Since I Have more time than money, I got busy and boxed my lower rear control arms for the addition of a sway bar and and other rear end changes.

I've been told I'm a fairly dangerous man with any metal cutting/welding tools!!!

And yes, done in my backyard and under the shadetree! :cool:

Anyway, here's some pics of my morning"s project
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4007431&a=31145788&f=

Looks good. You did remember to tack the sway bar shims/spacers inside the bar, right? Otherwise they will collapse when you tighten the bolts.

Before I bosed my arms a welded some short peices of pipe to the inside of the arm for the sway bar. It worked great. After boxing the arms & installing poly bushings it made a big difference in handling & a solid feel to the car.

Hey those arms look good! I'm about ready to do the samething on my 1979. I bought the steel as a kit already cut to shape and size. Do you have any hints/tips about welding the plates on the arms?

Looks good. You did remember to tack the sway bar shims/spacers inside the bar, right? Otherwise they will collapse when you tighten the bolts.


Absolutely!!!! You can see in THIS (http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=4007431&a=31145788&p=67285847&f=0) picture how I had added a washer to the sleeve to get the proper space. I then tack welded them all in place. I thought I had a pic of them welded but I assure you, they are!


As for using a kit that's a great way to go. The important thing is to be sure you have a good fit with the pieces to be joined. Use C clamps or vise clamps to hold the parts together and then tack them in place for welding. Have and use gloves and safety glasses!!!! You didn't say what you're going to weld with but a stick welder will be a bad choice. An experienced welder could do it, however even an experienced welder would rather use a wire welder for a project like this.

Looks awesome ... anyone would be very proud!!!

Are we talking about the washer inside the arms? Did you have to weld a washer because I cut some spacers when I installed a rear sway bar and I was just planning on tacking them in place because they fit tight and there is no room for a spacer? Also do you recommend leaving the old bushings in the arm and using nuts/bolts/washers thru them while welding the boxing plates in? I bought a set of poly bushings and I have an adjustable upper arm with a heim joint. What about painting? Should I worry about the paint burning off inside the arms while welding? Thanks for the help--I don't mind spending the extra time to do something right and I hate doing something over again.

Kit http://ziptiemotorsports.8k.com/index.html

Might as well these guys out as well:
http://www.hrpartsnstuff.com/

Take a look at there new sway bar.

Are we talking about the washer inside the arms? Did you have to weld a washer because I cut some spacers when I installed a rear sway bar and I was just planning on tacking them in place because they fit tight and there is no room for a spacer? Also do you recommend leaving the old bushings in the arm and using nuts/bolts/washers thru them while welding the boxing plates in? I bought a set of poly bushings and I have an adjustable upper arm with a heim joint. What about painting? Should I worry about the paint burning off inside the arms while welding? Thanks for the help--I don't mind spending the extra time to do something right and I hate doing something over again.

Yea, the spacers that came with the sway bar were a little short. Adding a washer made the spacer just right so I tacked the washer and pipe spacer in place. I could have cut some pipe to fit but I had the ones that came with the sway bar and the washers made it an easy fix. You don't want to tight or to loose because that could distort the arm and could cause some problems with bushing fit.

I would leave the old bushings in place while welding the additional parts in. That will help control the distortion from welding, no need to leave the bolts in though. Nothing you can do about the paint burning off except repaint as best you can on the inside. Idealy it would be best to just dip the arm in paint but thats not practical unless there's a metal shop around with a dip tank to do them for you.

Question,

Why didn't you go around the end to completely enclose the whole arm? Seems like the ends are where it will flex the most now, its the weakest place now.

I had almost forgotten about adding the spaces to the inside for the stabelizer / sway bar. Actually didn't think about it, that counds as forgetting doesn't it?!?

THose aftermarket arms I've seen are completely boxed, that is why I asked about the ends.

You got a good point Pete but I think the bushing at the ends of the arms add a lot of resistance against twisting. The boxing kit that I bought wraps around the bushings. The aftermarket boxed arms are made that way because it is simpler to make them that way. The ultimate strenght would come from box style arms and solid metal bushings. They're is a guy on Ebay that makes them that way but stock bushings won't replace the solid bushings and I thought solid bushings would be too harsh on the street.

Question,

Why didn't you go around the end to completely enclose the whole arm? Seems like the ends are where it will flex the most now, its the weakest place now.

I had almost forgotten about adding the spaces to the inside for the stabelizer / sway bar. Actually didn't think about it, that counds as forgetting doesn't it?!?

THose aftermarket arms I've seen are completely boxed, that is why I asked about the ends.


The thing is unless you want to seal/box the entire arm you could have issues with moisture getting inside. I'd rather leave them open so water can just flow through. The strength gained by enclosing the ends is not going to make or break the deal, it's the length wise boxing that makes the strength.

It's not a big deal to go ahead and do the ends but the labor/time/benefit ratio doesn't make it worth the effort in my book.

Where did you get your rear sway bar? what brand is it?

I got my rear sway bar from a an 1986 Oldsmobile 442. I understand that all rear antisway bars from G Body cars are 7/8" and interchangable. All Monte Carlo SS, Buick GN/X, Olds 442 and Pontiac Gran Prixs came stock with these bars, on other G Body models they were in an optional handling package.

Factory rear bars came in 16, 19 and 22 mm.

Mine measures about 7/8" approximately 22mm. Do you know what vehicles/years/models/handling options correspond to the three size bars?

Later years are usually bigger. I think all MCSS and 84/87 TR's got the 22. Not sure on the rest.

Thanks for the info. It would be nice if someone with the information could put it all together.

Most cars have 22mm. Like Black said, all MC SS , GN, 442s etc. had 22s .