Swaybar mounting possibility?

Using a single stock bushing arrangement at A isn't good because the swaybar now wants to push and pull against those points in the fore and aft direction. Those bushings should be replaced with drop links like the 356 used to avoid binding the suspension. The A bushings will wear to the point where they won't bind, but that means your suspension performance is not consistent over time. This suspension binding part of why it would feel "stiffer". Another is that this new arrangement effectively shortens the arm length of the swaybar. And finally, it reduces the amount of twist lost to bushing deflection.

The B mounts should be moved farther outboard to reduce the load on the mounts. As far apart on the straight section of the bar as practical.

FJC sometimes overextends himself trying to explain the why of things. His practical experience is great and I would take his advice if it's based on that, but I've seen several times where his technical explanations and/or illustrations are incorrect and would lead to the wrong conclusions. Not really the case with this simple example though.

Yeah, I wasn't too thrilled with FJ's post, either, and the geometry he showed in his diagram simply wouldn't work because, left to our only example (a VW pan and our existing bar) many of us would still end up mounting the bar forward of the torsion tube.  

And I just happen to have a picture of a 1955 356A Speedster front end, for all of you just wondering how different YOUR car is from the real thing (the answer is......a lot!)  As they say, a picture's worth a thousand words.......  Also, notice why the REAL Porsche doesn't need those silly beam stiffeners those of us with VW pans have to add to make our cars seem more real!

Justinh and Gordon - what you say makes sense.  Thanks for the explanation! 

I've installed a stock swaybar but it hits my bumper brackets when the car's up on jackstands (I installed the bar while the car was up on ramps).  It's probably not the safest arrangement.  Fortunately, although I don't know squat about welding, I have a friend who's willing to do the necessary cutting and welding of the brackets to allow for full travel.   

BTW:  I have the same shot of the sway bar of a 1957 Cabriolet, if anyone's interested.

I'm interested! 

BTW - back when I was installing the bar (a stock VW bar for ball joints) I first checked out how it would work flipped upside down like some have suggested.  The result was that there was barely a hand's width of clearance between the bar and the garage floor so I didn't even try taking it on the road for obvious reasons.  

OK, here you go, comparing a T-1 356 (Pre-A thru early 1956) to a T-2 356A (later 1956 thru 1960)

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I've got a lot more comparo info on 356's per year, but mostly outside trim and interior appointments.  That's why I always chuckle to myself when I see a replica with beehive tail lights and a 3-gauge dash cluster.  To the original owner, that car simply screams "I'M A REPLICA!!!!"

Here's that pic of the front sway bar mounts on a 356A.  They mounted it slightly behind the CL of the torsion bar tube, but have the dog-bone end mounts to allow it to travel.  Also notice that the pan-to-torsion tube mounts are TOTALLY different than on the VW pans that we have (and a lot wider to boot), and quite a bit different from the tube frame cars, too:

Any recommendations on sway bar & CC for 64 VW pan Vintage Speedster built in 2009. I have read previous thread where brackets had to be cut on some and not others. Do you only have to modify brackets if car is lowered? Mine is stock how it came from Kirk.

Thanks!

Terry- The link you provided is to a super beetle sway bar; are you saying you don't have a beetle beam underneath your car?

And I thought you had done something special, there!

Tub4Stu -

Terry's right about which sway bar you want for a '64 front end.  '64 Beetles have a link pin front end but beetles manufactured a year or two later (excluding super beetles) have ball joints.   

This is relevant because the stock sway bars for both link pin and ball joint beetles look similar but the ball joint sway bars have a little kink in the arms.  

Link pin sway bars will not work on ball joint suspensions (ask me how I know*) but I cannot say for certain that a ball joint sway bar would not work with a link pin suspension.

*As a result of that mistake, I have a stock link pin sway bar sitting in my basement:

I've removed the bushings from the above bar (you would want to use new ones, anyway) and it's a bit greasy but it's yours for the shipping if you need it.

One other thing - Terry's right about avoiding the OE swaybar clips and clamp sets.  They'll definitely stay on once installed but getting to that point is every bit as hard as everybody says it is.

Ted - Just ran out and took a quick pic after looking at both front ends you put up and am I wrong that mine looks more like the balljoint diagram. Just want to be sure what I am looking at as I am not extremely mechanical when it comes to cars 

Thanks for the help!

STU

That looks like a ball joint front end to me. 

Does anyone have any idea what the part outlined in yellow is for? 

Looks like an "add on"....  Can't see it's function in the picture.....   Never saw that as a VW fabrication....

Stu -

The second picture you posted isn't showing up for some reason.  It looks like it's probably meant to support something that is forward of the front beam, I just wonder what.    

Gordon - thanks for the comparison between the T1 and T2 356s.  I had no idea that the suspension differed that much between them. 

About the beehive-era gauges, I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what's going on with what looks like an oil temperature gauge in the picture below.  Why does it look like it has two scales and two needles for one sump?  Is one temperature and the other pressure?     [EDIT - They're both temperature - one is the scale in fahrenheit, the other is celsius] 

I can see it now.  I noticed in one of your posts from several months ago that you have an under-dash hand brake and I suspect this is entirely related to getting the necessary leverage to make that work with the VW brake system.  You have what looks like the two cables for each rear wheel in the foreground attached to a flange on what might be a rotating "thingy". 

You could confirm or disprove that this is how your hand brake works by having someone else pull the brake while you watch the cables, or just note the position of the flange the cables attach to and see if it moves from its current position at roughly five o'clock after you've engaged the hand brake.    

Ted - just went out and checked...that's exactly what that is for 

Man you guys are smart...this grasshopper has much to learn 

Thanks again!