He is an excellent forum for A-body cars http://www.forabodiesonly.com/ . Lots
of folks doing what you are talking about. Also, on moparts.com there are a
couple of folks swapping the new 5.7 hemi into A-bodies, one is carbed the
other is EFI.
I have a 68 Barracuda that was orignally a \6 column shifted 3spd that I have
swapped in a LA 360 with magnun heads, a floor shifted A833OD 4spd, disk brakes
and a 3.55 sure-grip 8.25" rear end.
For the disk brake swap I used a 73 Dart as a doner. If your Duster is 73 or up
you won't need some of the parts.
To put the 10.75" disks off a 73-76 A-body in a 72 or older A-body you need to
take the following from the doner. The upper control arms (the ball joint is
bigger), the spindles, caliper carrier, calipers, rotors, master cylinder and
proportioning valve. If your car is a 73 up with drum brakes you won't need the
upper control arms. The other option is the 11" brakes off a C-body. The only
different part for the front end is the caliper bracket from the C-body and the
rotors. The 11" brake will require at least 15" rims.
When I did mine I rebuilt the doner control arms with new bushings and ball
joints. I picked up new rotors (readily avaliable at most all parts stores for
about $40 each) and installed new bearings (also cheap at the local parts
store). The calipers and master cylinder were used as cores for rebuilds from
the local parts store (also cheap at $30 each for calipers & $20 for the MC). I
picked up new rubber lines.
It's a straight forward remove and replace of parts. The only issues are rusted
bolts and fittings that may give you troubles. The bushings can be pressed in
an out of the control arms with a vice and an assortment of sockets. You will
need the special ball joint socket to R&R the upper ball joints if you plan to
go with new.
EFI is best acomplished with an aftermarket controller such as FAST or Accel.
People have adapted factory stuff but you are quite limited with engine mods
the stock program will support and the wiring harness can be a chore.
Dave Clement
99 SLT+ CC 4x4
In article <20051219013642.UWTI9108.eastrmmtao06.cox.net@[172.18.52.8]>,
<clhyer@cox.net> writes:
>
>
> Evening all,
> We are kicking around the idea of doing a restify with a Duster. Probably
not a total, but front disc brakes and a new fuel injected engine. We have
been coming up blank when doing a web search. Has anyone here done one? Know
of anyone who has? Websites? Any help to get us out of the planning and into
an active search for a donor, etc. will be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Cal & James
>
>
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