Just thinking ahead here but is there any disc brake setup that will fit the front axle??
has anyone converted one? and what did you use"
and is there any power steering setup that will work on the vans?? Ron...

A friend of mine had an A100 pickup that he added disc brakes to, but I don't remember the details of what he used. I know he retained the stock spindles and used a bolt on kit for the brakes. Other than that, I ain't much help! I say slam it with a Fatman frontend and a power rack!

If you talk to that friend could you ask him what he used? and what was involved to make it work. Thanks, Ron...

Anyone else?? how about power steering???

Planning ahead, huh?

Some came OE with power assist steering, similar to the fords and corvettes with a power ram. Not the best system, hard to track down and not cheap.
A guy like yourself could come up with something better. The 80-90s Toyota vans were forward control, that's where I'd look first for possible donor stuff. Then there are all the FC motor home chassis, but they may be a bit too HD.

For the brakes, there have been a few caliper adapters that use the typical components used on rods; GM calipers and Volare rotors. There are 2 different brakes/spindles on A-100s, 10 inch and 11 inch. One is easier, but both have been done. Check the usual sources, AAJ, scarebird, rusty hope.
Then you have to figure out the master cylinder and pedal. Talk to Kick The Reverb, he's done it and is in San Diego.
If you want more info, try the yahoo group (gotta join Yahoo) and the vintage vans forum.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/DodgeA100/?yguid=382462753

http://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/forum.htm


Here's hoping you end up with one of these fun lil rides!

Here's a link for most of the weatherstrip available. There are guys here that offer them too. Check the parts section.

http://www.restorationspecialties.com/dodgetruck.htm

On EBay, there are suppliers for the front turn signal gaskets (2) and the tail light housing gaskets.

The only one I'm unable to find is the vent window rubber. There is supposed to be one supplier, but the material isn't right and they cost 275!!!

The manual says 3.55 or 3.91s and some are sure grip. Ball and trunion front joint on many (all?) manual trans. A couple different spring/suspension options and there are other minor changes over the years.
67 was the first 'safety' year, so it has a dual master, different inside door handles and different heater and ignition layout (leg protection). They also have the 'wing' crash pad for the passenger. The gas tank went from 1 sideways strap to 2 front to back straps.
Front lenses are tough, rear tail light lenses are easy IF you don't mind not having the right letters cast in. Pie pans are shared with some D-100s. Front door handles are supposed to be shared, side and rear are unique.
If you want to swap to a V8, the body mounts are different. The auto trans is a shorty, with a top mount. The early /6 autos had an adapter that bolted a V8 trans in place. Later they went to a regular /6 bellhousing trans. All are 727 I think. All rears are 8.75, wider than the car ones. The pickups have a big (175#) weight bolted at the back of the bed. Keeps them from locking up the rears and for traction.

There was a guy at the Nats and maybe Carlisle selling older straight axle drum brake to disc swaps.
I am real sorry I don't have his card at the moment but if this rings any bells from anyone it might help.
I would think that if he has the disc set up for fifties straight axle cars he may have something that will work for the A100.

Sorry I don't have personal knowledge on this yet.
There was a post and some pictures on the Yahoo site with one of the adapters. It seems to be very similar to the other caliper adapters out there, having the same inner pattern as the spindle, and the outer section set up to hold a GM caliper. What I don't know is how the new rotor's bearings line up on the spindle, but I think the one that was easier did not need spacers or adapters. It may have required different bearings.
There was some mention of having to have the caliper at a specific point to avoid the shock, and may have interfered with the sway bar link.
Here's hoping that Ran will jump on and give his long tale with the issues that came with his 'bolt-on' kit first-hand.

MCG did a article on this mod last Jan or Feb issue, 2009. Im not real sure what month it was but it was early in the year. I too am interested in this mod but at present my brakes are good and stop well so this isn't a high priorty for me, but I'm always looking for intell on these popular workhorses.

Speedway Motors has kits for the early Chev and Ford straight axles. I see they advertise Wilwood kits also. Hope this may help......

I used a disc brake conversion from Scarebird. http://www.scarebird.com/ , they have a kit for the D-100 trucks from 59-71. would that be the same axle as the A-100 trucks? the kit used GM calipers & Crown Vic(Ford) rotors. is was a sweet install & worked great!

matt

Ron, take a look

http://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/e-van...sale-t13635.htm

Nice, if you have a Ford Econoline.

Sorry guys,
I was out of town....I have disc brakes on the front of my A100.
I persuaded Screbird to try to see if their new heavy duty C body kit would work with my 11" brake spindle (2500 lb axle).
It did mount ok to the spindle, with the calipers to the rear, but then there were tie rod interference (not Scarebird's fault, he only had the spindle to check, not the whole setup).
I mounted it to the front and modified the sway bar set-up. If you're willing to delete the sway bar, then what Scarebird has right now will work.
Mark from Scraebird will have me take some pics and he will try to see if there's a way to clock the calipers differently to allow rear mounting (so sway bar can be retained stock).
The MC I used was 1 1/8" and while it stops well, I feel it might need 1 1/4" with the big calipers this system uses.
Scarebird also have a different set-up for the smaller spindle (10" brakes 2200 lb axle).
The smaller spindle is similar to mid 60's B body, and ECI and AAJ brakes also carry conversion kits for that.
There are some guys on the A100 Yahoo Group that have developed their own kits. I have a kit for the 11" spindles that I ended up not using since it required trimming the spindle, which is something I wanted to avoid, but you might be ok with.

So to conclude:
various options exist for the A-100, we can discuss on the phone or by email (pm here for those), you can come and see where I'm at now, if you want.
I didn't post the pics of my swap yet, since it's a work in progress, Scarebird might be able to make it a lot easier to install as mentioned above.

Ran

So, if I understand correctly the Scarebird C body caliper bracket bolts to the A100 11" spindle? And the C body hub they supply accepts the Vette rotor?

I figured it out, the point of confusion comes from the Scarebird website; when you click on some of the kits listed (like the '65-'71 C body) you get a generic description and pic.

Actually that website is really really outdated. Just look for them on eBay - you'll easily find it.
You should probably email them for that kit, just to make sure that you'll be getting exactly what you need.
Also, for the improved rear mount setup, Mark said he'll need at least 4 orders to manufacture it. I'm glad to see there is some interest.

Ran

Thanks everyone for the great info in this thread

has any one put the front and rear axles on top of the springs to get them real low????

and does anything get in the way to do this? thanks, Ron...