Brake caliper stress

[Stretch]

I keep getting the wrong calipers for my '71 challenger. All of the part stores have the same info. If you look up calipers they show 1970-1972 calipers and 1973-1974 calipers as being different. They are infact slightly different. The problem is they show the same part number for both applications. If you look them up on Rockauto they say the same thing. They also show the same part number for both applications.
It you click on the pictures of the calipers on Rock the first one listed is for 1971 is correct. The 2nd one listed as for the other side of the 1971 shows the picture for the 1973 1974 caliper.

Any idea where a guy can get '71 calipers?

The difference is slight. The casting is taller at the guide pins for the '73/74 calipers. That taller casting hits the caliper bracket and prevents the caliper from going on far enough to get the guide pins through.

See the attached photo for what I need and what I have.

 

[Katfish]

Why not hit that tab with an angle grinder.

 

[Xcudame]

Crud! I'm glad I have 71 disc brakes on my 71 Barracuda! Crazy how some things changed from year to year!

 

[68bee]

I have a set of rebuilt calipers for sale that I bought about 5 years ago and don’t need. PM me if you’re interested

 

[duopoli]

Caliper adapters underwent a change at some point in 1971-2. Rocket Resto ran into this on their Superbird last year. The earlier caliper adapters need the older 'big mouth' calipers; the newer adapters will work with old or new 'small mouth' calipers. The youtube video where they were finding the problem is here: Video

At about 5:30 in you can see the early caliper in an early adapter; note the hard right angle shelf of the adapter right under the caliper's smaller mounting ear.

The 10.87" pin type adapters I got from a '72 B-body and the 11.75" pin adapters from a later police car do not have that hard right angle shelf; they have a slope running up to where the caliper ear would be. I have one big mouth caliper core with the smaller mounting ears, and several small mouth big ear cores, and they all fit fine on these sloped adapters. I do not have an early adapter like the one in the video to compare. I attached a pic of two of the later caliper adapters so you can see the slope and compare it to the adapter in Rocket's video.

Also Chrysler came out with a kit to replace the 'caliper housing' with the type that doesn't require pin positioners; they came with new caliper adapters which I assume were the sloped ones. I've never seen the actual kit or the included parts but the one part of the instruction sheet I saw once is posted below. Perhaps there was an issue getting the old big mouth calipers as service items even back then so they had to come out with a kit that included the newer adapters? Who knows.

 

[Stretch]

Why not hit that tab with an angle grinder.

That is the current plan. However I was trying to avoid that. Mostly to avoid debris hitting the dust seal.

 

[heminut]

Why not hit that tab with an angle grinder.

Exactly what I was thinking!

 

[Katfish]

Easy, tape a couple of Walmart bags around it, and go to town.