Just wanted to give everyone an update on progress of my car. I have it off the frame for some metal work and beefing up. I got a '69 383 bored 30 over with all the parts for $50, and sheet metal to fix it all for $80. I have pics but I can’t figure out how to post them, please help. I have a question: Does anyone know the bearing number for the front end inner bearing? I know they have bearing numbers like set1-set34. I want to put disc brakes up front, I found a kit but its $200 and all it comes with is a bracket and a bearing. I can get a bracket from speedway motors and the rotors and calipers from work. I just need to know the bearing number, any help would be great. I will get the pics up soon.

there are 2 ways to post a picture.
First, it has to be fairly small.
To resize, check the first post in tech archive/ best of moparts.
Now that you have the right size, you can upload them to a hosting site. That is a whole big tech article, so if you don't know how, google it, or go the other way.
You can post a reply, then check the box at the bottom that says "I want to preview my post and/or attach a file"
this shows what you have written, and there is a box that says "You may attach a file if you like (no bigger than 500000 bytes please)." and has a "browse" box. Click on that and find the picture you want (it helps if you have it on your desktop; easy to find).

Are you sure the kit uses the stock bearing? Seems to me it would make more sense to use a more commonly available bearing from something like a 80's m,j,f body or even from a camaro or Mustang something like that. I would recommend contacting the guys who sell the kit and ask them what the bearing is...say you bought a car with their kit on it and you think you need to replace one of the bearings.

The guy that has the kit will not give me any info until I pay for a kit; he was very clear on that in an email. I just think that $250 is a lot to pay for just a bracket and bearing. I agree it would have to be a common bearing and that is what I need to find out. I could spend weeks trying different bearings but I was hoping that someone on here would have used that kit and be able to help.

I believe on the P15-D24 site, someone mentioned using a Ford explorer bearing, not sure. I'm familiar with the speedway generic brackets and hats, thinking about using them for my 1946 International truck. I have a 383 going in my 49 dodge, looking for a BB bellhouse and 8 3/4 still.

im new here but im reading lots that says the 39 is a pita of a car however there is people that make conversion kits ive seen a couple that are under $250 for just brackets then u buy ur gm (blah) calipers... lots of different options out there though check out scarebird rustyhope plydo
theres a few others but i dont have the info at the moment.. here is a good article i found today...

http://www.webrodder.com/article.php?AID=52&SID=16&CID=

hope i helped a little.. as i have a lot of work to do on my 39 plymouth...

rob in tacoma

Problem is 39 was a change over year, it could have either the older spindle, or the newer one. You guessed it, both take different bearings. I can tell you that I put a set of Volare rotors on the spindles of a mid 30s front axle, spaced them out to clear the steering arm bolts, and used the bearings that were in the used rotor. (I don't have the #s here.) I can also tell you the bearing nuts sits right at the end of the spindle, inserting a cotter key is seriously close to the end of the spindle even with thin bearing nuts.

My kit from Rusty Hope used chevy 1/2 ton pickup calipers, Volare rotors, and late 80s GM brake hoses. Mine had the "old" style spindles. Gene

any pics of this setup poorboy.. im still fighting to get the drums off the outer bearings are frozen to the spindle joy for me...
id like more info as i want disc brakes for sure there is no other option in my mind

rob in tacoma

(48 2 door club coupe for sale)

I looked through my pictures and I do not have pictures of my 39 with the Rustyhope disc brake conversion, got several of the rack & pinoin set up, but none of the disc brakes. The car is no longer here, I sold it last spring.

www.rustyhope.com is the place I have gotten 2 disc brake conversions from. They come with the caliper brackets, spacer/oil seal lip, steering arm replacement bolts, and a complete list of parts needed. That way you get the rotors, calipers, hoses and stuff locally to you (or online) and you don't have to pay someones up charge. The worst part is you have to drill and retap the steering arm holes to a 5/8 fine thread. I think I bought all the parts new (rotors, bearings, brake componets, everything) at my local NAPA (I get a discount there) and bought the drill bit and tap, + the kit cost and was around $800 into it. Don't remember if that included the new booster and master, brake pedal, and steel lines or not. Gene

Hey I'd love to see those pics and the info you have on it....if not here you can email me at moparguy@vzw.blackberry.net

Thanks I'm hoping to get the front end rebuilt by end of aug then off to c notching the rear....

