Today’s A body work. Love this car!

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J

Joseph James

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Asheville, NC
I have had my 65 Dart 270 for a few months now. I drive 24 miles/day for work. So far, I have just put gas in it and drove it.

I changed oil today. Went with high zinc 20/50. It has a new turn signal switch and I have had to work on bulb grounding. Other than that, it has been very reliable and a good driver.

I did notice that it is ready for new lower control arm bushings and strut rod bushings. Poly or rubber? Is there an advantage to poly bushings?

My daughter wants the car and will be driving in another year or so. My plan is disc brakes and a shoulder harness seatbelt. IF she gets the car, I will be getting another C body. I miss my old boat of a Plymouth.
 
The poly/rubber debate is ongoing. I’m trying to make my car handle better and feel more solid (it feels very floaty stock) so I’m going the route of higher spring rates + poly bushings.

poly provides less flex, but more harshness than rubber.

If you’re going the route of a daily driver, rubber might be the way to go, as it’ll be more comfortable.

As for disc brakes, there are lots of options, personally, I’m going the way of 73+ parts. Tubular UCAs, later spindles, bigger brake rotors.
 
chinze57 said:
The poly/rubber debate is ongoing. I’m trying to make my car handle better and feel more solid (it feels very floaty stock) so I’m going the route of higher spring rates + poly bushings.

poly provides less flex, but more harshness than rubber.

If you’re going the route of a daily driver, rubber might be the way to go, as it’ll be more comfortable.

As for disc brakes, there are lots of options, personally, I’m going the way of 73+ parts. Tubular UCAs, later spindles, bigger brake rotors.
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I did a rubber set on my old Plymouth. That’s all PST offered for a C body, but I was happy with the way it turned out. I just noticed the poly offering for the A body and wondered if they would be better.
 
JDMopar said:
If you drive it a lot, and aren't adding sway bars and stiffer springs....just use new rubber bushings. The link below sells high quality suspension parts that are light years ahead of Autozone junk.

MIBearings LLC
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Thanks for that link!
The car does have rear air shocks and it bounces over bumps. Thinking of going back with stock style shocks.
 
It would probably ride better, but Early A's are kinda like E bodies for notoriously being tail draggers. You mentioned adding disc brakes. Not sure if it's still there, but a place called Pirate Jacks, that sells disc brake kits for all kinds of old cars is right here in Asheville. It's real close to Brother Wolf animal shelter down in Biltmore. If you are on Swannanoa River Rd. and turn across the old concrete bridge to go to Brother Wolf, it is down the 2nd street to the left.

Disc Brake Conversion Kits | Disc Brake Kit | Disc Brake Kits - Pirate Jack
 
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JDMopar said:
It would probably ride better, but Early A's are kinda like E bodies for notoriously being tail draggers. You mentioned adding disc brakes. Not sure if it's still there, but a place called Pirate Jacks, that sells disc brake kits for all kinds of old cars is right here in Asheville. It's real close to Brother Wolf animal shelter down in Biltmore. If you are on Swannanoa River Rd. and turn across the old concrete bridge to go to Brother Wolf, it is down the 2nd street to the left.

Disc Brake Conversion Kits | Disc Brake Kit | Disc Brake Kits - Pirate Jack
Click to expand...
Thanks for that info! I saw Pirate Jack on eBay but I didn’t know they were in Asheville. That will make it easy to pick up the conversion kit. I’ll have to source rims, too.
My strut rod and lower control arm bushings are in need of replacement. I’ll have to see how that fits in with a brake conversion.
 
I didn't look through any of their kits, but they may have one that retains the small bolt pattern if you don't want to replace wheels. I bought a Wilwood kit a few years ago to add disc brakes to my 65 Barracuda, and it will accommodate either 5 on 4 or 5 on 4.5 inch wheel bolt pattern. I'm not far enough along to install it yet, but hopefully it works good. As much disassembly as you have to do in order to install new LCA bushings, you might as well do the upper bushings too, and swap the brakes at the same time. If you rely on it as a driver though, that might be a pain to get all that done on the weekend in time to get back to work on Monday....lol.
 
New rubber will feel very good, poly will feel everything. For a driver I'd go stock new rubber. Air shocks on an A are just a crutch for weak springs. New shocks alone are not going to affect your ride height. Shackles are cheap if you cant afford new springs yet to get your tail out of the mud. Make sure your disk brake conversion uses your spindles (many are made for 9" spindles) and can accept your current wheels. I don't think and 13's fit any disks.
 
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