67 Barracuda- Brakes and suspension on a 5000 budget- advice needed

[barbee6043]

I thought I was a big spender other day when I ordered 1 new wheel cylinder from Rock Auto and got 2 cans of brake cleaner at WallyWorld!! But the brakes that were on the project when I bought it work just fine now! I forgot, 2 new front rubber hoses from Rock also.

 

[SeattleQQ1Fish]

That reminds me, I need to add brake cleaner to my next Amazon order

 

[512Stroker]

I thought I was a big spender other day when I ordered 1 new wheel cylinder from Rock Auto and got 2 cans of brake cleaner at WallyWorld!! But the brakes that were on the project when I bought it work just fine now! I forgot, 2 new front rubber hoses from Rock also.

Dig into the wife's retirement account and treat that good old car to a set of stainless steel flex brake lines, 2 front and the one in the rear.
They last much longer than rubber lines and they dont ballon out when you stand on the pedal making for a nicer feel in the brake pedal.

 

[barbee6043]

Dig into the wife's retirement account and treat that good old car to a set of stainless steel flex brake lines, 2 front and the one in the rear.
They last much longer than rubber lines and they dont ballon out when you stand on the pedal making for a nicer feel in the brake pedal.

Wife has NO retirement act nor I Just 2 old people she still works country r/e at age 65,she is a kid! ha
Never had anything stainless on one of my old mopars in 35 yrs! I have always had several cars working on and IF I had just one, I could do like many, try to make my "baby" perfect!!!

 

[Chained_360]

If you found a 73-76 k-member you could run the narrow sway bar that will allow for big backspace rims. And you wouldn’t have to buy that special kinked Hellwig or the narrow Hotchkis.

This is turning into quite the interesting thread! I'm curious though, is this the only advantage of a '73-'76 K-member? Clearance for wheels through a narrower sway bar? Are there any other advantages to this specific part?

 

[oldkimmer]

Better stronger fail safe motor mounts. Kim

 

[66fs]

Funny you said that, I was just thinking about it. I don't have the ability at home to swap Kmembers, but I know of a shop that could probably do it. Plus I could paint it properly and maybe assemble some of the suspension before it goes in the car. Could you explain more about why the 67 only idler arm setup is so hated?

You don't need a new K-Frame, the 67 K frame is fine. The 67 K frame is better made than the 73 up frames. I have run the 67 down K frames for 40 + years and still run the same system on my 66 Formula S. It helps to use a bearing idler arm, see below. If you get a good alignment guy, you don't need to buy a lot of the "trick" stuff. The 66 Formula S handles fine, and it has all factory Formula S suspension except the bearing idler, MOOG K7040 HD strut rod bushings, and 11/16 tie rods. In normal day to day driving it handles as good as anything.

Firmfeel Mopar Suspension and Steering

 

[SeattleQQ1Fish]

You don't need a new K-Frame, the 67 K frame is fine. The 67 K frame is better made than the 73 up frames. I have run the 67 down K frames for 40 + years and still run the same system on my 66 Formula S. It helps to use a bearing idler arm, see below. If you get a good alignment guy, you don't need to buy a lot of the "trick" stuff. The 66 Formula S handles fine, and it has all factory Formula S suspension except the bearing idler, MOOG K7040 HD strut rod bushings, and 11/16 tie rods. In normal day to day driving it handles as good as anything.

Firmfeel Mopar Suspension and Steering

It looks like the bearing setup from Firmfeel is retrofit onto the existing idler arm? How is it to install?
Rick Ehrenberg raved about it back in 2012.

 

[DionR]

Questions:
Can one convert a slant six k member to V8? There is a NOS one on Ebay right now

Wonder how close you are to Matt? Maybe he would loan you his jig(s) or lend a hand.

68-76 idler arm mount locator

 

[66fs]

It looks like the bearing setup from Firmfeel is retrofit onto the existing idler arm? How is it to install?
Rick Ehrenberg raved about it back in 2012.

You used to be able to buy them, but now we have the kit. They have instructions on that page so you can see if you are up to doing the conversion. It really is not a necessity. We used a 67 K frame on my brothers 67 Barracuda and put 300,000 miles on it, then swapped it into a 73+ car because that K-frame was toast. As for the fail safe motor mounts, it is fine to just add a torque strap to limit the stress on the LH motor mount. Add it to the head for a longer moment arm and to reduce stress on the block motor mount lugs.