All,

I am having some trouble removing the steering idler from the connecting bar and the bracket. My bushing assembly that is screwed onto the bracket is loose.

Is there some trick to removing the ball from the connecting rod? I loosened the adjustment screw and the ball end is stubborn. Secondly, the bushing assembly that also fastens the idler to the bracket will not come off of the bracket. It turns for quite a ways until it binds.

I was hoping to get the bushing assembly out and make a new bushing for it.

Any help?

Thanks,

I put in my sway bar that I acquired from Ross (Thanks, Ross for your help) a few days ago. It still looks like that Ebay bar would be promising to try with a few questions. Perhaps a question on the distance from the shaft pivots to the center of the eye would be helpful. The bar needs to be straight between its mounting pivots. The bar should be 44 1/2 inches long between link centers and 3/4" diameter.

I used universal links from the auto parts store. I chose the 3 7/8" long. The bar is working well.

It helped my steering.

Thanks,

John from KC

All,

Although I am going to use an original one, I found what looks like a possible replacement for the front bar on 22nd and 23rd Packards on EBay. The Packard Bar looks to be about 44" long and needs to be straight between the mounts to go through stuff in front of the radiator. It looked like it would be minimal modifications. I may have had to forge new eyes on the ends to make it fit, but it was 3/4 inch diameter and available at various overall lengths.

The ebay link is:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/130868232044?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

It seems pretty reasonable at $129 plus $18 shipping.

John from KC

Ross,

Thanks for taking the time to help me out with the sway bar! I know it was a lot of trouble to remove it and send it.

This will make my car a whole lot more drivable!

My old '49 Super doesn't corner well. I looked under the nose expecting to find some worn out rubber bushings on the sway bar and instead found NO SWAY BAR.

I am searching for a unit to purchase, but they seem fairly simple so I was considering making one.

Does anyone know the diameter of the bar?

Does anyone have a picture of the set-up?

I will probably have to use a tool steel rod of an appropriate length. To avoid bending or welding the hardened rod, I will key each end and make a set of bars to mount on the rod to go back toward the A-arms. I will machine a set of blocks to mount the sway bar to the frame. I intend to make some links down to the A-arms with some urethane bushings all around. Thoughts?

Wow. I can't believe I didn't see those holes in the bottom of my bumper!

Thanks JD for the photo!

I settled for a one wire governor cover for $20 + $6 s&h from Herm, the Overdrive guy. Herm is a general overdrive fellow who has a lot of parts that he refurbishes. He wasn't aware of two wire tops, but is an OK source of some parts for R11 (maybe R9). He shipped quickly after receiving a check (no credit!).

Link:http://hermtheoverdriveguy.com/?page_id=889

I don't need he luxury of a 418710 NOS switch, but would be willing to go a little higher than $20 for a workable unit.

I can use a relay as was suggested to gain the necessary functionality.

All (for information only),

I ran out of gas a couple of days ago. This prompted me to fix my gas gauge.

I was pretty sure there were problems in the tank, so I took it down and removed the sender. Float was corroded into non existence. The resistance of the sender seemed to vary nicely from something like 7.5 to 13 ohms as the arm was moved.

I ended up checking it against the temp gauge and it worked and seemed calibrated OK (lined up with H and C as the sender arm was moved to extremes (backwards just like the service instructions said!).

Ultimately, I found the sender wire was broken just below the trunk deck. I bought a Chevy float for $6, cleaned the sender up and made it operate freely, reinstalled and NOW I HAVE GAS GAUGE!

Welcome to the 21st century.

My governor top was cracked and there was a mis-adjusted contact for the overdrive. It looked like someone did a little modification as the end of a screw was all that was used for the contact. There did not seem to be a good way to tighten the wire onto it without messing up the gap (the screw to fasten the wire onto the governor also adjusted the gap).

So, I settled for getting a used one after an internet search. The overdrive works fine now. However, the unit did not have a NC contact to run the engine clutch. I had hoped one day to get that weird clutch working!

If someone has the two wire governor top for a reasonable price, I might be interested.

All,

Does anyone have a nice picture of mounting a front license bracket on 23rd? I see a shadow on the bumper where there was a license for many years, but see no mounting holes on my car.