64 Barracuda 7 1/4 to 8 3/4 Swap.

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TimS

TimS

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Anyone ever do this swap on a 64 Barracuda? What other year A body rears would fit? I know I would need another drive shaft as well. Just wondering what I would be getting myself into. Don’t have any of the parts yet to do this.

Thoughts? Thanks !!
 
Did one in a 66 Dart. Just need a 8.75 A body rear end. ANY year. And you will need a driveshaft fabricated for it. Need small bolt pattern, 5 on 4 inch. To match front wheel bolt pattern......
 
I did the swap on my 65 Dart with a 8.75 out of early cuda. Just had the drive shaft shortened with the right U joints.
 
Sounds pretty doable. Don’t want to cut the original drive shaft so need to find one of those as well. Car has a 340 and 4 speed in it right now.
 
I put an 8.75 in my 64,but it was narrowed from a bbody,as I mini tubbed it.
But a standard abody will work fine.
 
TimS said:
Sounds pretty doable. Don’t want to cut the original drive shaft so need to find one of those as well. Car has a 340 and 4 speed in it right now.
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What trans? Still have the ball and trunnion front u-joint? If so, easiest thing would be just to shorten the driveshaft. Any competent driveshaft shop could do that for you. I'm not aware of any driveshaft with a ball and trunnion front u-joint that would bolt without modification into your 64 Barracuda with an 8 3/4 rear.

I have a later trans (with my original 65 gearset) and a conventional front u-joint in my 65 Barracuda. Driveshaft from a manual transmission 71 Duster 340 was exactly the right length for an 8 3/4 rear. (The extra length in the wheelbase of the 67-72 Plymouth a bodies is all from the trans crossmember forward.) So if you have a later 4-speed trans, a manual trans 71 Duster 340 driveshaft would work for you, too. (Because the Duster was a 3-speed manual, I had to change the front yoke, but the shaft itself fit without modification.) But I did all that a long time ago. Try to find a Duster 340 driveshaft today. Any 67-72 Valiant (not Scamp), Duster, or A body Barracuda shaft from a 4-speed car with 8 3/4 rear would also work with a conventional front u-joint, but good luck finding any of them, either. Again, shortening the shaft you have might be your best bet. Or, it's not that big a deal to have one made for you, either.
 
junkyardhero said:
don't forget to get new shock plates and u-bolts!
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Plus you may need to swap the right side emergency brake cable from your old rear to the 8 3/4. Your original 64 rear has two short cables that hook to a V-shaped cable that hooks to the emergency brake cable that comes down off the emergency brake handle. I'm not sure what year the later setup started, but my 71 8 3/4 rear had one short cable on the left side, and one long cable on the right side. There's a bracket on the left frame rail even on your 64 that will accept both cables, if you just want to convert to the later setup. Then, (in my case) I just ran the original 71 Duster single cable back to the two cables sitting in the frame bracket. Easy, really.
 
Photos 64 Dart 8 3/4 swap

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I put a 8 3/4 early A body sbp in my 64 barracuda with 904 push button trans it fit right in just had to have a new driveshaft made and put new shock plates and U bolts

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Thanks for all the help. Sounds like with shock plates, U bolts, another drive shaft and any A body 8 3/4 I’d be all set. Now just got to find all that stuff.
 
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