Picked up a 7 1/4 rear from a 67' Cuda. The drums measure 9" ID, the shoes are 2 1/2" wide. The drums do not have the same "flare" as the ones on the Swinger and I think the shoes are wider than the ones on the Swinger. I know that the housing is a little wider, spring perch distance is the same, but I want to use it cause it has a suregrip and better gears. Question ?? Can I use the brake hardware (drums, shoes, spring kit, etc) from the 72' on the 67' housing? I would rather try this than swaping the suregrip.

You have to check one thing. I have seen some axles that use 4 bolts to hold the flange (and therefore brake backing plate) to the housing, and some use 5. If they both use the same bolt pattern, then you should be able to swap the whole brake setup, from backing plate to the drum and all associated hardware in between.

One thing to watch out for when changing around brake setups from axle to axle, as I have ran into in the past... assemble everything and spin the axle by hand, and make sure the back of the wheel studs don't hit the parking brake lever or any other associated hardware. I don't think this will be an issue with you because your going from 7 1/4" to 7 1/4" though.

If your changing from a narrower shoe to a wider one and vice-versa, you have to use the matching backing plates because the offsets are different.

Thanks Pierre, they are both four bolt backing plates. I have not had time to measure the shoes on the car yet to compare. Are the "shielded" drums considered better than the "flares" that are on it now or is there no advantage to one or the other.