Hey, working on a 59 ford skyliner (retractable) here. Ive heard you can use granada spindles and brakes on 50s fords, so im wondering if it is true for 59 fords. I happen to have a granada to use as a parts car too, its a 76. I used the search function here and I found it will work on 57s, but nothing about 59s, and as im not a ford man, I dont know about parts interchangeability. If it is possible, how is it done? Can I use the 59 control arms on the granada spindles? Also, with front discs, will I need a different master cylinder, or a proportioning valve? Any help or insight or leads are appreciated. Thanks Briggs
Granada will work on Fords up to the mid '60s.but the bottom eye on the spindle has to be reamed to fit the lower 59 Ford balljoint. It takes a tapered reamer 1 1/2" per foot to do this.You can do this at home but the reamer is not cheap,$79.95 from Speedway Motors.Your local machine shop could probably do this or send them to Fatman Fab and last time I heard it was for about &50.00 plus S/H. You use your stock 59 upper and lower a arms.On the ones I have done with rear drum brakes I used the Granada prop valve,booster and m/c..The Granada spindle gives around 2" drop but you can do the same with other Ford spindles ,LTD,T-BIRD..AND Torino's that will bolt on with out any mods.and get about 1"drop.Check www.57fordsforever.com and www.59ford.com. and do a search for spindles and on one of these is a list of Ford spindles that work.
you gotta watch out on the discs you use because you might end up with different size center hub diameter from stock. then you'll end up buying newer steelie to run which might have the wrong offset and stick you front track out a bit. just make sure to find the correct steel wheel if your running steelies.
Is this true? Why does everyone use the reamed Granada spindles if there is a bolt in? I like easy! 1" drop is good for me, and I have 2 canditates. ('62 T-bird and '59 Edsel)
I think because Granadas are plentiful and cheap, torinos are hard to find for parts. BTW, I think there is another kit that ses the original 59 spindles and wheels, bolt right up to the orginal backing plate mounting hole. I think it would look cleaner in your case as you have a more hard to find model.
I read from Ken Harkema, a T-bird restorer, who both restored stock setups and converted squarebirds (58-60) to discs that: 1)it's a real PITA and 2) the stopping benefit wasn't that much better than well-maintained stock IIRC. There is the drop (most don't want, as they don't ride that high to begin with), the wheel problem with discs, the requred master cylinder change to dual with a proportioning valve, etc. The kit that's available is pricey and there are supposedly still issues. I entertained this thought on the 60 I have to get running, but after all the dialogue, I won't change it - unless a better all in one solution arises.
Thanks for the info, the Bulletbird does stop just fine. The Edsel will pull a trailer so I thought of upgrading to disk. Wheels are no problem, since I have 15" Interceptor steelies. I'm in enough junkyards that I can find Torino based spindles if needed. I have not been able to find the Torino aluminum wheels though. I like easy but need safe too.
I did a little looking and found a list I printed from a '57 Ford site and found the following spindles should be a bolt on... 74/79 Cougar and Torino,74/76 Torino and Montego,77/79 LTDII and 74/79 Ford/Mercury(big car).I can't verify this as I have only used the Granada spindles.
My Brother ,"Scarliner" here on the HAMB, just did this swap on his '60 Ford.. he mentioned the reaming at the balljoint boss,and also a little at the steering arm where tie rod end fits.....but ONLY 1" or less in the amount of DROP....
we have done this upgrade on both a 1958 Edsel Ranger and 1959 Galaxie we used 1975 torino spindles and rotors and front brake lines ($50 junk yard), opted for new reman calipers $80, and used a frnt disc/rear drum manual brake master for a 1970 Ford F250, we ran an adjustable p/valve to the frnt and direct lines to the rear and all seams to work well on the 59, the edsel isnt road worthy yet but should work well and was pretty cheap. edsel
1968-'78 full sized Fords, '72-up Torinos, '74-'79 Cougars, LTDII's Thunderbirds and Rancheros are just a few of the Fords that are direct disc brake donors for Galaxies. Other than a little brake line trickery, you may have to grind 1/8" from the top of the steering arm so that the tie rod will pull into the taper far enough to get the cotter key in. Or just use a lock nut....either way will work and be safe. You can find plenty of donor cars in the boneyards.
another item that i remember (I'm not sure of the specifics though) is that the Granada was a lighter? car than the T-bird or had a diff f/r weight ratio.......basically the "upgrade" parts were meant for a lighter car.
Granada spindles have larger hubs that will indeed not fit over your factory wheels. The one advantage is that parts are cheap compared to Torinos and other vehicles. The v8 cars also have 1" bigger rotors.
Scarebird.com $130 ish, bolt on to your stock spindle, i think they have an application for your car. I know a guy who used em and said it was a piece of cake ! L
The Jalopy Journal
