Font Swaybar, Where the holes go Options

[alex9s]

Does anyone know how to locate where to drill the 1-inch hole for the front sway bar???? I'm installing a Weltmeister front sway bar on a 72 914. I read the tech article on Pelican's website and have the template printed out. The template indicates you should have 1/2 inch from the top of the arch but what about locating the hole left and right(front and aft) of the arch???? Is it not as critical as the up and down location? Not only that how do I know where exactly to measure the 1/2 inch from??? Center of the arch? I just don't want to drill the holes and later find that the bar is binding because of the holes I drilled. Maybe its just not that critical...........????

alex

[So.Cal.914]

To high and it will rub and possably wear a hole in your fuel tank.

[Carlitos Way]

I seem to recall there was a post on the Pelican board with templates. Am I mistaken?

[So.Cal.914]

I seem to recall there was a post on the Pelican board with templates. Am I mistaken?

No your correct and in the post above he said that he went there and got the

templates.

[majkos]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) Yup!

That's what I did when I install my front sway bar. Scrariest move I ever done.
But I followed the instructions,with the templates, got her done!

I strongly recommend you have plenty of room on the sides.
Jack the car up at the right height to work on top(tank) and side of wheel wells.

[alex9s]

Thanks for the advice! I didn't realize the fuel tank would be that close to the

sway bar. I'll have to watch for that. What springs do you have in the rear? 140? I

have 100 now and I've heard it's better to go with 140 with a front sway bar. I

don't track the car but it's the first suspension upgrade I've done and I want

to make the car tighter. I'm putting in a 22mm bar, hopefully it will make a big

difference in the handling. Did you weld the triangular brackets in?

[dmenche914]

better to be low, than high, and forward than back the bar is darn claose tothe gas tank, a fatter bar even more so. you need to place teh lower bolt hole such that it is thru teh double walled area, so you will need to notch the double wall. if you don't good chance you will rub on the tank. teh felt tank pads are barely enough to keep it above teh bar, and don't think you can raise the tank much to clear, teh tank is too close too tthe trunk lid. make teh hole on the low side, and remeber the tank is nothed, so if too far back you also can hit the tank. gett eh bar closer to teh front bulkhead. it can be really close to it, and still just miss the tank.

i suggest making the bar holes first, then slide the bar in, with the triangle mounts, and then check tank clearnace 9keep in mind the tank when full may settle down) then after it all checks out, drill the six bolt holes

it is a pretty tight fit, and difficult to reference the position.

[jperret]

We just installed one. We used the Template from Pelican.

1st we had to use photoshop to size the template print out. There is a little bracket that indicates 1". The 1" applies to the inside of the bracket lines not the outside.

2nd. It is darn hard to get align the template so the top two of the three bolt holes are vertical. But with a bit of fooling around it worked.

3rd. None of the pictures incate that you need a nut plate for the inside (gas tank area). We purchased a pair for $25 from Tarette Engineering.

4th. Once we had one plate mounted we just measured from a reference point on the inside to position the second hole.

5th. We used JB Weld to secure the nut plate until we can have it welded to the body.

6th. Gave up tryin to get the bushing over the rod end and spit it with a hacksaw.

7th. Once we installed one of the drop links we used a floor jack on that side to move the sway bar and second drop link into position.

Hope this helps.

Joe Perret

[lagunero]

Regarding the gas tank. I also did mine off the PP tech article. I noticed that the tank maybe to close for comfort so I added pieces of carpet swatches to the existing tanks pads. This added more clearance without the tank hitting the hood.

[Carl_Payne]

6th. Gave up tryin to get the bushing over the rod end and spit it with a hacksaw.

For future reference, what worked for me was to put the bar in the freezer (we had a chest-type freezer in our old garage) and liberally spray Armor-All on the end of the bar prior to sliding the bushing on. Snug, but worked great.

BTW, that's also how you get an 8.5mm spark plug wire through a 7mm boot.