1967 Barracuda Steering Component Help Needed

[Dartman_1]

I recently inherited a 1967 Barracuda from my brother who passed away recently. It has a newly rebuilt slant six, but appears the car may have originally been a 273 car based on the VIN. The car has manual steering, and has 11" LBP Disk brakes with sliding calipers. He had recently replaced the upper and lower ball joint on the drivers side of the car. Other than that, the rest of the steering components appear to be stock to the best of my knowledge.

That said, the rest of the steering components need to be replaced in order to be road worthy again. Since I have a 1973 Dodge Dart with Power Steering and the larger 11-3/4" Disk Brakes, I was hoping to use some of the parts leftover from that project so that I can save some dough and get the Barracuda back on the road again. Since the center link on the 1967 Barracuda appears to be different from that of my Dart, it has been confusing to simply 'Google' this to find the appropriate answer as to what will and what won't fit.

From my 1973 Dart, here are some of the left over parts I have:
- 11/16" Tie Rod Ends and sleeves
- 9/16" Tie Rod Ends and sleeves
- Fast Ratio Pitman Steering Arm (T/A type from Firm Feel)
- Idler Arm

Will any of these fit the 67 Barracuda, or should I just bite the bullet and buy new stuff? If so, what's the best place to buy from other than the local parts store? I am aware of PST, Firm Feel, Summit, Jegs and a few others.

I've thrown a few photos in here all taken from the drivers side for further visual explanation.

Thanks to all in advance!

 

[omahamoparguy]

there are two different designs for the center link. the first , most common has the steering arm mounted from underneath, the other type which I believe started in 1974 or 75, has the steering mounted on top of the centerlink. the drag link and the steering arm must match the center link design. eg: 1975 centerlink must be used with the newer style steering arm and drag link. the drum centerlinks are compatible with the early style disc steering arms and early drag link. I used a 73 dart disc brake setup on my 64 dart and it bolted up no problems. Also note that the drag link design changed throughout the yeats in the way that it mounted to the k frame. Also note that the steering arm is part of the ball joint and that the disc on 73 and newer disc cars uses a different ball joint that matches the disc spindle. so there are 3 ball joints to choose from. There is more but that is all for now that i can come up with.

 

[Dartman_1]

Thanks for the quick reply. So, if the spindles are from a later model say a 73 up (I'm not positive of that, but they would seem the same as my 73), the lower ball joints on them can vary? I do know the center link on the 67 Barracuda is different from the 73. The 73 steering link mounting points for tie rods, idler and steering arm goes straight across whereas the 67 has a turned end for the tie rod on the drivers side, so I assumed the steering arm wouldn't work there unless I upgraded the steering link and other components. Since I'm looking to minimize what I need to update, is there an advantage to update the center link to a later model center link or can I just stay with the 67 setup? Would the tie rods and sleeves the same for 67 as they are for the 73? Some of the parts websites seem to imply that they are the same.

 

[AJ/FormS]

You need to consider the steering system separately from the suspension pieces.
-The 67 stud-mount idler arm is a stumbling block.It is a one-year-only piece.If you have that stud-mount arm,you will need to stick to the 67 to 72 steering system. That is the idler arm(67 for you), the pitman arm and the center-link. The tierod ends are interchangeable.
-K-frames. There are 3 kinds; the 67stud-mount idler, the early(68-72)biscuit engine mount, and the late(73up) spool engine mount.
-The lower control arms,(3 kinds) will physically interchange,from 67 to late 70s. But if you want to run a swaybar, you need to stick with arms that fit your K-frame,as the sway-bar tabs are different between the early (72down), and the late(73up) .
-The upper control arms will all bolt to the mounts, but,have to match the spindles.There are just 2 upper arms; the 67 to 72 small BJs, and the 73up large BJs.
-There are three 67 to 72 spindles; The 9inch drum, the 10 inch drum, and the KH disc. From 73up there are 2 more; the drum(6cylinder cars), and the disc. In 74 and later(in Canada at least) all A-bodies had the 73 disc spindles.

