EMD645F3B

Can any advantage in handling be gained by adding a rear sway bar to a small block car? I like to push my 65 through the twisties but, it tends to be a white knuckle experience. The car feels awful soft and squirmy. Looks like adding a factory rear bar would be fairly easy. Is it worth it?

Sky65

A rear sway bar can be a tuning tool but I wouldn't start there. They tend to cause over-steer and will not fix what you are describing. I would check for worn suspension parts, make sure you have good radial tires, good shocks and a proper alignment 1st. Front and rear!


Tom

SWCDuke

Not unless you increase the size of the front bar to restore the handling balance.

The foundation of "handling" is TIRES... TIRES, TIRES, TIRES!!! Then with adjustable rebound shocks and some alignment tuning you can get a base suspension C2 up to about 1g lateral without affecting ride quality, assuming all OE suspension and steering components are in excellent condition, which is a big assumption on a 53 year old car that you likely have little or no history on.

There have been many threads on this subject, so do some searching with combinations of the following search words.

suspension upgrade, spax, qa-1 avon cr6zz, sport settings, alignment

Duke

Jofa1963

I have a small block in my 63 convertible and years ago when I rebuilt my suspension, I installed a new rear sway bar and a slightly fatter front sway bar. I think I got them from vette brakes and products. I love the way it handles, it corners much flatter and has little to no body roll. Im no racing or suspension expert, just a hot rodder , but am very happy w how my car handles now

LouieM

Like Duke says, start with making sure you have the best possible radial tires on your car. Then come shocks and alignment. Your car should not be squirrelly at all by then. Afterward, go with the setup the factory used on big-block cars, an added rear bar and thicker front bar. The car will ride a bit rougher but will not roll as much. But start with tires.

Lou

wmf62

sway bars should have little or no effect on ride, only when the car is 'leaning' or significant differential wheel movement

Bill

C2Racer

There is much you can do before starting with bars. On my 64 coupe I began by lowering the car with stiffer springs on the front and longer bolts in the rear. You have to get the weight down to control body roll. Then a new rear leaf spring as mine was tired. But the biggest change was koni adjustable shocks like the vintage ones we run on our race cars adjusted 2 clicks from the firmest setting. Add new radial tires and wala, a better handling street car. You can spend more with newer high tech stuff but I wanted to accomplish this just like folks did back in the day. I just skipped cutting springs and ordered correct height ones.

We do not run rear bars on the C2 and C3 race cars and actually make the rear spring even softer to be able to get the power down. Adding each of these ideas and then driving the car as the changes happen is a lot of fun while you are accomplishing something. Have fun!

Steve