Craig's Panther Project -- Sway bars
Posted by Craig Hendrickson On 2015/6/6 8:52:46
This thread documents the adaption of more modern front and rear anti-sway bars to the Torsion-Level chassis of my Panther (nee 1956 Clipper).
The first question would be "Why?" I will grant that a T-L Packard probably handled better than any other mid-1950s big car just based on the T-L suspension alone and that's one of the reasons I and many others like them. However, there's always room for improvement. Given that, the question becomes: "how to improve it."
Mid-1970s Firebirds, particularly Trans Ams, were outstanding handling cars. A stock Gen-2 Trans Am was capable of negotiating a skid pad test at around 1.0G, which is beyond what most drivers are capable of utilizing. Since I used to have some of these Firebirds as parts cars, I figured I would start there. Below is a picture of the front subframe of a 1981 Firebird inverted right before it got sent to the metal scrapper. This shows what the front sway bar looks like and how it is attached.
The next question is "how do you adapt it?" The frame rail connections are about the same comparing the T-L Packard to the Firebird, although the distance between mounting points is somewhat different. However, the sway bar end connections are quite different. Of course, I mocked up how the mounting might align just by hanging the Firebird front sway bar onto the Panther chassis with coat hanger wire:
This mockup indicates a "GO!".
The first question would be "Why?" I will grant that a T-L Packard probably handled better than any other mid-1950s big car just based on the T-L suspension alone and that's one of the reasons I and many others like them. However, there's always room for improvement. Given that, the question becomes: "how to improve it."
Mid-1970s Firebirds, particularly Trans Ams, were outstanding handling cars. A stock Gen-2 Trans Am was capable of negotiating a skid pad test at around 1.0G, which is beyond what most drivers are capable of utilizing. Since I used to have some of these Firebirds as parts cars, I figured I would start there. Below is a picture of the front subframe of a 1981 Firebird inverted right before it got sent to the metal scrapper. This shows what the front sway bar looks like and how it is attached.
The next question is "how do you adapt it?" The frame rail connections are about the same comparing the T-L Packard to the Firebird, although the distance between mounting points is somewhat different. However, the sway bar end connections are quite different. Of course, I mocked up how the mounting might align just by hanging the Firebird front sway bar onto the Panther chassis with coat hanger wire:
This mockup indicates a "GO!".
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