Top 10 things I hate about A Bodies

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I just hate the 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Mopars that were painted green back in the 1960's and 1970's.........and I have two of them now and have had 20 or so of the green cars in the past..
LOL Jim
 
Thanks for the tip on the balancer and tightening the front cover. Hope that doesn't happen to mine..... I doubt it saved them even ten cents a car.



So, did this ever happen to Mopars in the 70s then?

For some magical reason this doesn't happen now when all cars have rh thread on both sides. DId the laws of physics change in the intervening period?

The small bolt pattern isn't that bad. I probably only spent $1200 changing over...... :protest:

I used Schumacher mounts on my 5.9 swap. They moved the engine forward maybe 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch. Made the bellhousing bolts easier to get too. However I need a new driveshaft.....

Here's my current toppers on the hate list:

Why the hell is the crank pulley bolt pattern offset so you can only put the pulley on one way?

Ammeter in the dash. (My '66 Ford had a voltmeter for crying out loud)

Torsion bars.

Why the hell do the pistons have to be so far in the hole? what the hell?

Things I like:

The neutral safety switch is IN the transmission, rather than under the dash. Makes moving the shifter, setting up a T-brake a lot easier.

The back seat is easy to get out.

FWIW -The crank pulleys/dampeners come both standard & offset from the factory, the yr's I'm not sure off but I wanna say offset early & standard pattern later on.
 
The back seat is easy to get out.


cool...then get mine out...that fricken thing must be welded in...I can't budge it to save my life....

fricken back seat....My 71 duster comes right out...

my 66 barracuda...she laughs at me like I'm a pervert trying to lift the skirt of some cute girl...then getting punched by the old man!

darn back seat....ugh!!!

no aloha for that back seat...
 
My response in the following order...

1. Todays cars are worse, I'd rather go under an a body dash than a fords

2. Valid, but ever install headers in a 70's firebird?, 41'chevy?, BBC belair's?

3. Don't bother me that much, I see where they were going with that when I look at some import compacts & sports cars like datsun's with the 'more lamer' 4 lug wheels, But Valid cause of limited wheel selection.

4. Yeah it was cool when brackets was all it took, though with schumaker it still is, to put a v8 in place of a 6. Did you know that the drivers side tower is the same between v8/6? and all it takes is cutting the pass side off raising it and moving it forward?
Did you know that b/rb with easily fabbed/modified brackets bolts to a sb k real nice, better than the 67 factory version? and a lil dinging on a center sump pan and it clears the center link?
Now you do, cool!:cheers:

5. Never happened to me before, I've done it both ways, that sux I guess.
I had a friend that forgot the oil slinger on his slant and it pissed lots, though it makes no diff on a sb, I've run with and with out before.

6. If I wanna use a socket on the bell bolts I lower the trans and cross member some 1st and use a really long extension with a ball swivel, other wise a box/closed end works good and I have plenty of time to drink my beer.:cheers:

7. These cars are lasting way longer than the factory or anyone for that matter expected, it took over 30 yrs for my valiant to need bulk head attention, but thats just my car I guess.
90's seabrings make nice bombfires electrically if u know what I mean.

8.I thought all the hardware and shoes still fit and that the diff lied in the backing plate/drum? but I'm no brake expert, oh well didn't matter a whole lot to chrysler being that they snuffed the 8 3/4 & went 8 1/4 exclusively after they worked out the bugs in the early experiment with them in/around 1970 and the 7 1/4 changed as well [dimensionally] .

9. It's only been 49yrs, Now you can get 17''s & 20''s stock!
Besides I remember certain cars coming out in the 80's/90's with 12''&13'' rims, ?daihastu/chevy compacts etc.

10. Definitely a preference thing cause if I was offered a 440/6 or 426Hemi, well I take the hemi an abody, but yeah why the heck didn't they do that?
=insurance reasons probably.

Cool man, now what are the top 10 things you like?

Here's mine, for now that is.

1. There tuff lookin

2. They are fairly light weight

3. The curved inward back windows, bubbled cuda too

4. almost everything swaps between'em with the exception of 'some' body panels/trim & such, but like front glass & trim for a valiant 67-76, door handles mechanical parts,suspension,electrical, etc....too much to sit and think of.

5. torsion bar suspension that handles great.

6. solid unibody unlike the others with there bolted together inner
fender/clip crap.

7. The feel in general, the wheel base is perfect for me I could almost drive & park blind folded.

8. awsome dash lay out, especially in the performance models, vary simple clean styling, some even having the lower dash lip option, map light etc...

9. With the exception of 75 & up there isn't an abody I wouldn't want to drive or own, I like most all of the body styles!

10. That no worthless crud pushing chevy looks as good or can go as fast and can still take a corner like my A Body.

11. wth=P~, everything about them rules, It's what I know as a 'car', I've driven them since I was 15 yrs old.

Cool, have fun with this, it's friendly.:cheers:


Awesome cars we have! You ought to try putting headers on a 66 Fairlane with a 390

If you have wiring issues pull out the dash cluster!
 
I'll work on any part of an a body over E body cars any day of the week. There's not really much too them. Hell, they are all a cakewalk compared to the new garbage I have to work on everyday. The infinity dash all torn out looks way too familiar.
 
Lots of great responses and right-on posts in this thread, but the one that knocked my socks off was this one:

"I guess if your mopar is your babe, the dash is her mother in law.
user_offline.gif



Now, that's funny, I don't care who you are!!!!:cheers:
 
Can't resist the 10 things I LOVE about A-Bodies.

1 The fact is, no matter WHAT MOPAR engine you have, it will be faster in an A-Body than any other RWD platform.... simple physics; they're the lightest... weight/hp... nothing else in the MoPar stables is as good.

