early a body torsion bar ?

Not sure what to tell you. Either you were getting a false reading so to speak before since the car never moved and the suspension never settled (did you roll it at least before to settle the suspension?), or the bars are junk.

Have you tried tightening the adjusting bolts all the way - as in no more threads left? If so and they still won't hold the car up, get new torsion bars. I've never seen bars go bad like that, but it is what it is.

Without seeing exactly what's going on, it's difficult to diagnose. Either way, sounds like different torsion bars are in order. You do plan on driving the car on the street don't you?