That actually is a slick idea. I like mechanical E brake hardware but that is certainly something to look into.
1965 and later Mopars had normal axles.....But 1964 and earlier housings can have normal axles made for them using what they call the "Green Bearing"... I have a narrowed 1964 housing with Moser axles in my hotrod....
I have a 78, 89 and an 03 (all Chevy) with 4 wheel disc. Only the ‘78 has a inner drum for the -whichever- brake. The other two use the calipers.
If you have been around Mopars for a while, 65 was a split year. Most early production 8 3/4 had the tapered axles, and most late production were modern axles. The change over occurred as each plant used the remaining stock of the "old" axle shaft 8 3/4 rear ends, rather then a specific date for the change over. By the 66 model year, all the 8 3/4 rear ends had the modern axle shafts. Back in my junk yard hunting, looking for a 66 model year or newer solved the axle shaft question. Two things made those decisions for me, I worked at a gas station that did a lot of brake jobs. After you kill a few tapered axle brake drums or screw up a few axles, you don't give swapping the entire ***embly out a second thought. By the early 70s, good 66 & newer 8 3/4 rears were easy to come by and were chap, no reason to deal with the old tapered axle junk. I ran dirt track cars, "green bearings" were not something I would install to replace a tapered roller bearing in a rear end that might end up on the dirt track. Aftermarket axle shafts were out of my budget when the OEM modern Mopar stuff still worked for what I needed. Aftermarket axle money bought things I needed worse. I could buy 8 3/4 rears back then for $50 or less, or buy the entire car the 8 3/4 was under, for $75 and have parts I needed and made money off the stuff I didn't need. Anything with tapered axles got the entire rear end swapped out in a heart beat, with no afterthoughts. The old rear end hit the s**** pile unless it was a Sure Grip, or had a decent hot rod gear ratio. I've not dealt with "modern GM" anything recently. How did GM lock the calipers for the E brake?
There is a mechanism inside of the single piston bore, that is turned out by a lever that sticks out of the backside of the caliper. These were made in much the same design for both the pre-Metric, and Metric-era caliper versions. Very similar, but different in scale. The pre-Metric ones are larger, and are for thicker rotors.
Driveline park (or emergency if you like) brakes were not a good idea. Mother Mopar supplied a wood chock with those cars so when you had to change a flat in the rear it wouldn't roll off the jack. Most if not all of those OEM chocks have disappeared by now ('What the hell is this for?') and you won't know you need it until you do...
Those often disappear at caliper change time. Rebuilds are not sold with the nut, arm, or spring, on the earlier calipers.
I had them on my 4x4 rig, with TSL's and 1-ton axles, for a decade, until I sold it. They worked well.
And to stray sort of off subject, while you are byp***ing those brakes, you should be pulling the (likely) 3.55 geared center section. That's the popular source for them. Although getting kind of scarce in junkyard nowadays.
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