New guy needs a little help

[cain74]

I bought a 1968 fury sport convertable that's a bit of a running project car. I am currently replacing all of the drum brakes with disc brakes and replacing all of the suspension. I went with a set of tubular upper control arms because the ones that came with the car are some deep, deep redneck engineering. The ball joints were grafted on from another car of unknown origin. The spindles don't fit the new tubular Arms, the holes are too small. They also don't seem to line up with new steering knuckles. Do these look like the original spindles? I've attached a few pics so you can see what I'm dealing with.thw car sat low and I liked it that way. I hope to keep the stance. Any help is appreciated

 

[CBODY67]

Welcome. Just curious, is this your first Chrysler product to deal with? IF so, head over to www.mymopar.com and download the 1968 Chrysler parts book and a 1968 C-body (probably any of the Chrysler C-body brands) factory service manual. There are PICTURES and illustrations you might find helpful.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[Davea Lux]

The upper control arms are something that someone has cobbled together, I would suggest that you toss them. The front disc conversion is straight forward if you use factory parts. Many of the after market conversions attempt to graft B-Body components onto a C-Body front end and that always ends badly. Do yourself a favor and go to your local u-pullit and scavenge correct factory disc components. That way you will have proper camber and castor and parts that were designed for the weight of a C-Body. You would want a disc setup off of a '69-'73 C-Body with the single piston Bendix calipers. Those are a bolt on for your '68. Disc brakes were available on your model but they were the Budd system that is hard to find parts for and the calipers usually need to be fitted with stainless sleeves because the original bores are usually scored.

Dave

 

[PH27L7]

This sounds crazy but that looks like an A-body spindle / knuckle as used with the bigger brakes on those models, or perhaps a B-body. It appears they grafted a different model ball joint on the control arm to fit. They used 3 different size threaded ball joints which corresponded to the A-B-C body sizes with & each used a special socket to remove. Measure the size of the ball joint where the socket goes & that would give a solid idea of what you have. I can't recall what the measurements on the sockets were but have them somewhere in my toolbox. The numbers on the knuckle may also offer a clue. I've never seen something like that done before, would think that could really screw up the camber.

 

[detmatt]

The upper control arms are something that someone has cobbled together, I would suggest that you toss them. The front disc conversion is straight forward if you use factory parts. Many of the after market conversions attempt to graft B-Body components onto a C-Body front end and that always ends badly. Do yourself a favor and go to your local u-pullit and scavenge correct factory disc components. That way you will have proper camber and castor and parts that were designed for the weight of a C-Body. You would want a disc setup off of a '69-'73 C-Body with the single piston Bendix calipers. Those are a bolt on for your '68. Disc brakes were available on your model but they were the Kelsey-Hayes system that is hard to find parts for and the calipers usually need to be fitted with stainless sleeves because the original bores are usually scored.

Dave

Budd system in ‘68…

 

[Big_John]

I bought a 1968 fury sport convertable that's a bit of a running project car. I am currently replacing all of the drum brakes with disc brakes and replacing all of the suspension. I went with a set of tubular upper control arms because the ones that came with the car are some deep, deep redneck engineering. The ball joints were grafted on from another car of unknown origin. The spindles don't fit the new tubular Arms, the holes are too small. They also don't seem to line up with new steering knuckles. Do these look like the original spindles? I've attached a few pics so you can see what I'm dealing with.thw car sat low and I liked it that way. I hope to keep the stance. Any help is appreciated

View attachment 657265

View attachment 657266

View attachment 657267

View attachment 657268

View attachment 657269

View attachment 657270

View attachment 657271

Those upper control arms are a mess! Wow!

Regarding your issues; First thing is you are using an aftermarket upper control arm... As with a lot of aftermarket products, they don't necessarily work with C-bodies. What company made them?

Same with the spindle. Was it a used replacement or something new? I know of no aftermarket replacements that are right for a C-body.

Are you using a kit for the disc brakes?

This sounds crazy but that looks like an A-body spindle / knuckle as used with the bigger brakes on those models, or perhaps a B-body. It appears they grafted a different model ball joint on the control arm to fit. They used 3 different size threaded ball joints which corresponded to the A-B-C body sizes with & each used a special socket to remove. Measure the size of the ball joint where the socket goes & that would give a solid idea of what you have. I can't recall what the measurements on the sockets were but have them somewhere in my toolbox. The numbers on the knuckle may also offer a clue. I've never seen something like that done before, would think that could really screw up the camber.

^This^

 

[cain74]

Cbody67,
this is my first plymouth. I did download those manuals which is a huge help, but I could identify if the spindles were from a different model.

Ph27l7, I was thinking that it came off of something else just didn't know what or why. They didn't use the spindle for disc brakes.

I bought a disc conversion kit from leeds. They are supposed to use the stock drum spindles. Sounds like I need to find a set. Anyone have any for a 68? The kit comes with a new master cylinder and booster. I went with the same brand for the rears as well. They bolted up fine.

I went with the magnum force upper control Arms. They seem pretty beefy. Look a lot more sound than the control Arms that came with the car.

 

[Big_John]

I bought a disc conversion kit from leeds.

Sorry, you aren't going to like my answer, but whatever...

From what I see, reading here and other places, the Leeds kit is undersized for the C-body and then there's the GM based off shore built booster and master cylinder that never seems to fit without some drama.

We've had a couple guys even tear the Leeds junk off and replace it with Chrysler parts or even go back to the drums.

 

[cain74]

I thought they had good reviews about their products. Are the wilwood products any better?

 

[Big_John]

I thought they had good reviews about their products. Are the wilwood products any better?

From what I've read, yes, the Wilwood stuff is supposed to be much better than Leeds, but IMHO, the best bang for the buck with the least amount of screwing around is using later Chrysler parts.

Actually, IMHO, the whole "must convert to disc brakes" is a money trap.

 

[1970FuryConv]

Ph27l7, I was thinking that it came off of something else just didn't know what or why. They didn't use the spindle for disc brakes.

I bought a disc conversion kit from leeds. They are supposed to use the stock drum spindles. Sounds like I need to find a set. Anyone have any for a 68? The kit comes with a new master cylinder and booster. I went with the same brand for the rears as well. They bolted up fine.

I went with the magnum force upper control Arms. They seem pretty beefy. Look a lot more sound than the control Arms that came with the car.

I also think those black painted spindles came from a smaller car. There's no way to make them work with C-body upper control arms and lower ball joints.

If you are going to keep the Leeds kit, I would post a request for 68 Drum knuckles/spindles in the MOPAR PARTS AND CARS WANTED FORUM. Somebody will probably sell them to you pretty cheap.