My 71 Chevelle has original disk brakes, 11" and I would like to go to tubular A-arms. I have read that I need to get B-body spindles to do this conversion. Is there any place I can buy these or will I have to spend the next few days cruising the junkyards?

Also, I have planned to drop the car 2" in front and 3" in the rear, will this stance look right? I know that the rear was a bit lower from the factory and I would just like to get a nice drop or raked look.

I would appreciate any info, thanks!

Kris Horton

You don't HAVE to use b-body spindles for tubular arms.

I think a couple places manufacture stock dimension tubular upper arms. I have a set from www.fatmanfab.com (http://www.fatmanfab.com)

I believe there is also some kind of spindle attachment that will lengthen it to reach the b-body style tubular arms. Don't know any thing more about it, though.

You'll have more arm options if you do go with the b-body spindle. Plus you can fit bigger brakes. Supposed to improve handling, also (though some say it's at the cost of adding bumpsteer).

Tim.

I think that Global West also makes tubular CA for stock spindles. I personally wouldn't bother changing to aftermarket CA to use with stock spindles, but that's just my opinion.
I just got some tall spindles from a salvage yard Saturday and I realize now that they are really plentiful and easy to find. Also, if you do the tall spindle swap, it results in a drop of about 1.5 inches. Hope this helps. smile.gif

As for stance, thats a pretty personal decision... It depends on the look you want to achieve versus what it looks like now. Also, I think tire and wheel combo/size will effect which stance looks best...

I question the 2" front and 3" rear, because "most" Chevelles I see tend to have the back already lower than the front or about level, but never really raked(lower in front, assuming stock setup), so why would you lower the rear more than the front?

I think the rear should be level with the front, or slightly raised, but thats my opinion (and as I said above, it also depends on what your car sits like now). Also look under the car, as some areas might be too close to drop much without scraping the ground...

Yep! B body spindles are plentiful. Figure how much demand there would be for them? You almost never need to replace a spindle in normal life ...unless there's an accident or something really unusual happens.

So most of the demand for B body spindles are coming from guys doing conversions to get better brakes on older cars. I can assure you that the supply is bigger than the demand.

Should be really easy to find AND be relatively cheap. I think I paid $30 each side or for both or something like that. I asked for 93 Caprice spindles, but not sure what they came off in real life. Probably all the same part.

Those 12 inch 1LE rotors are sweet smile.gif

I got mine off a '90 Caprice with 12" rotors. Not hard to find, plenty of donor cars out there.

One thing to consider, the spindle swap alone dropped the front of my car considerably while using the same springs. You may want to see what it looks like before you order different springs.