73 Disc brake upgrade vs 72 disc conversion

[crcarch]

There are a lot more aftermarket disc brake conversion choices available for 72 Challenger's with drums than disc brake upgrade kits for a 73 with factory discs. Can I simply swap out the disc knuckle for one used with 72 drums and use the aftermarket conversions or is there more to it?  I'm surprised I haven't seen this in a magazine before now, so maybe I'm missing something.

[Chryco Psycho]

yes you can use a 70-72 drum spindle on you 73 to use the aftermarket conversion kits

[crcarch]

Is the spindle the only thing requiring change?  Will remaining steering/suspension pieces work with them?

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Yes,
   I have mid 70's Dodge Dart spindles on mine.   

   Mike

[Hopalong]

Don't forget to use the correct upper control arm.  Use the control arm from a 72 e body if you are going to use that spindle.

[lime 70]

What is the difference between a 70 and 72 upper control arm. I am asking because I have 72 spindles and 70 upper a arms.

[70GranCoupe]

I am not sure why you need to swap the upper control arms is this a later model thing. I have a 70 Gran Coupe I swapped in Disc parts from a '74 Challenger, the spindles mounted right up to the 70 drum upper control arms and I have never read you need to change these just the spindles, plus oif course the prop value, ms, etc, what's up with the upper control arms??
Thanks, Sean

[FY1 RT SE]

No need to change the UCA's on an E body.

[Plum6Pak]

I installed the disc brakes from a 73 Duster on my 70 Satellite. Used the the spindles, rotors and calipers from the Duster, used my original control arms just cause they had the new ball joints already installed and were painted up nicely, works out sweet. Saved me a lot of money and it's all like new. Cost about 15 dollars a side to rebuild the caliper and and about 40 for good pads, 20 to turn the rotors and a lot of time cleaning parts up and painting. Here's a link that shows a little more and some other members comments on what fits and such. http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=14511.msg146995#msg146995

[freightdriver]

i've got 73 up abody spindles, 11.75 76 cordoba rotors and 76 cordoba slider calipers and backing plates worked out quite nice.. i've got maybe 200 into my front brakes if that

[Hopalong]

My understanding is that the geometry changed with the later spindles and were accounted for by the upper control arms.  The newer spindles may work fine with the older control arms, but there may also be some binding or other geometry related problems.  I am loking at the tubular or adjustable control arms for my challenger when the time comes.

[Steve]

IF you have a 70 - 72 E-body, you can upgrade to the larger factory discs using the knuckles from a '73 to '76 A-body and the caliper brackets from a late B-body. Use your 70 - 72 pin-type calipers. If you stay with the standard sized rotors, you can keep the factory caliper mounting brackets. There is NO need to change the upper or lower control arms as the 73 - 76 A-body knuckles will produce the same geometry. The 73 - 76 knuckle allows for the use of the '73 up rotors.

Manual brakes will provide superior feel to power units. Use the 15/16" A-body w/pw brakes master cyllinder.

Rear discs are not needed as you will still be able to lock up the rear wheels. If you are road racing, absolutely want to save 7 pounds of unsprung weight, or just want to show off, rear disc kits are available.

Upper control arms shoulder very little of the load...LCAs handle the bulk of the load. Box in the LCAs....pre-fabbed plates are available.


FYI...if you are contemplating suspension or brake upgrades, you MUST buy Tom Condran's book, "Performance Handling for Classic Mopars", available through ACME publishing. You have to mail order the book, but it is absolutely great!

[Grancoupe]

Hey Steve, hte book you mentioned. Is it a book from the 70's like the rest of the mopar books? Or is it something base on modern principals. That's one thing about Chevy and Ford that I wish I could find more of for Mopar. Alot of authors are still R&D'ing Ford and Chevy stuff. Not much new school mopar stuff.

[Steve]

The first version of the book was printed in '98. The latest version is the third version from '99. The focus of the book is maximizing performance using stock pieces and Moog bushings. He provides enough theory and rationale so that you can make decisions about how much modification you need to make. He also provides a lot of parts swap reference data. A very good read for sure.

[crcarch]

FYI...if you are contemplating suspension or brake upgrades, you MUST buy Tom Condran's book, "Performance Handling for Classic Mopars", available through ACME publishing. You have to mail order the book, but it is absolutely great!

Can't find this book anywhere.  Amazon, BN, ACME publishing, etc.  Got any suggestions.