I am on vacation and away from my 57 project, which is coming along- last week we pushed the car over to the service lift side of the garage, got it up on the lift, and my friend Sal removed the entire old exhaust system; we have a new one ready to go in once we clean up the underside. I have some dirt down there, but overall it appears to be a solid and straight rust free frame, which given that it's 61 years old, is something to be happy about.

Seeing the car on the lift made me think about other improvements to add under there, to wit:

-replace the shock absorbers, which appear old. Anyone have suggestions for C1 shocks? This will be strictly street driven.
-adding sway bars. I can't remember if there is a front one- I am certain there isn't a rear sway bar. My memory of driving my 1959 C1 was that it did not handle very well, although I did enjoy driving it. Has anyone added sway or anti-roll bars and where did you get them, how do you like them?

Any other improvements I might not think of on my own? I would welcome suggestions. With the exception of an AAW wiring harness and certain updates that it forced on us (alternator, for one, and MSD ignition, digital conversion to the radio) we have kept the car looking stock. Folks here have a great deal more experience than I, so I would like to have the benefit of your expertise. Thank you all in advance.

 

These are center-link, kingpin, live-axle cars......you can get the ride decent with Monroe or Delco shocks and good radial tires - you don't need anything more exotic and don't go down the road of stiffer springs if yours are fine. You should have a front sway bar (I don't know if the earlier C1s had rear sway bars) and if the rubber is gone on the end links and bracket then replace those... Look VERY carefully at the lower front shock mount tabs - they are notorious for cracking and if so - repros are availabble. See picture.

Truthfully, the cars will always be primitive and a bit piggish in the twisties -- its part of their nostalgic appeal...

 

From 53 to 62, there was a grand total of 4 different sway bars: 3 front, 1 rear.
The 53-59 cars used the SAME stock sway bar. It is readily distinguished because it has a BIG notch in the mid-section of the bar. Why the big notch? The 53-54 Vettes had 6cyl engines and the front sway bar had the big notch to clear the 6cyl fan blades. This bar lasted through 59.
The 57-59 cars with HEAVY DUTY suspension got the front sway bar with the big notch, BUUUUUUUUUUUT, it was a larger diameter, for improved handling in turns.
The 60-62 cars got a sway bar WITHOUT the big notch, and it was the larger diameter that was used on 57-59 cars with the HD susp.
Also, a rear sway bar was added to ALL 60-62 cars. Thus, ALL 60-62 cars had BOTH front and rear sway bars REGARDLESS of suspension, brake, or engine options. All were the same diameter.

Now, without fail, someone is going to jump in here and mention that there was a 5th sway bar. Well, yes and no. There was an over the parts counter AUXILIARY front sway bar available which was FIELD installed--------------------it was NEVER factory installed. They are quite rare--------------------I've only seen one installed in my life, and it could be installed to ANY 53-62 Corvette. SOME people who bought and installed the auxiliary front bar claimed that the handling was better with TWO front bars and the rear bar disconnected. I don't know, I've never had an auxiliary front bar on the 56, but it does have BOTH the heavier 60-62 style front bar and I've added the 60-62 rear bar and 59-62 style rear traction bars (radius rods) as well as a pair of Traction Master traction bars.

 

This is the auxiliary front sway bar that was available from the Chevy Parts dept.
This 62 was originally a Gulf Oil racer and restored by Rev Mike Ernst. DAMN, I hate that he sold it!!!!

 

I have an extra 60-62 sway bar if someone needs it.

 

i see below experts talking about why the front sway bar has a notch in it - which makes sense to me

my question to the experts is - if i want to replace my 1957 front sway bar (which has a notch in it) with a sway bar which has NO notch in it - would i need to order a 1960 front sway bar? would that work?

thanks

 

The 60-62 front sway bar is a direct replacement for the notched 53-59 bar.
The 57-59 models with the HD suspension had stiffer springs. BUT, in 60-62 models, with the bigger front bar and the addition of a rear bar, the springs were the stock springs as used in 53-59 models with the stock suspension.
SOME owners of earlier cars (such as me) have upgraded their suspensions the same as 60-62 suspensions.
If it is desired to add the 59-62 rear traction bars, then a bracket must be welded to the frame just above the front of the rear spring.
If a 60-62 rear sway bar is added, then a bracket has to be welded on the inboard side of the frame rails, plus needed hardware will have to be acquired. As far as I know, all the needed parts are available from the aftermarket vendors.The 60-62 models used different lower shock mount plates, but when I added the 60-62 parts to our 56, I retained the original 56 shock mount plates and everything fits just fine.

This is not the best picture (I took it over 45yrs ago), but it shows the 60-62 style front sway bar without the notch. If a better comparison of 53-59 and 60-62 front bars is needed, I MAY have one of each out in the other building that I can take a picture.




This shows the bracket which has to be welded to the frame for the factory 59-62 traction bars (radius rods).



I also added Traction Master lower traction bars. Thus, longer U-bolts were required as well as spacer tubes, to permit attachment of the brackets under the shock mount plate for the rear sway bar.



The bracket on top of the axle housing is on ALL 59-62 axle housings. Otherwise, to add the traction bars, a bracket would need to be welded to the axle housing (MUCH simpler to round up a 59-62 housing). A LOT of people have done restomods and upgraded to their 62-earlier chassis, so it may be fairly easy to locate a good buy on these parts.



This shows the 60-62 rear sway bar and the bracket which has to be welded to the frame.

 

Found them.
Here is a comparison of the 53-59 front bar (notch), and the 60-62 front bar.



And a comparison of the thickness of the 2 bars.

 

i am thinking of replacing my FRONT sway bar on my 1957 corvette- i think what i have was modified so i am looking for images of an original sway bar already installed - thanks