68 Cuda fastback suspension rebuild...

[mopardude318]

Hello everyone. Some progress on my Barracuda's suspension rebuild. When I got the car in Feb. '09, the suspension, tires, brakes and everything else was shot. It had the small bolt pattern, drum brakes, 14" rally wheels, and power steering. I upgraded to disc brakes, large bolt pattern and manual steering...

I used a cherry picker to take weight off the nose while I took out the K-frame and everything. I also used jack stands in the front as well...

Got everything out of the car!

 

[mopardude318]

Got my disc brake kit from Bill (RMS) and also his tubular upper A-arms and strut rods...

Blasted, primed and painted my K-frame:

Here it is painted with my new Just Suspension 1.0" torsion bars!

 

[Tony Fields]

Looking good!

That's the way to get it done.

 

[mopardude318]

Lower control arms with Mancini's stiffening plates, tig welded:

My awesome QA1 shocks!:

Hellwig 1-1/8" tubular front sway bar:

And the Flaming River 16:1 Manual steering box:

 

[clifftt]

Too cool!

 

[mopardude318]

Steering box installed on K-frame:

Moog idler arm, pitman arm, and ball joints purchased from RockAuto.com:

 

[OldVart]

Looking good. You have some nice parts there.

 

[mopardude318]

Putting it all together:

Another view with Firm Feel 11/16" heavy duty tie rod ends:

Working in the rain getting my brakes installed:

Packing wheel bearings:

 

[mopardude318]

Some more progress:

Rims I plan to use, Mustang Bullitt 17x8 & 5.72 backspace, had to also take them to a shop so they could put them on a lathe to hog out the centers so they would fit over the big mopar hubs:

Had to use a 3/8" thick spacer so the wheels would fit. The are made by Lug Nut King out of billet aluminum and are hub centric:

 

[mopardude318]

This is where I started having problems. The RMS tubular A-arms were too wide, and not made for my specific application. At full lock, they would interfere with the UCA, not allowing me to get full turning radius:

But more on that subject later, working with Bill at RMS, he designed different style of a-arms fixing the clearance issue...

Of course, it looked fine when it was setting on the ground:

 

[mopardude318]

Adjusting my ride height, in Bill's terms, "Holy 4 wheel drive batman!"

9 Inches!!! tonka truck status!!

Getting there....

And at 7 inches, still some more adjustment to be had...

 

[rumblefish360]

WOW! Sweet dude, sweet!

 

[mopardude318]

That's much better:

And at 5 1/2 inches from the K-frame to the ground, is the lowest I could go with the torsion bars backed off almost all the way...

I have about 3/8 inch from the LCA bump stop to the bottom of the frame...I might just cut the bump stop in half if I need to...We'll see...

 

[mopardude318]

OK, back to the non-fitting A-arm dilemma....While I was waiting for Bill over at RMS to R&R the new redesigned A-arms, I thought I would order the tubular uppers from nice guy Dick over at Firm Feel to give them a try:

They are actually a very nice A-arm and come powder coated black with new bushings and cool poly UCA bump stops.

 

[mopardude318]

OK, here are the Firm Feel units installed, and at full lock, I have all the clearance I need! Problem solved!

 

[Pyro4117]

And at 5 1/2 inches from the K-frame to the ground, is the lowest I could go with the torsion bars backed off almost all the way...

I also have a 68 Cuda, unfortunately mine is still under a tarp due to current time and money constraints.

I used to own an Isuzu Trooper 4x4 and hang out on a forum like this.

They also use torsion bars for the front suspension and although I never had a need to do it, several members talked about having to 'reindex' the torsion bars to get the suspension where they wanted.

I'm not sure I remember the description well, but basically you would mark where it's mounted now, disconnect it, move the adjuster back to the other end of the adjustment and reconnect the bar, giving you a new increment of adjustment.

It may not be applicable here, but hopefully it might be - or spark an inspiration from someone who has spent more fiddling time than I have.

I do get jealous looking at all of you actually making progress on your cars!

Jay

 

[mopardude318]

Moving onto the rear suspension, I took out my old A-body 8 3/4 rear that had a 489 case 2.94 geared open diff. and small 1 3/4 drum brakes:

Then I bought a 69 B-body 8 3/4 housing, axles and backing plates from a member on this site.

Disassembled and washing it all up:

 

[varlo]

wow good stuff keep it going!

 

[mopardude318]

Naturally, if you want to use a B-body rear in an A-body, you have to buy new spring perches and weld them inwards 1/2" each side:

Primed and painted, and drying in my living room because it started to rain...

 

[mopardude318]

In the midst of thinking about how badly I wanted a sure grip unit, one just so happened to come up for sale on this wonderful site, AND get this, it was listed for sale the same day I got my paycheck! So it was meant to be and I bought it 10 minutes after it was listed!

Here it is, a 742 case 3.55 clutch type sure grip, in my high-tech wood box I made to hold it, lol:

 

[mopardude318]

OK, rebuilding the axle with new Green style bearings I got from awesome knowledgeable Mr. Cass over at Doctor Diff.

Be advised, when you use Green bearings, you must remove this adjuster button in the center section, or the axles will not properly seat:

Here it is all assembled with new brakes, shoes, hardware, and drums:

 

[mopardude318]

And here it is installed in the car, with my QA1 shocks:

 

[mopardude318]

As it sits right now:

Stay tuned, more to come....

 

[HemiMark]

MoparDude.......... Great thread......... I love it and thank you for taking the time to post pics and show what you did. Very cool..... and helpful!!!! :cheers:

 

[mopardude318]

MoparDude.......... Great thread......... I love it and thank you for taking the time to post pics and show what you did. Very cool..... and helpful!!!! :cheers:

Thank you for the nice comments! I was just bored today, and someone in the "how to fit cobra wheels on a duster" thread wanted me to make my own thread about what I had to do to make them fit, so here it is!