72 brake help!

sorry for the multiple picture posts, for some reason I could not figure out how to do them all in one post. I tried to show how I thought the calipers would go onto the brackets/spindles and the lack of space for the caliper assembly onto the rotor so hopefully someone can chime in and say yea or you are an idiot.

Thanks

On your second picture it looks like the piston is not all way back IMO. I have an old set here from a '72 Cougar I should take a look at to be sure and see if it goes back further than yours.

I tried to compress the piston further (thinking the same thing) and it would not budge at all, the other caliper sticks out just as far and they appear to be new/rebuilt

I agree that the piston looks to be protruding. IIRC, the piston should be nearly flush with the surface of the caliper. In the 2nd pic, it also looks like the outer pad is not seated correctly on the caliper.

FWIW, pick up a pair of rebuilt calipers from an auto parts store and check to see if they will fit. My guess is someone used the wrong piston on the ones you have....

One more thing, make sure that the bleeders point to the rear of the car when installed. If they point straight up, you need to swap them side to side, as will never be able to fully bleed them.