I'm trying to convert my dead-original, 22k-mile '69 Valiant to LBP while retaining as many original parts as possible.
Part of this involves swapping the dreaded 7-1/4" rear axle for a later '73-76 LBP axle. No sense in making this more complicated or expensive than it has to be, so no 8.25's or 8.75's. The car barely gets driven and certainly not hard, so ripping up the ring and pinion isn't a worry.
That said, someone on Craigslist contacted me tonight, claiming to have a LBP 7.25" rear axle for $100 with drums and all. A bit more expensive than the "I threw it in the trash" value I hear about here on the forum about 7.25's, but Mopar stuff is not common around my stomping grounds.
Problem is, he says the drums are 9".
Now, I don't profess to be an expert on the 7.25" rear axle, but from Googling FABO and comparing pre-1973 Valiant/Dart drum brake part numbers to post-1973 Valiant/Dart drum brake part numbers on Rock Auto, I can't find any evidence of a 9" LBP rear drum.
I am left to conclude that all 7.25" LBP A-body rear axles came with 10" rear drums, and nothing else, but before I accept this hypothesis, can anyone here confirm this as fact?
This axle is a 120-mile round trip for me and I'll have to borrow a friend's beat Ram (with a 3.7 in such bad shape, I'm not sure I trust it to the highway) to do the run, so I am not in a position to chance the trip on the stupidity of one of the local Mopar Craigslisters. Heck, the last time I went hunting for SBP rims, I wound up buying four LBP rims for $4,000*.
-Kurt
*The four LBP's came with a free 1968 Satellite.
Part of this involves swapping the dreaded 7-1/4" rear axle for a later '73-76 LBP axle. No sense in making this more complicated or expensive than it has to be, so no 8.25's or 8.75's. The car barely gets driven and certainly not hard, so ripping up the ring and pinion isn't a worry.
That said, someone on Craigslist contacted me tonight, claiming to have a LBP 7.25" rear axle for $100 with drums and all. A bit more expensive than the "I threw it in the trash" value I hear about here on the forum about 7.25's, but Mopar stuff is not common around my stomping grounds.
Problem is, he says the drums are 9".
Now, I don't profess to be an expert on the 7.25" rear axle, but from Googling FABO and comparing pre-1973 Valiant/Dart drum brake part numbers to post-1973 Valiant/Dart drum brake part numbers on Rock Auto, I can't find any evidence of a 9" LBP rear drum.
I am left to conclude that all 7.25" LBP A-body rear axles came with 10" rear drums, and nothing else, but before I accept this hypothesis, can anyone here confirm this as fact?
This axle is a 120-mile round trip for me and I'll have to borrow a friend's beat Ram (with a 3.7 in such bad shape, I'm not sure I trust it to the highway) to do the run, so I am not in a position to chance the trip on the stupidity of one of the local Mopar Craigslisters. Heck, the last time I went hunting for SBP rims, I wound up buying four LBP rims for $4,000*.
-Kurt
*The four LBP's came with a free 1968 Satellite.
