Diplomat parts on an A body?

[POPS6T6]

Just curious if anyone has tried this before? I have heard that there is an ex-cop car in one of the yards around me, and the rear end is only about 1/2 inch longer or so. What I was really wondering about is the front end. Would I be able to use the brake setup and so forth on my 1966 Barracuda?


Also, someone is offering me an 8 1/4 rear end that is in "excellent" shape for $150, is that price a good deal?

Thanks.

John

 

[fishy68]

John I'm not sure the spring perches on the Diplomat rearend would match up to your Cuda so even if the width is close enough to work you may go through quite a bit to make it work. It would probably be an 8-1/4 also. I don't think they used any thing else then. If the other 8-1/4 you mentioned is from an A-body it would be the wiser choice because the perches would work without any modifications and $150 is a decent price for a good rearend.

I'm not sure about the front suspension parts. Don't know the Diplomat stuff well enough. Sorry.

You might get more responses posting that question seperately in the suspension section.

 

[Dead End Kid]

Don't know enough about the '66 specifically, but there was an in depth article on swapping spindles from other B,C,D,E,F,J,M,(Diplomat)... Issue was MOPAR MUSCLE March 2005. Seems to cover everything. Only issue seems to be that upper control arms must be out of a 72-76 A body which are coming harder to come by. There are a couple of aftermarket manufacturer's that make these, and even though on first pass these seem kinda expensive, if you find some origionals, by the time you get them cleaned up and rebuilt, the aftermarket ones may be a great alternative.

There are others that say this is not a good idea due to increased bump-steer. As I have no plans on road-racing my '67 Barracuda, and have dealt with true bump-steer in old street-rods, I personally don't have a concern.
Mac

 

[Lars]

The FMJ's will work fine once you get the proper upper control arms, you have to use 73-76 lower balljoints also. I swapped the spindles and brakes off an 85 5th ave onto my 73 and they feel really good so far. Haven't been able to get the car on the road because of other issues, but the feel awesome when I'm rolling around in my front yard.