My front brakes a pinching a bit and I believe the rotors could do with a fresh cut and a set of pads. Since I drive the car daily I would like to harvest a spare set of rotors from the yard and have them cut so I can just change over to a fresh set when I feel like it. Which of the big GM cars share rotors with the 72 Centurion? I'm hoping on Cadillac, there's plenty of those in the yards.. Back to the swaybar question.. I saw a mid 70's Grand Prix today that had one but I wasn't sure it was Pontiac's version of a Riv so I left it, then I spotted another one under a '77 big Buick, but since we're pretty far off '72, I wasn't sure it would fit. But just by looking at them, it seems that as long as you have the right length and a shape with enough clearence you could fit almost any make or model, one question though, did these all come in the same thickness, or are there different versions to look for?
I forget exactly, but there's a thread somewhere here that says Ch*vy truck brakes work on our big cars. Might try searching on "truck brake rotor"... On the swaybar, I'm pretty sure there were two sizes, 15/16" and 1"...I don't know why the 1/16" difference, seems silly to me.
Are we talking rear sway bars? If so they made them for our cars rare but I found a guy with them, used.
Nick Rabi out of New Jersey installed a factory GM rear sway bar on his '72 Centurion. Not sure from what car, but he did say the lower control arms are made special for the bars. You cannot fabricate the non-sway bar control arms. It is indeed a rare option and find. Just remember to take the lower arms also. I will try to get more info from Nick unless he reads this first.
Oh, I was thinking front bars. I got my rear bar from a guy who said he got it off a '73 Estate Wagon (don't know if that's possible, since the wagons had leaf springs...). At any rate, I fabbed my lower arms - took my non-swaybar lower control arms and welded on steel plates to box them in with tubular spacers so the bolts don't crush the arms. It's worked great for 10 years or so. But of course, if you can get the bar and arms, go for it! Now, I think there were two ways of mounting rear bars - some (like mine)bolt to the bottom of the lower arms, some bolt to the sides, iirc.
The one coming for my Electra originally was in a Caprice or the same era. They never came on the Electra, only LeSabre and Riviera for '73. Not sure about other years. I really should start scavenging the yards more and see if something sparks my creative side.
The bars I saw today at the yard looked like they would fit nicely, the bends are cleared by a large margin for the bottom of the arms and the diff house. Maybe they need the large clearing for when it starts pushing on one side o No: . They were attached with bolts coming through the control arm from both sides into some kind of box inserted into the arm, and the bar itself was the bolted to the bottom of the boxes. I think it could be quite easy to fit one, just as long as it is the right width, and the box stuck in the control arms unbolts and slides into the new car's control arms. I would just drill the holes in the existing arms for the boxes to hold the bar. Regarding the thickness of the bar, 1/16 will make quite a difference: Quote from latest Hemmings: Changing a 3/4 inch to a 1 inch bar increases stiffness by 300%.. I was quoted 25$ for the one on the Grand Prix, but since I wasn't sure if it would fit I left it.
Adding the rear bar made a HUGE difference on my LeSabre, the car handles much more neutrally and the front end doesn't push nearly as much. :bglasses: What you're looking at sounds very straightforward, go for it! Even if you have to do some fabbing, all you need is some spacers so the bolts don't crush the arms and then you could weld plates on to box the arms. I can get some pics of mine if you want.
Pontiwreck. The rear bar I added to my '72 Electra came off of a '74 Pontiac Catalina I owned. Seems many of the full sized Pontiacs had them. What did they call it? F-41 suspension? I just left the brackets on the bar when I took it off, and had a buddy that worked at a welding shop weld the brackets to the lower control arms. (The brackets slide up into the control arm.) I didn't feel like drilling holes. Made a huge improvement in handling!
I couldn't even be bothered with the measuring, took a pretty thick bar from a 94 caprice cop packaged car.. It also had disc brakes at the back but I couldn't figure out if they would fit or not. It looked like the holes where the bolts that hold the brakes go on the axle tube were not the same. That car supposedly has a shorter ratio steering box too, but I couldn't be bothered with crawing in under it. It wasn't up on stands yet and for some reason there were no jacks to be found in the yard ???
So..... The caprice bar was an inch to short to reach both lower control arms. - - - I was out there again a few days ago and saw a bar under an early 70's caprice I believe it was. The boxes were welded to the control arms so I just unbolted the bar itself and went over to a mid 80's caprice to get the boxes out. When I took the bar out from the 80's caprice I noticed that it was identical in width to the early 70's one. I then dragged both bars over to a 72 Electra in the yard and tried to fit the mid 80's bar in there cause it still had the boxes on, no luck just an inch to short; as would the early 70's bar have been since it was identical.. Is there a difference in the chevy and b.o.p. bars? Are you sure Rob, that your caprice bar will fit?
One of the old farts I hang around with swears they used to take 77 - 85 station wagon rear sway bars and put them in the earlier B- Bodies. I have never tried it, but he said it worked. I saw a rear bar advertised on ebay new for the 71 - 75 b- body buick. Price wasn't terrible. Tony
Any 71-76 GM B or C-body rear sway bar will fit. You'll need a pair of the inserts for the lower control arms. They are still available from GM for cheap. That same bar will also retrofit to the 65-70 BOP full-size cars (65-70 Chevys used a narrower bar, same as the A-body cars). See my post on RealOldsPower: http://72.22.90.30/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24880 Glenn
I'm not sure what you mean by the inserts, do you mean the boxes that you screw four screws into from the sides through the control arm, to hold the box inside the control arm, and then you attach the bar to with two screws? The problem with the bars I've found is that they're just not wide enough, they're about an inch to short to properly reach both control arms. Even the one on the early caprice/impala or what it now was... I tried to see in the picture you had posted on the other site, but I can't really make out any other way it has been mounted than the ways I've seen it with the box inside the contol arm and then the bar underneath?
I've only seen the big cars have the bars mount underneath the arms. Maybe the A-bodies mount to the side? Pic of mine - we added the internal tubes, then stacked and welded plate steel to match the profile of the bottom of the arm. Nylock nuts, been there for 10+ years now.
Yes, I bought the short boxes (inserts) that fit into the bottom of the lower control arms. But rather than drilling the holes for the 4 self-tapping screws, I just welded them in. The bar then bolts to the insert from the bottom, as on all 71-76 big cars. The bar you tried that's an inch narrower is probably from a 77 or later B-body. Like I said, all 71-76 B or C-body cars use the same bar, even Chevy. Here's the breakdown of factory rear sway bar fitment, as I know it: -All 64-72 A-body & 65-70 Chevrolet B-body. Mount between LCA's (common) -All 65-70 Buick/Olds/Pontiac B & C-body. Mount between LCA's (very hard to find) -All 71-76 B and C-body. Mount to bottom of LCA's (not common, but out there) -All 73-76 A & G-body, 77-96 B & C-body. Mount to bottom of LCA's (very common) -All 78-88 A & G-body. Not familiar with the mounting arrangement of these (common)
I'll just have to keep on looking, I was sooo sure that the early chevy that I got the bar from was pre '76, but but but but.. eh. uzzled: .. If it's still in the yard next time I'll take a pic of it.
16.49??? I must have missed something. I've been too busy with home improvement stuff for a while, and haven't been watching this site as much as I should have. I'm sure there is a story, right? Direct me to the thread, please. Nick
There's always stuff to improve.. Of course there's a link: http://v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=106617 :beer
Kimson, I was told by a Monty Dobson (monty48) that he had one off a Caprice from 73-76. I forget what year but around there that it would be a direct bolt in. I never bought it but I will from him. He is reasonable pricing and includes everything you need.
