The Most Devastating Engineering Miscue Found in Early A-Bodies

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The suspensions were virtually identical from '62-76. No real upgrades there except for the larger upper ball joint in '73. Frankly, I've never broke the small one, so, I'm not sure what the fuss is all about. To me they should have used the bigger ball joint and brakes just so they would only need to stock one part and not have the extra tooling cost to have several different ones for each body class. Same goes for the 7/16 vs. 1/2" studs. I've never had one break on me driving, but, 1/2" ones would have made things a lot simpler. The SBP wheels never made sense to me, but, at least they were 5 lug instead of 4 that some of their competitors were using. At the least, they should have had the upgrades in '64 when they started the V8's.....especially the brakes and rear ends.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I'm thinking of modifying mine to be removable.
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63-67 Corvettes had two rectangular cowl vents that were about 4"x10" each, and they were held in with philips head screws. Easy out; easy in. If I do another A body, I am definitely going to replicate that idea. Done properly, it would be seamless and quite functional.
 
I have always wondered why the automakers made both a post sedan roof design and a pillar-less coupe. The redundancy of parts makes no sense at all. Doors, glass, windshield and gasket, wiper arms, B pillar and who knows what else had to be made special for each model. Why didn't they just choose one design ??
 
Not exactly only an A body issue. Does anyone have information on why Chrysler did three different versions of the 8.75 center section, 741, 742, 489?
There is just enough difference between the three to make the gear sets non interchangeable, but not enough of a difference to make one truly superior.
 
my68barracuda said:
Not exactly only an A body issue. Does anyone have information on why Chrysler did three different versions of the 8.75 center section, 741, 742, 489?
There is just enough difference between the three to make the gear sets non interchangeable, but not enough of a difference to make one truly superior.
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when it was implemented in ‘59 or so, there wasn’t the high powered driveline combos that started showing up in ‘62. I’m sure many a neutral drop of the early Max Wedge cars necessitated the increase in size of the pinion shaft and carrier bearings.
 
That was never a miscue. You're talking about an issue on an item that was designed 60 years ago, on a product that needed to last through at most a 5 year payment book. The concept was this car lasted well enough to have the buyer be happy, and come back for another model later. It succeeded very well. I have a comb - made by the Unbreakable Comb Co in the 80s. It's been so good at it's job that I've never needed to replace it. I don't know if the company is in business but they made a product so good unless I lose it they'll never see another sale to me...lol. That's no way to make money, and that's what Chrysler wanted/wants to do.
 
my68barracuda said:
Not exactly only an A body issue. Does anyone have information on why Chrysler did three different versions of the 8.75 center section, 741, 742, 489?
There is just enough difference between the three to make the gear sets non interchangeable, but not enough of a difference to make one truly superior.
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There were actually at least 5 versions. They started in '57 with the 985 case. There was also that goofy one they used in some of the mid 60's slant 6 B-bodies where some of the internals didn't fit any of the other 8 3/4's. It looks just like an 8 3/4, but, the ring and pinion is actually an 8 1/4.
 
cosgig said:
when it was implemented in ‘59 or so, there wasn’t the high powered driveline combos that started showing up in ‘62. I’m sure many a neutral drop of the early Max Wedge cars necessitated the increase in size of the pinion shaft and carrier bearings.
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I don't know either, but Dr Diff says there ain't much difference between the three,,
Pinion Comparison - Quality Body Shop Drivetrain

and personally, I have seen axel shafts twisted at the spline end, gears stripped from a ring - pinion and once the bearing caps blown off, but I have never seen a pinion shaft break
 
my68barracuda said:
I don't know either, but Dr Diff says there ain't much difference between the three,,
Pinion Comparison - Quality Body Shop Drivetrain

and personally, I have seen axel shafts twisted at the spline end, gears stripped from a ring - pinion and once the bearing caps blown off, but I have never seen a pinion shaft break
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I have, but, it was probably from a pinion bearing failure. Hard to tell once everything explodes as to which came first.
 
65 Cuda 340 said:
5 x 4 inch bolt circle wheels (absolutely numero uno). 13 inch wheels. 7 1/4 rear ends. Limited room for exhaust. Weak clutch once you start getting real horsepower.

64-5 Barracudas: parking lights staying on when headlights are turned on. I know that's common today, but back in the sixties it was extremely rare. Can't tell you how many cars would assume my parking lights were high beams and flash their lights at me. Then when I did turn on my high beams back at them, they were so weak they would just laugh and leave their brights on. Fixed that when I put driving lights on it I ordered from J.C. Whitney. Found out later they were aircraft landing lights. Nobody - and I mean NOBODY - argued with them.
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I really like '64/'65 park lights. They loo like a vicious animal at night. The're very cool.
 
dibbons said:
Were the '64-'65 factory front parking lights/turn signals equipped with yellow lamps from the factory or clear?
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1964-5 Barracuda lenses were clear, bulbs were yellow. Or amber. As I recall, all the manufacturers went to amber parking lights in the 1963 model year. Some used amber lenses, others amber bulbs.

I've seen some bulbs that were just painted yellow; others bulbs used amber glass to get the color. Not sure which was original - been many, many years - but I think yellow paint. I use the amber tinted glass bulbs now, just because the yellow paint will burn off after a while, as you can see if you look closely at the painted bulb on the left, below.


20210110_182430.jpg
 
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By the way, after I replaced the under-dash wiring harness on my 65 with a NOS harness, I noticed that the park lights didn't stay on when I turned the headlights on. Went back to my wiring diagram and studied it for a bit; noticed that in Barracudas, there's a wire connecting the headlight circuit to the parking light circuit. That connection is missing in the otherwise identical Valiant harness. I need to fix that whenever I feel like crawling back under the dash again, which I'm not in a real hurry to do.
 