So, for you;
If you still have the 67 K-frame,you will have to stick to the 67 arms, and centerlink.
If you want to mount the 73up brakes and spindles, you will need the 73up,big BJ, UCAs, and any LCA, including the 67 arm. But if you want a sway bar, you will need the LCAs that match your K-frame sway bar mount system, or fab your own tabs.The tierod ends will all bolt up,as long as they are A-body ends. The original sleeves can be reused.
You will need new flex-hoses for the 73 calipers, and an adjustable Proportioning valve to marry the front and rear systems.
The dual reservoir drumbrake M/C,will need to have the residual valve pulled from the front-discharge line. While it will work, that M/C should be considered for replacement by the 73up, DISC-BRAKE M/C. The only important difference between them is the size of the db reservoir.
I think I got everthing right.

 

[Dartman_1]

Thanks AJ/FormS.

It's making some better sense as far as the mid steering section components go, however with all that said, I'm now further confused as to what may be on the car for spindles and control arms. The brakes are 11" diameter disc brakes and the calipers are the slider types which I assume we're for the later model disc brakes like I have on my 73. The upper control arms do have the smaller upper ball joints and I'm not sure how to tell what the lower control arms are at this point. Could there be mismatched parts on this thing or would that even work?

The car had been running this combination before my brother started replacing components. Previous to his passing, he complained that the car didn't seem to steer properly and that it seemed to jounce about over 25 or 30 MPH, and I can say just pushing it around the driveway seems to be a chore and it doesn't seem to turn very sharp in one direction (can't recall if that's left or right).

Short of tearing everything apart further to find part numbers on all the pieces to figure out what I'm working with, I'm at a standstill before I can get the right parts coming. I certainly would appreciate any further feedback to help figure this out.

Thanks again!

 

[Jim Lusk]

No way the car could be driven with small upper ball joints and late spindles. The changeover in brakes/steering components was from 1972 to 1973 (67-72 all small bolt, small ball joint, early center link. 73-76, some drum small bolt, all disc big bolt, big upper ball joint, late center link).

 

[omahamoparguy]

there were two of the mopar disc sizes used on that spindle. One is roughly 10.5 and the other is 11.78 I believe. the larger requires 15 inch wheels atleast {mopar wheels that is] the both will fit that spindle with the correct appropriate caliper adapter. all the 73+ A bodies used the smaller Disc. All of these spindles used the larger ball joint. Only the pre 73 [72 and down] disc brake cars used the smaller upper ball joint but you can spot them easy cause they are the 4 piston kelsey hayes setup. It is possible that some sort of balljoint adapter could have been used on the ball joint stud to adapt the smaller ball joint. I canot tell in the pic what ball joint you have. Ob viously you could measure them if you had some dimension info. {dont have that at hand]

 

[Dartman_1]

Ok. Becoming clearer. I'll measure and compare the upper ball joints from my 73 to see what's going on with the 67. If I got this right and the upper and lower ball joints and spindle is from a late model setup then it sounds like I retain the 67 center link, pitman and idler arm and can use any of the A-Body tie rod setups (9/16" or 11/16").

 

[Dartman_1]

Got the disc brake figured out as I upgraded from the 10-7/8" discs to the 11.75" discs long ago on the 73 Dart. Appreciate the help!

 

[AJ/FormS]

Post 4 edited for clarity.
While its possible to put the small bj studs into the 73 up DB spindles,(Ive never done it), I doubt the tapers will match up, and neither will the retaining nut end up in the correct relationship. So, since you say you have the small BJs, I would separate those joints and check the fitment. Perhaps bushings have been made/installed.
THe lower BJs are system specific as to how they mount to the spindles. The studs will all be the same, and physically all will fit any arm.So if theyre on the spindle,theyre correct, and will be 73up DBs.
As to the different turning angles.Three things come to mind. First are you sure the wheels are ending up at different angles or is it the steering wheel that is not centered? And 2 is the centerlink hitting the pan, before the steering arm hits its stop? Or 3 is the one of the stops damaged?

 

[Dartman_1]

AJ/FormS- More good points I will need to examine and check out further but this certainly helps my cause significantly from where I was when I started.

One last observation I made on the current setup and question I have since the steering link seems to hang pretty low on the 67. The idler arm currently hangs very flimsily from the bottom of the bracket that is attached to the K-Frame. I can't find any diagrams for the 67 setup and have seen it referenced in photos two different ways online (mounted from the top and bottom). I understand this was changed in 68, but does the idler arm actually sit this way from the frame and then attach to the underside of the steering link as opposed to the topside as the 73 type linkage is? Looking at it, it would seem like it could be swapped and flipped around from the way it is presently mounted to sit atop the bracket provided for it as opposed to the bottom of the bracket.