Finally got my first ABody!!

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Kmrumedy

Kmrumedy

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Joined
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Location
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Hey Guys,

Thanks to all your advice this year I finally pulled the trigger and got my first ABody. I found it in farm country by accident and got it for a song.

1971 Swinger, new interior, new body, new paint, etc. Beautiful condition and not a speck of rust.

It has a slant 6 and runs great.......stopping.......not so good!!:-D It was my first time driving a 35 + old car with manual brakes.....came to an intersection....pressed the brakes.... I didn't even slow down.....scared the crap out of me....DAMN I LOVE THIS CAR!!! Yeehhaa!

It will be receiving a new 5.7 Hemi this winter. I will drive it all summer and just have a blast with it. For this summer I am just going to upgrade the brakes and put on some new shoes.

Here are some pics. My friend loaned me some white twin scoops for the pictures ( I am looking to buy a set if any one has one!) I put the Hemi plate on it to mess with my friends when I brought it over asking him if he wanted to race. The car has an old Cherry Bomb and deep throaty sound.

I'll be doing a lot to the car in the winter...might make it a sleeper but not sure yet. I have lots of questions and look forward to meeting you all.

Thanks again for everyone who helped me learn about these cars and helped with the purchase.

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Beautifull, those scoops are a must have in my books they really make the car, keep checking ebay once in awhile you may find some that need a little work. I got mine for 150 bucks, but dont get in a bidding war as some go for big bucks!
 
Very nice looking Swinger! There is a 1970 Swinger up the road from me for sale. She needs a little work, that is if the brakes give out you could use your feet to get this car to stop. It needs whole floor pan replacment
 
Very nice car. Keep the scoops ... they complete the look IMO. Will be tough to make it a sleeper though with the hood scoops and tail stripe.
 
Great looking little swinger!!

I had the same issue with the 4 wheel drums when I first got my /6 71 swinger.

I just bled them really well, and adjusted them all until they just barely spun while free spinning by hand, then took it for a test drive and they stop really really good.

I can take people for a test drive and can fool them into thinking I have disk brakes.
I can stab them and stop on a dime with no side to side sway.

4 wheel drums can be really decent brakes if you make sure you have no leaky lines or wheel cyllinders, a good master cyllinder, proper adjustments and a good bleeding.
 
Nice looking car! Definitely a good find!

I agree with cudaspaz, the stock drum brakes don't do that bad when bled and adjusted properly, and it sounds like yours are in need of some serious adjustment. In the long run, especially for a daily driver, I prefer disks. They are much more "set it and forget it" than the drums are, have fewer moving parts to keep up on, and do provide some more stopping power as well.
 
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