65 Cuda 340 said:
By the way, after I replaced the under-dash wiring harness on my 65 with a NOS harness, I noticed that the park lights didn't stay on when I turned the headlights on. Went back to my wiring diagram and studied it for a bit; noticed that in Barracudas, there's a wire connecting the headlight circuit to the parking light circuit. That connection is missing in the otherwise identical Valiant harness. I need to fix that whenever I feel like crawling back under the dash again, which I'm not in a real hurry to do.
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Since this is the first '65 Barracuda I've owned, I never knew the park lights came on with the headlights. I've been studying the wiring diagrams in the service manual and I do not see any indication where the connection in a Barracuda is made to power the park lamps when the headlights are on. I would think it would be at the headlight switch, looking at page 8-96 of the manual, a jumper between H and P, but see no mention of any kind. Can you tell me where you found it?
 
Bob Jasinski said:
Since this is the first '65 Barracuda I've owned, I never knew the park lights came on with the headlights. I've been studying the wiring diagrams in the service manual and I do not see any indication where the connection in a Barracuda is made to power the park lamps when the headlights are on. I would think it would be at the headlight switch, looking at page 8-96 of the manual, a jumper between H and P, but see no mention of any kind. Can you tell me where you found it?
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Had to go to my outside garage to have a look see. I didn't see any reference to the connection in the factory wiring diagram in the shop manual, but the laminated full color extra large diagram I got off ebay shows the connection.

wiring diagram with headlight switch (2).JPG
 
Bob Jasinski said:
Since this is the first '65 Barracuda I've owned, I never knew the park lights came on with the headlights. I've been studying the wiring diagrams in the service manual and I do not see any indication where the connection in a Barracuda is made to power the park lamps when the headlights are on. I would think it would be at the headlight switch, looking at page 8-96 of the manual, a jumper between H and P, but see no mention of any kind. Can you tell me where you found it?
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Yes, Not needed or designed back in 65. My 66 Dart is the same. I think all you need is a jumper between terminals to turn the park lights on with the headlights. Let me see if I can find the thread.
 
Bob Jasinski said:
Since this is the first '65 Barracuda I've owned, I never knew the park lights came on with the headlights. I've been studying the wiring diagrams in the service manual and I do not see any indication where the connection in a Barracuda is made to power the park lamps when the headlights are on. I would think it would be at the headlight switch, looking at page 8-96 of the manual, a jumper between H and P, but see no mention of any kind. Can you tell me where you found it?
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65 Cuda 340 said:
Had to go to my outside garage to have a look see. I didn't see any reference to the connection in the factory wiring diagram in the shop manual, but the laminated full color extra large diagram I got off ebay shows the connection.

View attachment 1715667703
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Easy to find. There's a how to thread about it. How to keep Park lights on with Headlights in pre-'68 A - bodies.
 
Thanks, I don't have that wiring diagram. So the park lamps are connected to the tail lamp circuit. Makes sense because it keeps current load off the headlight contact and shares power with the low current tail light draw. I must say though, that my original harness for the headlight switch does not do this, instead, it's the same as the factory manual, with the parking lamps on P. I'm thinking this change may have happened after my car was built (12/14/64), and early Barracudas didn't have this connection. Park lights would only come on when the switch was pulled out half-way.
 
Bob Jasinski said:
Thanks, I don't have that wiring diagram. So the park lamps are connected to the tail lamp circuit. Makes sense because it keeps current load off the headlight contact and shares power with the low current tail light draw. I must say though, that my original harness for the headlight switch does not do this, instead, it's the same as the factory manual, with the parking lamps on P. I'm thinking this change may have happened after my car was built (12/14/64), and early Barracudas didn't have this connection. Park lights would only come on when the switch was pulled out half-way.
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Interesting. My 65 Barracuda was built December 4, 1964 (in St. Louis) and its parking lights have always come on with the headlights. I have always assumed that all 65 Barracudas were the same way, but as I've found out with other cars I've owned, just because my car is a certain way doesn't mean that's true of all cars of the exact same model equipped in pretty much the same way and maybe even built in the same plant at about the same time.
 
Mine was built in Los Angeles. What I'm having trouble understanding is, if this common, why doesn't the factory wiring diagram reflect it?
 
65 Cuda 340 said:
Interesting. My 65 Barracuda was built December 4, 1964 (in St. Louis) and its parking lights have always come on with the headlights. I have always assumed that all 65 Barracudas were the same way, but as I've found out with other cars I've owned, just because my car is a certain way doesn't mean that's true of all cars of the exact same model equipped in pretty much the same way and maybe even built in the same plant at about the same time.
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Bob Jasinski said:
Mine was built in Los Angeles. What I'm having trouble understanding is, if this common, why doesn't the factory wiring diagram reflect it?
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Did you read the "how to" I posted above. The early Plymouth's had a jumper.
 
I totally agree about the cowl vent issue. Thats why i made mine removable

Screenshot_20210110-182828_Gallery.jpg
 
toolmanmike said:
Did you read the "how to" I posted above. The early Plymouth's had a jumper.
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Toolman, yes, I did read it and understand it, just wondering why it wasn't on the wiring diagram. Chrysler has been pretty good about documentation on schematics, so I'm going write this one off along with the absence of an A body wiring diagram for the F/S Factory tach. Yes, I know there is B body tach diagram and I've used it for reference, but no mention of an A body tach in the same manual.
 
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