I might have to change the rear on my 71 Duster here soon. Will pretty much all 7 1/4" SBP A body rear ends swap or is there anything I need to watch out for?

They should all swap just fine, but there are some differences. They came with 9" and 10" brakes, and small bolt pattern or large bolt pattern for the wheels. If you have 9" brakes now, I would recommmend having all 4 corners replaced with 10". I don't know how adversely a car with larger brakes on the rear would react compared to the 9" with 9" up front, but I'd bet it wouldn't be fun.

There are a number of different gearsets they came with too, so finding one that matches yours would be a plus. Also keep in mind that ~'70 and down rear-ends will likely have left hand stud threads on the driver side.

I know there are other things, but I am pulling a blank...

~RDE~

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1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Thanks Thor, looks like I shouldn't have any problems then. I've been running 9" brakes for the last 10 years and haven't had any problems. I'll just look for one with 9" brakes and hopefully a 2.76 gear ratio. Do you know if early A Bodies came with a different ratio as the "norm"? I've heard of 2.45's but it seems like 2.76 is the most common 7 1/4" gear for a slant. I just seem to run across more early A rear's than anything.

Stick shift used 3.2? , I don't remember exact ratio.

Richard

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Early A-bodies often had 2.94s with autos, 3.23s with manuals, and 3.55s in 170 manual cars.

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Joshua

60-63 units had a smaller axle bearing... those should be avoided since they are weak, it's hard to find replacement bearings and axle shafts / backing plates do not inter-change with the later units.
DD

Good info...thanks guys. I'll be avoiding the 60-63's then. Luckily those are about the least common I seem to run across.

I wonder what difference a 2.94 would make compared to a 2.76? I'm guessing it'll slightly help with mileage around town but it'll probably give me a little hit on the highway, decreasing my mileage overall.

Where did I get 2.45 from? Was this ever a ratio from the factory?

2.45s were usually found in 8 1/4s and I don't believe 2.45s were used behind a slant.

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Joshua

Thanks Josh, makes sense. A slant would be a dog with those gears.