My new project and problems

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Maxwel Nicoll

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I got this car, it's a 72 swinger and is really nice. New engine, polygraphite upgrade kit, shiny painted parts and all.

My issue is that I can't get the front brakes on and am low on money and time. They are the 9" drums, and I'm giving up on them.

For the disc setup, I know I need new spindles and the brake setup. What about the upper and lower control arms? Do I need new ones?

And how inexpensive can I do this?
 
So, I actually found a pair of 9" drums all together for real cheap. The guy was doing a disc brake swap and those were useless to him. So, now I need to bolt it on and get the rest of the suspension together.
I know I need new shocks and I don't know how to lock the torsion bars so they don't fall out- not much to go by.
 
Maxwel Nicoll said:
My issue is that I can't get the front brakes on and am low on money and time. They are the 9" drums, and I'm giving up on them.
Click to expand...

Can you go into detail as to why you can't get the front brakes on? Might save you some time, trouble, and of course $$$.
 
So, the Dart was my Dad's and now I have it. He took the entire front suspension apart and cleaned and painted most of the parts. He wanted to put on disc brakes and a few other options.

My issue is that I have all these loose pieces, loose hardware, and although I've been searching online it is really hard to find pictures and references. Most of the time it is about switching to disc but I don't have the money or the time to search the local yards.

I've never worked on suspension like this, it is fun but a little hard. I don't have the money for upgrades and I want an original restoration just to get it running. Currently I'm putting the torsion bars in and I am not sure about boots and if I need clips. Suspension tech either doesn't cover torsion bars or won't tell me what I need. Then I can't find any parts explosion diagrams which would be invaluble.
 
So I spent the morning on it and the only things I can't figure out is what bolts do I use for the p/s pump on the engine and if the pivot shafts in the lower control arm get washers. And if the bars get clips or something
With the replacement drums I have just about everything else
 
Maxwel Nicoll said:
So I spent the morning on it and the only things I can't figure out is what bolts do I use for the p/s pump on the engine and if the pivot shafts in the lower control arm get washers. And if the bars get clips or something
With the replacement drums I have just about everything else
Click to expand...
The p.steering will take a 7/16 bolt(9/16 head)The lower pivots take a thick washer after installing through the K-frame.Also,yes the torsion bars take clips at the ends(at cross member area).You can go to Forums,then to Suspension.Go through some threads,do some reading and look at all the pics.This might help make your job easier?Or take pics of what your working on and ask questions.Lots of members here willing to help.Good Luck!
 
I found this really nice article on suspension with great pics, and followed what it says. Unfortunately, the torsion bars won't go in like that. So, I had to undo the pivot shaft, strut rod and upper ball joint to get the bar in. Next time the bars will be first.
Next I need to grease and properly install the wheel bearings and the torsion bars (after I get some clips and boots). And I need some cotter pins and pitman arm nut. Then the tie rods are not adjusted.
Then the front end should be done and on wheels after almost 5 years
 
I'm so happy, the suspension is all together and the car is resting on its wheels. I don't have any grease for the torsion bars so I plan on slipping them back out and greasing them. I just read a post about taking the uca bump stop out to get more preload on the bars and plan on doing that.

I haven't found the pitman arm nut and don't know about the cambolt adjusting. Do you rotate the cam or is it in the tightening of the bolt? Do you measure, jack it up, take the wheel off, adjust the bolt and then put it all back together? Or is there a simple way that will work?
 
I found the pitman arm nut, so the front suspension is complete except for my mistakes. I tore two brand new PST boots and PST doesn't sell them without balljoints. Any ideas, please?
I'm trying to paint everything, but I don't know much about painting and now the weather is too hot and dry to paint. Do I need to strip the old paint or can I paint over it? If I paint over do I primer bare metal? And how do you clean the drums, lca and other parts that can't use a wire wheel? I don't think a shop can dip some things because I have nice rubber in them.
 
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