Rear sway bar mounts

[nobody]

I thought this was interesting. Kadette rear sway bar on a GT using all factory hardware.

[opeldean]

i dont know what i am seeing dave. do you mean they flipped a kadette bar?

are there no end links?

here is my record holding kadette bar, it is my proudest part on my gt(next to the twins)..
it came off stephens kadette he parted out...511,000 miles when I got it...now the bar has about 520,000 miles on it.

bar looks thicker than a 1/2 inch kadette

[GTJIM]

Dave, That is a completely different way of mounting a rear sway bar - it may explain why using the "conventional" mounting method like Dean has used sometimes results in the loop of the swaybar hitting the body above the diff. It may well be that GT rear sway bars are supposed to be mounted "upside-down" with the lever-arms attached to the body and the rest of the bar riding piggyback on the diff as your pictures show .....

"Curiouser and curiouser" said Alice!

The bolt on brackets I mentioned are for "conventional" mounting and look like these attached pics:

[nobody]

The end links are large pads bolted in with a riser and stud on them. Not too long ago somebody was looking to identify some of the pieces from this type setup and it was determined they were in fact Opel parts. I had never seen one like it, I was guessing that it was a Kadette bar being used. From the apparent age of it I have to wonder if at some point there was a factory add on bar.

[jordan]

What would the actual weld on bracket for the axel look like? I can't imagine it would be too difficult to make, I couldn't justify spending $60 for 2 brackets that very well may be just a piece of steel channel.

[GTJIM]

Originally Posted by jordan What would the actual weld on bracket for the axel look like? I can't imagine it would be too difficult to make, I couldn't justify spending $60 for 2 brackets that very well may be just a piece of steel channel.

Two 3" lengths of 2" X 5/16" flat bar and two bits of 1" waterpipe - WELD!

[jordan]

the 1" water pipe would follow and attach to the radius of the axel?

[nobody]

Jordan, which bar are you planning to install? Only the OGTS bar requires welding. The tube is for the bushings and the plate would be radiused to weld to the axle.

[GTJIM]

Originally Posted by jordan the 1" water pipe would follow and attach to the radius of the axel?

The 1" waterpipe would be welded at right angles on the outer end for the rubber bushes to fit into - the other end of flat bar would be cut to the radius of the axle housing and welded on.

Sort of: o=( with the flat of the bar vertical for strength.

[jordan]

Are the rear swaybar mounts identical or are the respective sides mirror image to the other?

[kwilford]

Here are a set of bolt-ons that recently sold on eBay. They look identical right to left, but maybe they are actually two of the same side (seems that they should be asymmetrical)

[nobody]

Looking at the ones on Liz's 69 the pieces were all identical side to side. After seeing those with Opel stickers just thickens the plot.

[aknassassin]

I'm gonna confirm that they're the same side to side. After looking at them i decided it wasn't even worth cutting the brackets off of the kadett axle to weld onto my GT. I just made my own with 1" pipe and angle iron a welder drill and grinder.

[jordan]

Now how do I adjust the pitch or angle of the bracket around the circumference of the axel tube so I can weld them on in the correct position, how crucial is it that I get the angle right if at all?

[jordan]

They have to be different.

[nobody]

Jordan that looks like an OGTS bar. When I did mine I put the bar in first then welded the brackets. For a welded bracket the height relationship body to axle can put the bar in a bind if not centered.

[GTJIM]

The bolt-on brackets recently sold on eBay had Part # 444425 on them and this is listed inthe Opel and GT Parts Book (July, 1974) as for use on 68-70 Kadetts and 71-73 Models 31 - 36
There is no "other handed" one listed but in the number used per car is the quantity of "1"
Has anyone got an earlier parts book - As I have a sneaking suspicion that there was initially a left and right handed one but the "bean-counters" realised that the same one could be used for both sides and the other handed one has been deleted in the 1974 catalogue.
Another "Opel" mystery!

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by GTJIM The bolt-on brackets recently sold on eBay had Part # 444425 on them and this is listed in the Opel and GT Parts Book (July, 1974) as for use on 68-70 Kadetts and 71-73 Models 31 - 36 There is no "other handed" one listed but in the number used per car is the quantity of "1" Has anyone got an earlier parts book - As I have a sneaking suspicion that there was initially a left and right handed one but the "bean-counters" realized that the same one could be used for both sides and the other handed one has been deleted in the 1974 catalogue. Another "Opel" mystery!

And I am a bit suspicious by the fact there is some kind of "bolt bracket" on one side of both of the brackets. Seldom do you find something so obviously uni-dexterous being used in an ambidextrous application.

[jordan]

I am about to weld on the rear brackets and the way that they line up puts them at a pretty extreme downward angle 30º to be exact (depending apon which way you look at it.) The hole in the bracket is just below the axel tube as illistrated in the instruction diagram. Is this right? or should they me a little more level?

[nobody]

Jordan, again, could you enlighten us as to what type of swaybar you are using?

[jordan]

It is the opel gt source 3/4" bar with weld on axel brackets.

[nobody]

Thanks, I didn't want to give you bad advice. once you center the bar above the axle it will have a down angle depending on the spring drop. All you need to be concerned with is keeping the bar centered between hitting the body and the axle. Yes it will be below level. Good choice of bars by the way, I did the same one.

[jordan]

dave, did you notice an improvement with the addition of the rear bar? Im not going to have the rear bar actually on for about a week becuase im waiting for some other parts that im replacing, I just tacked the brackets on and I will finish welding them once the rear axel is off the car.

[nobody]

I have them front and back with a 2 inch drop. It's very stiff and the flex is all gone.