2. With just a TINY bit of tweaking, (front sway bar, stiffer shocks, lowering the ride height, etc) they handle like a sports car around corners. Advantage: MoPar

3. Got to be the easiest car their size to adjust front end ride height, EVER...
Chevys and Fords, eat your hearts out... Advantage: MoPar

4. Best looking of the Detroit-produced intermediates of the '60s and early '70s; my personal faves are the '67-'69 Barracuda fastbacks, and the '71 Duster 340s.

5. Awesome bang-for-your-buck, because the "collectors" have yet to "discover" A-Bodies and you can still get a really nice car for a reasonable price! That's huge, in this economy... Advantage: MoPar

6 Easy to hook up on the drag strip; A-Bodies are one of the most scienced-out chassis combinations out there; if you don't believe me, watch NHRA Stock Eliminator with all the HIGH wheestanding 340 and 360 A-Bodies on 9" tires... and nothing but simple chassis mods.... S/S springs and a pinion snubber, or Cal-Tracs. No shortage of wheelstanding A Bodies at the drags...
S/S is even better, but they get a 4-link and 14"-wide tires... Advantage: MoPar

7. I can pull the oil pan off my 360 Magnum with the engine soldly bolted down to the motor mounts... My friend with a '69 Camaro has to REMOVE HIS ENGINE FROM THE CAR to get the oil pan off... Advantage: MoPar!!!

8 Most A-Bodies come with a 904 T-Flite, a transmission SO GOOD that the vaunted and expensive "PRO TRANS" aftermarket units use lots of 904 components in the custom built 3-speed automatics that are fitted to some of the fastest and most hi-dollar "other-than-Mopar" drag cars running, nationally. The put 904 "guts" inside the inferior Brand X transmissions, because cost is no object, and they know how much better they are! Advantage: MoPar

9 Love my 8.75" drop-out center section rear end; it's strong, and it's like falling out of a tree to change ratios. Good limited-slip units abound for it, also. Advantage: MoPar

10 It's not a Chevy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thebirdm:
 
Nobody mentioned the wonderful roof seam on the C pillar of the later A bodies. That's got to be oner of the sorriest designs ever.
 
The right hand / left hand lug nuts and studs actually made sense, the idea being that the forward motion of the car would keep the lug nuts tight. As far as the dash board goes, you don't know the half of that one until you try to work on one while wearing bifocals. Helen Keller would have an easier time under there.
 
Back seat removal isn't that bad. The cushion pushes in to release, like most cars. Unlike most backs that have bolts holding them in, there's a tab on each side near the bottom that you need to bend and the seat comes right out. Piece of cake.
 
i have a question about #3 on that list its been bugging me for a long time, why did they ever make the small bolt pattern rims? does anyone know this?
 
Apparently not...

Some bone-headed bean-counter's wet dream.... and thousands suffer TO THIS DAY (49 years later!!!), because of it!!

What a shame...
 
you didnt mention leaking water under the dash
I've owned 5 only 2 didnt leak...lol

and headers are a bi#@@#@ on just about any car...:toothy10:
 
you didnt mention leaking water under the dash
I've owned 5 only 2 didnt leak...lol

and headers are a bi#@@#@ on just about any car...:toothy10:

Yeah, and it wasn't just A bodies. My Coronet used to give me wet feet too.

Bulkhead connectors - my Duster's is now gone. A bad contact in there made my car stop occasionally and I could never figure it out until I pulled the harness out during the rebuild.

I can think of far more positives than negatives though.
 
I got tired of the "Pretzel Logic" of that bell-crank maze and bought a Bouchillon cable setup; more better!!!!!:cheers:
 
1. Working under the dash on wiring, instrument panel back-side, heater controls, wiper motor connections, etc. You need to be a midget/contortionist with under-developed hands to do this without ending up at a chiropractor the next day! WHY didn't they just make the top of the dash removeable, or hinged???

I hear you on that one. Even at 5'3" I had a hell of a time trying to replace a bulb on my dash yesterday. Not to mention the only way to actually get in there enough to see causes dust, leaves or whatever else might be collecting up there to fall right into your eyes/nose/mouth.
 
the only beef i have is how the doorjamb cracks around the door striker pins...
 
Remember that these cars were designed for ease of assembly on the line.
And Mopar did not worry about us 30 or 40 years later because they thought the cars would have been recycled 3 or 4 times by now.
And if you think A-Body dashes are bad,,try an Imperial. Trust me you don't want to know.
 
I can actually get under the dash fairly well and if I had to be under and Mopar dash for long I just pull the seat.
 
I hear you on that one. Even at 5'3" I had a hell of a time trying to replace a bulb on my dash yesterday. Not to mention the only way to actually get in there enough to see causes dust, leaves or whatever else might be collecting up there to fall right into your eyes/nose/mouth.

That's like opening up the vent box of an A-Body you just bought while doing 55 on the highway. Pine needle's, leaves and a pound of dirt up my shorts and in my face on a hot summer day. :angry7:
 
Back seat removal isn't that bad. The cushion pushes in to release, like most cars. Unlike most backs that have bolts holding them in, there's a tab on each side near the bottom that you need to bend and the seat comes right out. Piece of cake.

C39---you are hired...fly to hawaii...and I'll let you take out my back seat...I'll give ya a place to stay too..if you can get it out in ten minute or less! I'm tellin' ya...some mystical power is keeping that SOB in place.

the only beef i have is how the doorjamb cracks around the door striker pins...

Dang...I hear that...my 71 Duster driver's side looks like crap (Still strong though)...thinking of putting JB weld in the cracks. Sand and paint...PAU (Done)...really don't want to weld it.

Aloha!
 
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