Painting rear sway bar and associated stuff Options

[Tobra]

I am going to replace all the bushings on the rear sway bar(factory piece). I am wondering several things.

1.Paint-Should I just clean it all up and paint it with a nice black rustoleum, or would it be worthwhile to powder coat it all?

2.Replacing the bushings-The parts that attach the bar to the car, do I need to put a little silicone or white Li grease to make this easier to fit and less likely to squeek, though rubber is not likely to cause problems.

3.Also, would it be easier to unscrew the bit that goes into the lower part of the shock, and assemble the links to the bar off the car? It looks like an absolute bitch to get the ball on the end of the bar to fit into the bushing. If I take it off, i can use a vise to press the parts together. Will this totally trash the bushings if I do this?

Thanks for any help

[Dave_Darling]

Powder will hold up better (but keep it off the ball parts at the ends of the bar). Rustoleum is cheaper and easier. I'd probably do the latter.

I didn't assemble it all off the car, but that is an interesting possibility... I used a bar clamp (from the hardware store) to squeeze the bushing onto the ball stud. It was a bit of a pain, as I needed both hands to keep the clamp from slipping off at an angle, and a third hand to tighten the clamp. I figure one of those "squeeze the handle to tighten" clamps would be a better choice.

I put the floor jack under the one trailing arm end to move the bar up and down so it would line up properly on the side I was working on. Might not be necessary for you, but it was for me.

It's a cast-iron bitch to get the new bushings into the drop-links. I wound up using a vise to squeeze them in, and still had to poke at the sides with some screwdrivers to keep them from sqoodgeing out the sides.

--DD