1970 Valiant Disc Brake Conversion

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TechMavn

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hi folks, am new to Mopar. All help really appreciated. bought 1 owner 70 valiant duster, slant 225 3 speed for hobby project with kid. anyone recommend a drop in front disc brake conversion kit, believe will need new master cyl and power booster (likely). is drum at all 4 corners. wheels are orig 175 x14. have looked at SSBC and Summit but unsure on best approach. thank you .
 
I'd email Dr Diff for advice. I have used his conversion kit and it is very good.
 
If you can find it, a complete '73 to '76 brake swap, but that will make the front wheel bolt pattern 5 x 4.5, and your 5 x 4 current wheels will not fit. That would mean swapping the rear axles and brake drums as well.
 
If you can find it, a complete '73 to '76 brake swap, but that will make the front wheel bolt pattern 5 x 4.5, and your 5 x 4 current wheels will not fit. That would mean swapping the rear axles and brake drums as well.

1. the car is a 70 as i mentioned.
2. only need the front
3. there are a number of folks that offer kits for 5x4 just looking for insights on what has worked.

TY for the thoughts appreciate checking in here
 
No worries, I had a couple of 70 Darts, liked the sbp rallye wheels and I went with oe front disc brakes. Were a lot easier to get 30 years ago.
 
I run Kelsey Hayes in my Ragtop. If your patient someone will sell a set up. Thats what I did. Then I hunted bown another set of calipers and rebuilt those as well to have on deck.

Spindles.jpg


Spindles1.jpg
 
The nice thing about the SSBC kits is they are very complete with Master, bearings, prop valve, new brake lines and all hardware and best part is they have both bolt patters drilled in rotors and work with 10" drum spindles.
Although not cheap.
 
I'm also a fan of the stock KH disc brakes for that year. That way you can keep the same wheels and not have to convert the rear........unless you have plans to do that too!
 
If you have the 9" drum spindles, Scarebird makes a nice kit for that. The first decision you should make is whether to stick with the small 5x4" bolt pattern, or change to the larger 5x4.5" bolt pattern. The larger bolt pattern does offer a wider variety of wheels to choose from. I have a 64 Valiant with the smaller pattern though, and I don't plan to change it. You need to make that decision before buying any parts.
 
I have SSBC on my '71 Dart GT. Very easy install. Option to run small bolt or large bolt pattern wheels. Be advised that, at least on my car, the 14" X 5 1/2" wide (& 4 1/2" wide) STEEL wheels do NOT clear. However, the 14" X 5 1/2" wide factory Rallye wheels fit fine.

DSCN3999 DLH-P.jpg
 
If you have the 9" drum spindles, Scarebird makes a nice kit for that. The first decision you should make is whether to stick with the small 5x4" bolt pattern, or change to the larger 5x4.5" bolt pattern. The larger bolt pattern does offer a wider variety of wheels to choose from. I have a 64 Valiant with the smaller pattern though, and I don't plan to change it. You need to make that decision before buying any parts.

great points. CCP offers a kit that replaces A arms spindles and ball joints to bump it up to B body specs and than it all fits if want to do 5x4. in any event likely have to move up to 15" wheel to create the rotor clearance. this is not an easy fix. hotrod mag article on swap custom did it and required a lot of grinding and work arounds.


https://www.hotrod.com/articles/convert-mopar-body-front-disc-brakes/
 
The 9" A-body brakes used the A1 (set#1) and A4 (set#4) outer and inner bearings respectively. The 10" drum and KH disc brakes (and even B, E, and C-body drum and disc!) used the bigger A2 outer, and A6 inner bearings.
 
It's a cruiser not a daily the bearings on 9s are likely OK but still have to check rotor clearance
 
It's a cruiser not a daily the bearings on 9s are likely OK but still have to check rotor clearance
Ok, but, don't say I didn't warn you. Spun outer bearing races were a chronic problem with the 9" brakes, and the hub is not a part anyone makes.
 
Ok, but, don't say I didn't warn you. Spun outer bearing races were a chronic problem with the 9" brakes, and the hub is not a part anyone makes.
hyup seen it personally. Get some spare parts.
I've even had a 9" break the end off!
I was just leaving a lite, and the inside wheel just took off on me. The front corner took a nose dive, and I had the presence of mind to wheel the car off the road before the guy behind me had a chance to hit me. Ima thinking that was about 1978, so the spindle was only 9 years old at that time. I fixed it up and sold that car.
I haven't run 9" brakes since then.
These parts fail in normal use, that's just the way it is.
 
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