64 Dart - 8 3/4" axle swap

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Optik

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hello everyone,
i'm in the middle of swapping an 8 3/4 rear into my 64 dart. so far everything seems to be going ok except for the usual rusted parts problems. i've got the old rear out and the new one under the car ready to bolt up tomorrow when i get two more u-bolts. i was more than surprised to find ALL the brake parts availabe at napa including new drums!!!

my question is this....for those of you who have done this swap to your early A, will the original e-brake cables fit into the 8 3/4 brakes??? the rear that i got had the ebrake cables included but they are totally different than the originals. my original cables are still good....

also i didn't realize i have to shorten the driveshaft. right now it has a stock driveshaft from a 70 coronet in it (which was perfect length for the later 904 tranny to 7.25 rear) eliminating the funky yolk at the front on the old shaft and it looks plenty beefy so i'm just gonna have it cut to size and run with it.

should be on the road next week if the holiday doesn't get in the way!!! can't wait, i drove it on the new wheels and tires for less than 24 hours before the rear broke.

wish me luck!

-tim
 
Yea Tim I used my original e brake cables on my 65 Cuda when doing that same swap. For some reason I also had to back off the e brake adjuster nut as the 8 3/4 needed the cables to be slightly longer. And of course I had to strip the nut off the adjuster rod as it was rusted on. So I would spray the crap out of it now with some wd or similar!
 
Keith Mopar said:
Yea Tim I used my original e brake cables on my 65 Cuda when doing that same swap. For some reason I also had to back off the e brake adjuster nut as the 8 3/4 needed the cables to be slightly longer.

Difference between 9" and 10" brakes. Roughly 1/4" in cable length.
Click to expand...
 
Wire brush the adjuster, too. I have a '64 that I need to put an 8-3/4 into, also. What did you do about the shifting? I have an A-518 that I'm going to eventually use, so I don't want to make two custom driveshafts.
 
i put a b&m starshifter in it. the plastic trim piece is too wide to fit between the seats so the mechanism is open but i like it that way, it suits the raw feel of the car very well. i had to have about three inches taken out of the driveshaft. everything is bolted in and ready to go i just need to bleed the brakes in the morning and drive it. the car is jacked up with air shocks in the back and the housing just looks soooooo much tougher under there. like a real muscle car.
 
i dont want to jack ur thread man. but is the 904 the same length as an a-833 4spd. i want to put an 8 3/4 in my 66 dart and am wondering about my driveshaft being the right length.
 
not sure about the manual trans. the reason i had to cut the driveshaft is that the pinion length of the 8 3/4 is longer than the old 7 1/4. so you are **probably** going to have the cut the driveshaft no matter what. hopefully someone else with more experience can confirm your question.
-tim
 
You will definately have to shorten your driveshaft as the 8-3/4" diff assy is longer front to rear than the 7-1/4".
Another thing you may want to consider is make sure the pinion angle is the same prior to bolting everything up. If not, cut the old pads off and weld new ones in to give you the correct angle to prevent vibration at speed.
 
Optik said:
not sure about the manual trans. the reason i had to cut the driveshaft is that the pinion length of the 8 3/4 is longer than the old 7 1/4. so you are **probably** going to have the cut the driveshaft no matter what. hopefully someone else with more experience can confirm your question.
-tim
Click to expand...

Check the Mopar Perf Chassis book. They have the lengths (and every other measurement) of all of the auto and manual trannies in there.
 
Optik said:
hello everyone,
i'm in the middle of swapping an 8 3/4 rear into my 64 dart. so far everything seems to be going ok except for the usual rusted parts problems. i've got the old rear out and the new one under the car ready to bolt up tomorrow when i get two more u-bolts. i was more than surprised to find ALL the brake parts availabe at napa including new drums!!!

my question is this....for those of you who have done this swap to your early A, will the original e-brake cables fit into the 8 3/4 brakes??? the rear that i got had the ebrake cables included but they are totally different than the originals. my original cables are still good....

also i didn't realize i have to shorten the driveshaft. right now it has a stock driveshaft from a 70 coronet in it (which was perfect length for the later 904 tranny to 7.25 rear) eliminating the funky yolk at the front on the old shaft and it looks plenty beefy so i'm just gonna have it cut to size and run with it.

should be on the road next week if the holiday doesn't get in the way!!! can't wait, i drove it on the new wheels and tires for less than 24 hours before the rear broke.

wish me luck!

-tim
Click to expand...

You might want to cost out doing your brakes piece by piece. DrDiff sells the complete rear drum set-up complete, hardware, backing plates, shoes and drums for around $300. Pretty goot deal considering it's pretty much a bolt on set-up.
 
dart4forte said:
You might want to cost out doing your brakes piece by piece. DrDiff sells the complete rear drum set-up complete, hardware, backing plates, shoes and drums for around $300. Pretty goot deal considering it's pretty much a bolt on set-up.
Click to expand...

would've looked had i known that at the time, but my parts guy at the napa counter knows me so i get hooked up. i think it was about $190+??? for everything and only had to wait a day for the drums, everything else was in stock.

Now if I could just get my tranny back together i'd be in business...

-tim
 
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