2" dropped spindles for your '71 Torino

By Mike Kleinow

I should probably suggest to Mike Chiolero that he can feel free to edit this email and put in the tech tips section of the web site. Using these spindles was a fairly simple swap that really makes the car look better.

Ok. The dropped spindles I got from Fatman Fabrications at fatmanfab.com or 704-545-0369. I found the ad in Street Rodder Magazine. They are kind of spendy, but they have dropped spindles for a bunch of different cars and one of them is for the 67-73 Mustang... Since the '71 Mustang spindle is a direct swap for the '71 Torino, I put them in.

There are also Additional parts you will need.

The spindles use Granada rotors and calipers. You'll need to find a Granada in the salvage yard as you need to retrieve the "C" caliper mount from the spindles. ALso, get the allen screws and the small mounting pieces that hold the caliper to the "C" mount. The calipers I purchased did not come with these small mounting pieces. The bolts holding the "C" mount are large and torqued tight. Be sure to keep them as well. So bring the 1/2 drive stuff and a breaker bar. I'm not sure of the interchange, but I have a neighbor with a '79 Thunderbird and his brakes sure look a like the Granada brakes I used... Anybody know if they interchange?

Ok. The Granada caliper mounts to the rear of the spindle where the Torino caliper mounts to the front, so use the Granada flexible brake line as the stock Torino line isn't long enough to re-route. The Granada brake line is the next size larger than the Torino line so you'll have to buy a 3/16" female to 1/4" male brake line adapter for each side. I found mine at NAPA with the rest of the stuff. Oh and one more thing, the outer tie rod end needs to come from a Granada as well per the directions, but for the life of me I couldn't see any difference between the Granada part and the Torino part... The directions claim that there is a taper change in the tie rod end. I was replacing the worn rotors anyway, but here's another thing, The Granada rotors use the same bearings as the Torino and other than being one cast piece, I can't see any difference between them and the Torino part. They are the same diameter and everything. If your rotors are in good shap If you are interested in lowering it a bit more, put in the Total Control upper & lower control arms. The TCI upper arm mounts about an inch lower in the shock tower. That will lower the nose a fraction and you'll get better handling as well.

OK. Now how did you lighten the front of your car? I'd like to find out more how you dropped the weight off the front of your car, because I'm looking at mine with the same ideas... Aluminum heads are a little out of reach today, but I'm saving for them, and I haven't seen Torino fiberglass hoods anywhere, but maybe you used some tricks I haven't thought of yet.