Stabilizer bar clamps---UNCLE!!!!

Ok--my stabilizer bar arrived here today----also the screw type (not the slide ones) clamps.

The clamps seem like they are about one-third too small---I cannot get them around the bar and trailing arm and the poly bushings to get the nut started. I have the Speedie up on ramps so I can get to what I'm working on pretty well, but I don't see how this is ever going to fit together.

I am definitely open to ideas.

I did get the large bushings with the bar together with a radiator hose clamp (which I was so VERY proud of) and it helped get the whole business together---but I can't get the f#@$*&G clamp to start.

Would appreciate any tips as I am obviously doing something wrong.

Maybe a larger clamp??? Thanks a bunch---Jack

Maybe a larger clamp?

Maybe, but before that, could you take a digital picture of the offending situation and either post it or send it to me in an email?

Pictures say a thousand words - maybe, just maybe, you're not installing the clamp correctly (if it's a strap clamp) and we may be able to help.

And then again, maybe you just need a bigger clamp!!

gn

Of course, you DO realize that, after all this, we expect to see you at Carlisle next Spring.......maybe not with your car, but at least YOU!

OK If I can get this stabilizer bar on I 'll be at Carlisle! Where can I find a strong larger clamp? Why did they send me this mini one!!!!---Jack

who did you get it from, just curious.

From J. C Whitney.

Are there slightly larger ones available?---Jack

It's been awhile but there should be one large and one small clamp and bushing for each side. I sorta remember using a BIG pair of channel lock pliers to squeeze everything together to get the bolt started. I'll have to look at mine tomorrow.

~WB

Hey Jack,

I used an 8 inch "C" clamp to get the bolts started.

First, put the bushings and clamps on the bar, smaller ones closest to the end of the bar. You can uses a little wire to temporarily hold the bar in place
Then put the "C" clamp over the bushing an sway bar clamp, trying not to let it slide, then clamp it down until the bolt and nut line up. Tighten the clamp down until the bolt and nut thread.

It is a hassle and few well chosen words will help the bolts thread into place.

This is probably why Kirk doesn't install them!

I did fiddle with the channel locks and the C clamp so I was at least on the right track. I'll take another run at it today plus see if slightly larger clamps are available.

I can't imagine why the clamp manufacturer couldn't have made them just1/2" longer ---that would make the job a snap. But noooo---they gotta make it a difficult. If they are trying to weed out the incompetent mechanics it's definitely working!

I'll pick up a larger pair of channel locks today--I believe that's the ticket as my medium ones almost did the trick. Thanks to all assisting me with "the madness".

I did do one smart thing and that was to get the bar well in place using hose clamps between the two bushings. That really got it in the right place but then the problem with the clamps----.---Jack

The guys are right; there's a large clamp and a small one per side; If I remember correctly the larger one fits over the large bushing, of course, and goes toward the front of the car while the most rearward is the smallest one. I used a Craftsman adjustable plier set to make it work; and yes, it was a little difficult at first but it worked out. Remember to apply the supplied grease (if using poly bushings) inside the bushings.

Jack:

Don't feel too bad.....I spent the ENTIRE DAY screwing around with one coax cable coming from my satellite TV dish (there are three attached to the dish) to one of my receivers. Hadn't used that line/receiver for the past two years and found that I sliced through the coax with a lawn edger when I was installing an "invisible" dog fence underground. DOH!

After finally finding the problem (sevral hours) and then trying to splice it unsuccessfully, I have finally resigned myself to buying 100' of new coax and running a new line.

It's always SOMETHING!!

gn

Think I'll just find a place to hide with my Jack Russels and listen to Bobby Darin..... 8>)

I'd hide too, if I listened to Bobby Darin.

Bill---yep---the extra large channel lock pliers did the trick and I now have those bad boys INSTALLED!!

I just pinched the ends of the clamps together to get them closed enough to start the bolt and that was that.

God forbid that complete instructions be included with the stabilizer bar and clamps.

Again I owe so much to this site and the wonderful folks here.

I am certain that if those disappointed souls who sold their Speedies after just 500 miles had this site they could have functioned well enough to be able to enjoy their cars.

Next---the camber compensator---should be here in a few days----lemmee at it!!----Jack

Jack, as you undoubtedly guessed by now - those clamps were never made specifically for this application, they just happen to be one of several sizes of similar clamps available for a multitude of industrial uses, in this case probably plumbing. My local Marshal's Hardware (the Taj Mahal of local hardware stores - makes the local NAPA or Ace Hardware look like trailer trash) has at least a half dozen sizes of these clamps in stock. Wandering the aisles of these emporiums on a rainy day can really open your eyes to dozens of possibilities, and lower prices in most cases. e.g. I had at least a dozen choices for a custom throttle return spring, and half a dozen choices for a 5/8 breather hose barbed fitting.

Don't forget to record your assembly method in your "custom" maintainance manual!

Down Heah in the Southland, we have the "Grayco" hardware store. As far as I know, there are only two; one on Lady's Island, near Beaufort (that's Bu-fort, as opposed to Bo-fort - that other town way up in No'th Car-lina) and the other's ova near Hilton Head Island.

The Lady's Island store is WAY ahead of any Home Depot or Lowe's DIY. Of course, they have the advantage of distance - it takes between 25 and 40 minutes just to get to Lowe's, depending on whether the swing bridge is open over the Intra-Coastal Waterway for any boats passing through (one of only two bridges off of the island), and Home Depot is way off over in Bluffton - 45 minutes each way on a good day. And what, with Regular gas at $289.9, there aren't too many reasons to traipse all the way to Bluffton, not even for "One Hot Mama's BBQ" - No-sir-ee!

It's a good thing that they stock as much stuff at Grayco as they do... Leaves that much more time to stay home workin on whatever needs workin on. Or maybe doin some Shrimpin. Whatever....

Life is a little slower down heah in the South..... ;>)

Jack, You'll notice that the stainless clamps have a radius to them that is too gradual and not bent close enough for you to be able to get the threaded rod started into the female threaded end, I bent the clamps to a tighter bend and also start off using a C clamp ~Alan

Jack,

We are now eagerly awaiting a report on how the bar fits.

Does it clear the bumper brackets when the wheels are on the ground and when they are hanging down with the car on jack stands?

Who is the manufacturer of the bar?

Is it the regular bar or the one for lowered cars?

Did you install it upside down?

Please resolve the great sway bar quandary.

Thanks.

Need larger clamps check out http://www.mcmaster.com/

Hi Michael--so you want a report.

My car is a Vintage Speedster made last April. I tknow it it is lowered or what---all I know is that someone on this great site told me that model #9600 from J. C. Whitney would fit without any modification---and it did. It is made by EMPI, it's steel and anodized to resist rust.


It is 3/4# thick and mounts to the trailing arms.

I searched far and wide for a picture of an installation and the only place I found one was in the Haynes book section 10, page 14. They also show the clips rather than the brackets holding the bar to the car. That picture was a big help.

I haven't driven the car with the bar yet. Next I'll install a camber compensator---hoping for next week. It's from C. B. Performance and looks like a good one.

---Jack

Cool!! Camber compensator installation is pretty straightforward; you'll get'er done quick.

Camber compensator - J. C. Whitney - shades of my swing axle '62 Corvair! Unfortunately, I found myself driving that 3 speed, 80 Hp traffic-terrorizing demon on Woodward Ave in Detroit during the '60s, surrounded by GTOs, 421 Ponchos, 409 Chevys and 440 Mopars. Hell, even a straight six Chevy II would whomp on me. It was a thoroughly dehuminizing experience.