Brake conversion. Lower control arm swap?

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Skeeter007

Skeeter007

Skeeter007
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Hello,

I’m doing a swap on a 1971 Scamp drum to the 73 disk conversion. Parts I bought are off a 73 Dart. The parts also came with the lower control arms. I’m looking over forums to see if I can use them without causing and other issues and can’t seem to find any info where they have been included with the swap. If used I’m guessing I can add a sway bar. The car does not have one now.
Also going to swap out tie rods since it will be all apart.

Parts on hand:

PST 1.3 bars
Upper/lower
Upper ball joints
Spindles with sliders
Bushing sets
Proportioning Valve
2 sets BBP rims

Needed:

Lower ball joints
Callipers (size?)
Flex lines
Master cylinder (non power)
Pads
Rotors (size?)

Any info would be great to help me along and other parts needed to be collected.
I have an alignment shop able to get it straight for me.
Thanks guys

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there's a couple threads where 72bluNblu responded to questions about what sway bars with which tabs. do a search. the rotor size is based on which caliper adapters you have.
start here and here
 
Those LCA’s in the picture aren’t from a ‘73. The sway bar mounting tabs are in the 67-72 location.

Normally the LCA’s aren’t mentioned because the non sway bar tabbed LCA’s are the same 67-76, there’s no need to change them with the brake swap. Generally if they have sway bar tabs you want to keep them matched to the K-frame because the sway bar mounting locations are different and the sway bars have to be matched to the K frame.
 
kursplat said:
there's a couple threads where 72bluNblu responded to questions about what sway bars with which tabs. do a search. the rotor size is based on which caliper adapters you have.
start here
Click to expand...


Thanks for the reply. Looks like 11” for the rotors. Sway bar will be an added bonus. The big concern is the lower arms. I’ll hit up the link.
Thanks
 
72bluNblu said:
Those LCA’s in the picture aren’t from a ‘73. The sway bar mounting tabs are in the 67-72 location.

Normally the LCA’s aren’t mentioned because the non sway bar tabbed LCA’s are the same 67-76, there’s no need to change them with the brake swap. Generally if they have sway bar tabs you want to keep them matched to the K-frame because the sway bar mounting locations are different and the sway bars have to be matched to the K frame.
Click to expand...

Wow so what do I have here then? Should I use them if they have the tabs for future sway bar addition?
 
Skeeter007 said:
Thanks for the reply. Looks like 11” for the rotors. Sway bar will be an added bonus. The big concern is the lower arms. I’ll hit up the link.
Thanks
Click to expand...
i can't tell from the pics, but a 73' dart would not of had 11" disks. they would of had to have been changed out
 
Lower control arms without sway bar tabs are the same for 63-76. The sway bar tabs that are located out by the lower ball joints are 65-72. Tabs located 4/5 inches away from the ball joint are 73-76 and are used with the 73-76 sway bar which does not fit the pre-73 K Frame. It appears you have the 65-72 style LCA’s which will work fine with the disc brake swap. I’m using the 73-76 disc conversion with 65-72 LCA’s with a sway bar
 
so the tabs are in the right place for your stock 71' K-member. you can use any sway bar designed for 67' - 72' dart
 
65 Dartman said:
Lower control arms without sway bar tabs are the same for 63-76. The sway bar tabs that are located out by the lower ball joints are 65-72. Tabs located 4/5 inches away from the ball joint are 73-76 and are used with the 73-76 sway bar which does not fit the pre-73 K Frame. It appears you have the 65-72 style LCA’s which will work fine with the disc brake swap. I’m using the 73-76 disc conversion with 65-72 LCA’s with a sway bar
Click to expand...

ok nice to know. So I will swap out the LC’s and purchase a sway bar in the future
 
kursplat said:
i can't tell from the pics, but a 73' dart would not of had 11" disks. they would of had to have been changed out
Click to expand...

‘73 Dart could have had 10.95” disks. Lots of people call them 11”, although that’s not really accurate. He’s probably not talking about the 11.75’s.

kursplat said:
so the tabs are in the right place for your stock 71' K-member. you can use any sway bar designed for 67' - 72' dart
Click to expand...

that last bit isn’t exactly true. The Hotchkis 67-72 bar does not use the stock sway bar tab location. Neither does the Hellwig “pro-touring” sway bar for the 67-72 cars. Either of those can actually use the 73+ tabbed LCA’s.
 
72bluNblu said:
..that last bit isn’t exactly true. The Hotchkis 67-72 bar does not use the stock sway bar tab location. Neither does the Hellwig “pro-touring” sway bar for the 67-72 cars. Either of those can actually use the 73+ tabbed LCA’s.
Click to expand...
with the bolt on / weld on tabs? :thumbsup:
 
kursplat said:
with the bolt on / weld on tabs? :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Both of those bars come with either weld on or bolt on tabs, yes. But they can also use the stock 73+ tabbed LCA’s, or the QA1 tubular LCA’s that have tabs. The length of the end links may have to be modified depending on which bar and LCA you have
 
Well we’re close to install then.
A few more parts to acquire.
Today I installed lower control arm bushings for the pins and installed the upper ball joints in the arms and fitted the bushings in the tops as well. Not sure if the upper bushings need to come out before install or not but easily removed with my press. Looking forward to getting this started. Been awhile since I gave her some attention.

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Skeeter007 said:
Built a torsion bar removal tool.
Bars arrives tomorrow.

View attachment 1715538578
Click to expand...

There’s no need for that. Pull the torsion bar clips, then remove the shock and break the LCA free of the spindle at the lower ball joint, then unbolt the strut rod and undo the LCA pivot nut. With that done you can use the LCA as a lever to push the torsion bar back and out. If they’re really stuck you can use a pry bar between the LCA and K frame, or a dead blow hammer so as not to damage the LCA. Super easy, no special tool required, and no chance of damaging the surface of the bar. It sounds like a lot, but if you’re rebuilding the suspension it all has to come out anyway. And even if you’re not, most of it has to come off to reinstall the torsion bars anyway.
 
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With an early sway bar and late discs you also want to swap the spindles/calipers side to side for more bar clearance. You will also have a clearance issue with the forward lower ball joint/spindle bolt. That is easily remedied with a little cutting on the sway bar tab.
 
72bluNblu said:
There’s no need for that. Pull the torsion bar clips, then remove the shock and break the LCA free of the spindle at the lower ball joint, then unbolt the strut rod and undo the LCA pivot nut. With that done you can use the LCA as a lever to push the torsion bar back and out. If they’re really stuck you can use a pry bar between the LCA and K frame, or a dead blow hammer so as not to damage the LCA. Super easy, no special tool required, and no chance of damaging the surface of the bar. It sounds like a lot, but if you’re rebuilding the suspension it all has to come out anyway. And even if you’re not, most of it has to come off to reinstall the torsion bars anyway.
Click to expand...


I’m probably going to install the bars before the swap. I still need some parts and the car is leaning towards the passenger side with a weak bar. So the tool is needed for this. Once all the parts are acquired I’ll do a complete front end. Will use a fare bit of grease so they slide out when the the time comes to do the brake swap. Hopefully by mid June :)
 
‘68 Camaro disk brake hoses work, that’s what DoctorDiff recommends. No brackets to remove and they’re available everywhere
 
Just ordered all my conversion parts to swap over to disk brakes. I can’t see any listings for bolts for the lower ball joint to spindle. Will my current bolts, lower ball joint to drum spindle work? (1971 drum fronts) or am I on the hunt for them? If I’m hunting what am I looking for?
 
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