racing and Brembo's, and they don't have any corresponding design features to this - the pads just go into pockets that are the right size, and that's that.