Slammed39 First off I need to tell you I am a welder by trade, and a cheapskate on top of that. The next deal, is if (or when) I do this again, I will change some things I did on mine. Things you learn along the way updated and passed along. Also, 39 was the first year for independent front suspension on Plymouths. They used virtually the same suspension design until the mid 50s.

I installed a rack from an 89-94 Chevy Calivier into my 39 Plymouth coupe. The Calivier rack is a rear steer rack like the 39 Plymouths are, with the inner tie rod connections at the center of the rack. The GM rack looks like a 93-96 Intrepid, except the Intrepid rack is a front steer. (sucks too because I had 2 Intrepid racks here and had to buy a GM rack) Tie rods do interchange between the 2 racks. The center inner tie rod connections allow longer tie rod assemblies that can be made to match the original tie rod setup on the 39.

The rack mounts up just behind the cross member, and is a about an inch below it. The tie rods mount at the front of the unit. If your oil pan sump is directly behind the crossmember, there will probably be a clearance issue to address. My car had a 3.9 with a truck pan (a mopar small block with a truck pan should not be an issue.) I made angle brackets that I welded to the frame rails and the rack bolts to the brackets with the factory style straps and bolts. The ends of the rack extend past the frame about 2" on both sides.
On my car I modified a set of Intrepid tie rods to fit through the available spaces, which required shortening the inner part 2" per side, and adding about a 10 degree bend. Then I modified the 39's steering arms by welding the original tie rod holes shut (the original holes were larger then the Intrepid ends, if I had time I may have been able to find steel or brass bushings to take up the space)and redrill them to the smaller size. I used a die grinder to tapper the holes. That worked, but there is a better way.

Better way: The rack has the inner connections at the center of the rack, and they are at the center of the car. Those connections are steel sleeved rubber bushings held to the rack with a pair of bolts (right side uses 1 bolt, left side uses the 2nd bolt) about 2" apart. The original 39's steering box sits inside the frame rail, and the centered pitman arm is about 6" to the left of the center of the car. Both sides of the tie rods connect to the pitman arm. What I would now do is make a "center link" that mounts to the rack using the 2 bolts and going to the left to pickup the original 39's inner tie rod ends at their original center point. To get that measurement, one would only need to center the steering box and take a measurement to one of the frame rails (mark the measuring point on the frame) before removal, then after installing the rack, center the rack and measure the distance from the rack center to where the steering box center was. Make your center link long enough to locate the inner tie rods at their center, and the rack at its center. Then you can use your original tie rods complete. 39 tie rod ends are the same ones used on the 72-93 1/2 ton Dodge trucks.

I had a power steering rack, at 75 mph, the steering was a bit touchy, a power steering pressure reducer would likely have corrected that issue. Also, the car turning radious was larger by about 5' after the rack install. Normal driving wasn't an issue, but there were times when you knew the circle was a bigger diamiter.

1st picture compares the Calivier rack with tie rods to a 39 steering box and tie rods. Gene

The 2nd picture shows the inner connections of the rack. Both the GM rear steer rack and uthe Intrepid front steer rack have the same connection system.

This one shows the rack, with the moidified Intrepid tie rods. Also shows the mounting brackets for the rack.

Just for kicks, a different view of the mounting brackets.

At the time, about 3 years ago, a reman calivier rack without a core was around $100. I could buy a new inner tie rod connecting bolt kit at Mopar for under $20, but that short intermedite shaft the hooks to the odd sized Calivier rack to a standard "double D" through GM was over $100, I bought a used one from the JY for $5.

Other mounting bracket (passenger side from under the car.

Why not? Passenger side, from outside the car. That crap looking weld just towards the front of the rack mounting bracket is the factory weld holding the inner and outer frame sections together, the one on the top didn't look a lot better, but it had been together since 39, so I guess it was OK.

Tie rod end differences, on the left, 39 tie rod end, note the size of the tapper and the diamiter of the threaded end compaired to the Intrepid tie rod on the right.

And this is what the inner tie rod ends look like on the GM and the Intrepid rack.

And last, this is what the rack center connection looks like when assembled. Gene

gene, are the intrepid and gm ti-rods metric thread ? did you peruse thru a master catalog for descriptions of rod ends ? and lastly, what alignment specs did you use ? thanks !