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Superior Spindles’ 2-Inch Drop Mixed With Wilwood Brakes
Getting a ’55 Chevy to sit at the right ride height is as easy as installing a set of 2-inch drop spindles, such as those from Superior Spindles and others. Getting the big ol’ car to slow down offers many more choices as well, and as long as you’re swapping spindles it is an excellent time to install those long-overdue disc brakes. When you think about it, it doesn’t make good sense to put a newly rebuilt tri-5 Chevy on the same road with stock OE cars with ABS four-wheel disc brakes. If ever you came upon a situation where a car ahead of you had to stop in an emergency situation, the performance of even a stock set of disc brakes will far “outdistance” your drum setup, meaning you would not be able to stop in time and could well end up in the trunk of the car ahead of you. Not good.
The standard swap (let’s call it Stage I) involves installing a 10-1/2-inch rotor, and that’s plenty for most people. The next step up (Stage II) is to use a kit to install a 12-inch 1LE Camaro rotor and a ’79-’81 Camaro caliper (also used on the Astro van). This kit typically sells for around $600, but it will widen the track a bit, so wheel selection is somewhat affected. Another step up (Stage III), involves using a 12-3/16-inch two-piece rotor and aftermarket Wilwood calipers. Superior Spindles’ version of this kit sells for around $1300, and it does not widen the track because Wilwood’s hat doesn’t use any adapters.
It just so happens that we knew of a shop that was about to install a Superior Spindles kit on a ’55 Chevy two-door Bel Air, so we elbowed our way into the place and set up camp with our cameras and notepads. This car already had a cheap set of drop spindles on it and a ho-hum set of 10-1/2-inch rotors, but the owner was definitely not happy. The braking performance, while better than the stock drums, was not nearly as good as he had hoped it would be, and he swore that he could feel the flimsy caliper mounts flex during braking. Whatever the reason, he wanted them off, and he brought the car to T&R Performance in Simi Valley, California, to get the work done correctly. Tim and Ron Porco also happened to have a Stage II kit in stock, to go along with the Stage III kit ordered for this car, so we took the opportunity to install both, giving you a nice comparison. Superior Spindles uses 4140 heat-treated chromoly for its spindles, and the kits include everything needed (seals, bearings, pads and braided lines). The rotors in the Stage III kit are drilled and slotted for a more aggressive look.
The installation was surprisingly smooth and quick, or maybe it’s just that we are used to so many other installs having glitches and quirks that it made us take note when it all bolted right on and everything fit. Follow along and we’ll show you what is involved to swap in the Superior Spindles and Wilwood brakes on a car that was not up to par.
