Brake swap ?

-
D

Daywalker69

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
New guy here. I've been lurking and researching, but can't seem to find the info I need.

I have a 69 Dart that I'm about to stuff a 440 in. The 9in drums I already know will not be sufficient. I've found a 75 Duster with a 318 and discs.

My question is what do I need to do, or need from the duster to convert the brakes, or if it's even compatible enough to do it?

Thanks in advance,

Billy
 
I'm doing the same swap on my 71 dart as we speak. You will need to grab: Upper control arms to get the bigger ball joints, spindles, and everything attached to them. Take the proportioning valve too and its up to you with the master cylinder. I got a reman unit instead of cleaning the old one for 20 bucks. I would take the brake lines too just to make sure you get the right ones at the auto parts store when you buy new ones. They cant seem to get it right for me! I may have left something out but I'm sure someone else will jump in and correct me. Lets see some pics of that dart
 
Off of the '75 you will need everything including the upper control arms. You will also need the combo valve and I would also save the brake lines also just in case there is a difference there. You can use your existing lower control arms but, if the '75 has a sway bar you will want the lower arms off the '75 also.

Chuck
 
You probably already know this, but you'll also need a set of wheels to fit the new bolt pattern you'll have on the front, 5 x 4.5".
 
Well, I bought the whole car for $400, with a running engine, so I have all the pieces I'll need then. The body is rough to say the least, but I'm going to use some of the interior pieces to "make work" in my Dart.

The rear end will be donated to the dart to match up the wheel pattern. So other than dealing with the knuckleheads at the parts store I Used to work at for new calipers ( I am NOT cleaning the old ones up:booty:) and lines, I should be straight.

Thanks for the quick replies!!

Billy
 
That rear will be mighty fragile behind a 440. But it'll probably get you by on the street for a while.
 
I figured fragile at best, but it'll keep me within my budget to at least get the beast rolling, and I"m certain it's a tad stronger than the rear that came in the car (slant 6).

Billy
 
The stock rear end in a 75 318 car is the same 7.25" that came behind a \6. You may luck out and the car has the heavy duty rear end which will be an 8.25.

If you happen to have gotten an 8.25 then it will be more than adequate at stock power levels on the street.

FWIW, I had a 73 Dart Swinger for a doner when i did the disk brake swap. I took the entire front supension from the doner and rebuilt everthing then swapped it all onto my Barracuda. I used the calipers and MC as cores for rebuilt parts. I would recomend NOT getting loaded calipers and pay a few bucks more for a quality brake pad. They only had loaded calipers on the shelf when I did mine and the pads were junk, squeled and threw dust like you wouldn't believe. Wound up replacing them with Raybestos PG+ pads, big improvement. I also didn't bother trying to reuse the rotors or bearings. They are cheap at the local parts store.

The Dart likely has .830" diameter torsion bars, they are not even adequate for a \6. My car had the heavy duty \6 suspension with .850" diameter bars and will likely be what's under your doner. I didn't consider these to be adequate with a \6 either. I am running .890" big block bars with a small block and that is a nice combo. I would recomend with the 440 going to a .920".

If your Dart does not have a sway bar and the doner does and you want to use it you will need to use the doner K-member. Starting in 73 the bar is routed through the K-member and attaches to the lower control arm inboard of the strut rod. The 72 an older the bar mounts in front of the K-member and attaches outboard of the strut rod.
 
Well, someone in their infinite wisdom, WELDED the /6 mounts to the K, so I'm probably going to just swap the whole front into the Dart.

I just left a 5 year stint as Commercial Parets Pro at Advance Auto Parts, in favor of a state job that gave me a healthy raise, and only requires me to work 14 days/month. I'm well versed in the "don't buy the loaded calipers" arena LOL.

When I get a bit of time (probably this evening), I'll post an intro and include some pics of my newest toy.

Billy
 
At the risk of sounding dumb, what does Daywalker mean by "loaded calipers"? I'm getting ready to convert my 68 to discs and don't want problems....
 
tomt966 said:
At the risk of sounding dumb, what does Daywalker mean by "loaded calipers"? I'm getting ready to convert my 68 to discs and don't want problems....
Click to expand...

Normally when you purchase calipers you purchase the brake pads separately. Lately parts store have been offering the calipers with brake pads already installed in them. The pads are going to be the bottom of the line item, and it's worth the extra bucks to purchase a name brand pad separately.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top