[OldBill]

I would like to swap the (pwr) disc brakes from a 75 Cordoba on to my 64 (manual drum) belvedere. Will it work? Will I have to change the spindles?

 

[valiant67]

This is one of the best articles written on the swap:
http://www.moparaction.com/tech/archive/disc-main.html
As you will notice, it does require a spindle change, but NOT to the ones from the Cordoba. I think you'l find other sources seem to indicate you can use the Cordoba knuckles, but I personally think the Mopar Action swap is better thought out.

 

[Bearhawke]

The Cordoba spindles will work but; they're slightly taller than the 1964 Belvedere parts.............and opinion is divided as to whether that's good or bad.

 

[jhawk]

I am also wanting to change to disc brakes on a 63 Belvedere, but I want to incorporate drop spindles from Performance Online to lower the car 2 inches. POL recommends Wildwood disc brakes. Any other (cheaper) recommendations?

 

[dana44]

No need to use drop spindles on a Mopar with torsion bars, which allow you to adjust the front end ride height by adjusting them.

 

[jhawk]

How much drop can I get by adjusting torsion bars? Any good articles/resources on how to adjust torsion bars? Service manual shows how to replace torsion bars, but nothing on adjusting.

 

[68RT]

You can drop quite a bit but camber changes dramatically along with toe in. Also, bottoming out becomes an issue.

 

[jhawk]

Thanks for replies. I need to have alignment performed as I've replaced most of the front suspension...so I will have alignment shop adjust torsion bars.

 

[TWX]

I'd actually set 'em myself, at least roughly, in your case, so that you can tell the shop that this is the approximate ride height that you want, so long as they can get the rest of the alignment as best they can.

It's also best to give yourself as much positive caster as you can, when you drop the front relative to the back, as otherwise they're quite squirrelly with negative caster. Positive caster also helps to self-align the front end when coming out of a turn.

 

[68RT]

Set all front to back heights before the alignment as caster is affected by that change.

 

[jhawk]

I have found a 1975 Dart equipped with disc brakes. According to the excellent article on disc brake conversion posted earlier in discussion, I should be able to utilize the spindles, calipers and rotors from any 73-73 disc equipped A body or 73-74 E body for my 63 Belvedere conversion. However, the Dart supposedly has 14inch wheels. The disc brake conversion article says that 15's will need to be used to order to fit the brakes in the wheel back. Am I missing something???

 

[valiant67]

Yes, what you missed is there are sizes of rotors. The Dart used the smaller 10" rotors and 14" wheels will clear those.
If you want even better brakes, you can get the appropriate set of caliper adapters and run the 11.75" rotors from a later B body which do require 15" wheels to clear.

 

[Bearhawke]

Yes, what you missed is there are sizes of rotors. The Dart used the smaller 10" rotors and 14" wheels will clear those.
If you want even better brakes, you can get the appropriate set of caliper adapters and run the 11.75" rotors from a later B body which do require 15" wheels to clear.

Actually; the basic Dart/Aspen rotors were closer to 11"; which should work well on a 1963 Belvedere since it weighs about the same as the above models.

 

[jhawk]

I am assuming the spindles are the same regardless of rotor and caliper size. Thanks again for the info.

After reading more info on torsion bar suspensions, it appears all I really need to do is loosen the torsion bar "adjusting bolt" to lower the car. I'm guessing the looser the bolt, the more the suspension will lower. Correct? Any concerns I should be aware of?

I noticed the adjusting bolt "ball end" on the passenger side is not in the cup. Again, it appears straightforward. Loosen the bolt enough to position the end into the receiving cup and tighten until desired height is achieved. Correct?

 

[TWX]

Spindles changed on the B-body when "Quiet Ride" appeared in '73, and remained the same through '81 when the R-body sedans were discontinued. Late-B-body and E-body do not share the same spindles, I've compared a '72 Barracuda and a '73 Charger side-by-side and they're definitely not the same.

 

[Bearhawke]

Spindles changed on the B-body when "Quiet Ride" appeared in '73, and remained the same through '81 when the R-body sedans were discontinued. Late-B-body and E-body do not share the same spindles, I've compared a '72 Barracuda and a '73 Charger side-by-side and they're definitely not the same.

Correct; apparently the 1973-74 E bodies use the same spindles as the 1973-76 disc brake A body cars whereas the 1970-72 E's followed the same year B bodies, disc to disc or drum to drum.