Helping a local Buick guy find a rear sway bar for his 67 GS400. Anybody sell a repo? Anybody have a used one for sale? Does he have to get a Buick one or will a Chevy/Olds/Pontiac bolt in? Any help would be appreciated, does not have to be absolutely factory correct. Thanks,Chris
All interchange from 64-72, and it is still available from GM. #394926. Look it up at gmpartsdirect.com Mike
Chris, My experience is more with '65 but I'm pretty sure they were the same in '67. To install a rear (anti)sway bar, the car needs to have boxed rear control arms. They can either be boxed by welding in the appropriate aftermarket piece or buy new lower control arms with the boxing already installed. On my hardtop I installed an oversized rear swaybar from Quickor which I picked up at the Puyallup Swap Meet. They explained to me the importance of installing balanced front and rear swaybars. They recommended replacing the front with a much beefier sway bar to match the rear. They are different sizes but much bigger than stock. At first I thought they were just trying to make an extra buck or hundred. After much discussion I understood their logic. The suspension needs to be balanced front to rear to keep it on the road. I haven't regretted the choice for a second after I installed them. Along with a few other suspension and steering upgrades, my car handles like it is on rails with very little body lean. I'd recommend Quickor very highly. It wasn't cheap. If memory serves it was over $300 5 years ago. Rufus
I have bought 2 from them,they are cheaper than aftermarket:beer Edit:the last one i got was $85 or so including shipping...price has gone up.
Currently at $95 plus approx $20 for shipping. Still one of the best buys out there.:TU: The resto suppliers sell a complete bar/control arm package for around $300.... not too bad when you consider the time it would take to box your own and replace all the bushings.
I didn't do it. BUT. I owned a 66 that had a rear sway bar. When under the car working on the gas gauge, I was checking out all the "stuff" in the back. I noticed I saw no "boxing" on the rear control arms. You can imagine all the thoughts that flashed through my mind:eek2: So I really examined what had been done. They had cut pipe to fit tight inside the arm, slipped the bolt through and attached the bar. It had been that way for ten years before I bought it and I saw NO ill effects from this method of installilation. I might do that sometime with thick wall steel pipe, it looked like it worked well enough. Again, I am no authority, I only play mechanis sometimes. Isn't the purpose of the bar to transfer some "force"?? from one side to the other to help keep the car flat in the corners? If so there would not be much pressure horizontally, or maybe vertically either. The bar is just a "torsion" bar, not unlike one for help in lifting the trunk. I mean as long as the bar is ancored well it really does most of the work in this instance. Right or totally wrong???
I play engineer sometimes!:laugh: A boxed lower arm would transfer the load from a sway bar to the ends (axle and frame mounts) more efficiently. An unboxed arm would flex and not work as well. I suppose it's possible an unboxed arm could eventually crack and fail if unusual forces are put on it. I can't say at what point the difference would be an issue.
I cut 4-1"peices of iron waterpipe, one for each bolt and they fit perfectly up into the control arm. Worked fine for several years until the right front gromet started getting loose. Unboxed arms are twisty when you put 400 HP or more to them. I bought Edelbrock arms and these are very strong with poly bushings and holes for the swaybar. I now wish I had gotten the Global West with the swivel type front joints.
Hey Chris...I have brand new Spohn (I think) rear bar that I'm not going to use, due to a change in project direction, that you can have for the grand total of $Free.00 + Shipping.
Wow, thanks Chris, I will take it! Please PM with how and where to send payment, my zip code is 98042. Thanks! Chris
Good news Chris, I hope it works well. Hi Bill, You are correct, we do make some pretty neat stuff at Schilling Robotics. But better than that is the collection of employees I get work with every day. I always thought that if this group of folks made door knobs, they would be best door knobs on the planet.
