OEM front sway bar

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4 speedin

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I am restoring a original sway bar for my Valiant and would like to know how people are replacing the groments as they are welded inside the brackets. I want to sand blast and use a matte clear to protect the finish.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks Mike
 
i am restoring a original sway bar for my valiant and would like to know how people are replacing the groments as they are welded inside the brackets. I want to sand blast and use a matte clear to protect the finish.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks mike

i think mopar mitch just went through this, shoot him a pm.
 
One of my brackets was bent, so I ended up buying new ones, from PST I think.
 

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I did this and it was easier than I thought. Get the old ones out any way you can, cut it, pry it, break it out. When your cleaning it up make sure to get all the old rubber off that might be stuck inside the brackets. You want them clean down to the bare metal. Slip the new bushings on the swaybar using dish soap as a lubricant. I used channel locks to work the bushings into the brackets. They went in pretty easy, keep them lubed.
 
I did this without much trouble. I removed the bar and the supports on the cross member all together. I used a screwdriver to dig out the old rubber and get the mounts free from the bar. I put the supports in my vise and heated them to straighten them back out. I used a bead blaster to clean the supports and bar before painting them with rustoleum black. I ordered new poly bushings from PST and slid them on the bar. I used KY jelly because it's water soluble to smear on the supports and poly bushings then used a couple of pairs of slip joint pliers to work the bushings into the supports. It takes a little effort but it's not too bad. The assembled bar and supports can be mounted together, worked into place and connected to the links with new bushings. You can do it!!
 
That is likely the intelligent thing to do:) I was trying to figure out how to re use the OEM brackets. BTW Did these come originally in raw cast finish or were they painted?
 
Thank you much! Were you able to install the new one's without breaking the weld apart on at least one side?
 
Yes the bushings were a tight fit but I was able to use the pliers and KY to squeeze them into the brackets without breaking the weld. You wouldn't want to weld on them with the new bushings installed.
 
I bought my car used so I really don't know what color the brackets were from the factory. Sorry!
 
Here are some pics of how my bushings look after installation.
 

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I have one that I took off a 67 Barracuda. It looks like it had black paint on the brackets. But I don't think it was original to that car (a /6) -- I think it was a swap meet find. So I can't guarantee that was the factory finish.
 
Thank you Sir! I guess I can clean up the brackets after installing the groments and paint them with them installed:)
 
What a perfectly timed post for me... Doing this tomorrow.
 
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