Need help installing a Classic Industries front sway bar on a 66 Fury

[Thad dude]

I purchased a front sway bar from Classic Industries for my 66 Fury III convertible. Part #FSB862

It appears to be a nice unit however the instructions are worthless. I've attached them here. I've contacted Classic Industries help desk and have not received a reply yet. Maybe they'll reach out someday. Hopefully, yet meanwhile I'm reaching out to the C body forum universe.

I know my way around a tool box, but this one is beyond my ability. I can't even tell which way is up on the bar, let alone where the tube spacer is to be mounted on the car.

Can anyone shed some light on how to mount these suckers or know of a mechanic in my area? Long Beach - Huntington Beach.

I've waited a long time for this part as it's been backordered. And my car is up on blocks ready to bolt it in, buy how?

 

[Big_John]

When you buy from Classic Industries, you need to know that they don't manufacture a single thing, so their knowledge is very limited concerning the products they sell. All they know is the same as your instruction sheet.

So, with that in mind, I started looking for the part number. Actually I figured the "872" would be it and sure enough, there's an 872 Addco part number and it fits a '66 Fury. Plymouth - Addco and here's their instruction sheet that you'll have to fill out some info for a free download.
872 Instruction Sheet - Addco

So I suggest you contact Addco directly.

That said, the instructions look fairly simple. Unbolt the old one and bolt in the new..... But that brings the question. Did your car have a front sway bar?

From a '65 Chrysler FSM.

 

[CBODY67]

Unfortunately, Classic Industries MIGHT be a good place to buy GM parts, but there are better places to get Mopar parts, in general, than there. FWIW

When one deals with such vendors, as @Big_John mentions, they are a reseller of other people's stuff. THAT limits the knowledge of their customer support operatives to what is in their catalogs, period. BTAIM

Although B/RB C-body cars of that era came with front sway bars, the 318 cars did not, although they were optional. I would suspect that wagons got them standard, too, regardless of the engine, but I do not know that.

Addco has been around since the middle 1960s, IIRC. Should be a quality product. Is the replacement bar the same diameter as the OEM bar, if it had an OEM bar?

Take care,
CBODY67

 

[Big_John]

Although B/RB C-body cars of that era came with front sway bars, the 318 cars did not, although they were optional.

Which makes me wonder if the brackets for the sway bar are there in a non-sway bar equipped car.

 

[Thad dude]

When you buy from Classic Industries, you need to know that they don't manufacture a single thing, so their knowledge is very limited concerning the products they sell. All they know is the same as your instruction sheet.

So, with that in mind, I started looking for the part number. Actually I figured the "872" would be it and sure enough, there's an 872 Addco part number and it fits a '66 Fury. Plymouth - Addco and here's their instruction sheet that you'll have to fill out some info for a free download.
872 Instruction Sheet - Addco

So I suggest you contact Addco directly.

That said, the instructions look fairly simple. Unbolt the old one and bolt in the new..... But that brings the question. Did your car have a front sway bar?

From a '65 Chrysler FSM.

View attachment 731036

Thanks Big John. No, my car originally did not have a front or rear sway bar. The diagram helps yet I'm still a bit confused. I asked Chat GPT for her thoughts and this is what she said:
Install front sway bar
I believe that I will need to have some tabs welded onto the frame to support the tube spacer as my car lacks those brackets. What I don't full grasp is how/where the gold colored rectangular spacer plate and retainer plate go.
I hope to go to CPW's Fall fling Oct 18 to get my peepers on what others have done.
Thanks a ton for making that connection with Addco. Classic Industries is local for me, and I figured that I could pick it up from their store. Unfortunately it was backordered for months and shipped to my home. It'll end up on my car eventually.
Thanks again for your help!

 

[Thad dude]

Unfortunately, Classic Industries MIGHT be a good place to buy GM parts, but there are better places to get Mopar parts, in general, than there. FWIW

When one deals with such vendors, as @Big_John mentions, they are a reseller of other people's stuff. THAT limits the knowledge of their customer support operatives to what is in their catalogs, period. BTAIM

Although B/RB C-body cars of that era came with front sway bars, the 318 cars did not, although they were optional. I would suspect that wagons got them standard, too, regardless of the engine, but I do not know that.

Addco has been around since the middle 1960s, IIRC. Should be a quality product. Is the replacement bar the same diameter as the OEM bar, if it had an OEM bar?

Take care,
CBODY67

Thanks for the follow up, my convertible did not come with sway bars originally. But it will have one eventually. I'll figure it out, but will need to have some mounting brackets fabricated and welded to the frame. "Easy mounting" said Classic Industries. Yeah, right.

 

[Big_John]

Thanks Big John. No, my car originally did not have a front or rear sway bar. The diagram helps yet I'm still a bit confused. I asked Chat GPT for her thoughts and this is what she said:
Install front sway bar
I believe that I will need to have some tabs welded onto the frame to support the tube spacer as my car lacks those brackets. What I don't full grasp is how/where the gold colored rectangular spacer plate and retainer plate go.
I hope to go to CPW's Fall fling Oct 18 to get my peepers on what others have done.
Thanks a ton for making that connection with Addco. Classic Industries is local for me, and I figured that I could pick it up from their store. Unfortunately it was backordered for months and shipped to my home. It'll end up on my car eventually.
Thanks again for your help!

View attachment 731729

I don't use ChatGTP so this was interesting that they kind of quoted FCBO as a source.

Anyway.... Look at detail "B" in the picture I posted above. That's how those link mounts.

The top arrow mounts the bracket (which you don't have) on the frame. Take the nut, washer and the top rubber donut off and feed the link in from the bottom. The lower arrow shows where it mounts to the sway bar. Basically the rubber has a split in it and you wrap (for lack of a better word) the rubber around the sway bar, then put the clamp over the rubber and tighten the bolts.

I might be able to snap a pic or two from above on my '65 300L tomorrow that may help.

 

[Thad dude]

I don't use ChatGTP so this was interesting that they kind of quoted FCBO as a source.

Anyway.... Look at detail "B" in the picture I posted above. That's how those link mounts.

The top arrow mounts the bracket (which you don't have) on the frame. Take the nut, washer and the top rubber donut off and feed the link in from the bottom. The lower arrow shows where it mounts to the sway bar. Basically the rubber has a split in it and you wrap (for lack of a better word) the rubber around the sway bar, then put the clamp over the rubber and tighten the bolts.

View attachment 731730



I might be able to snap a pic or two from above on my '65 300L tomorrow that may help

 

[Thad dude]

Yeah, right! FCBO featured in AI! Cool. This was my first time using ChatGPT too.
More pictures attached. I'm definitely going to need to locate or fabricate that mount and weld them in.
The 3 holes are a curiousity though. There are more along the frame, so I wonder if they might be where the splash guard would be clipped into.

 

[CBODY67]

YouTube videos can be MUCH more help in seeking to see what it takes to do a mechanical job, by observation. The factory service manual can be a big help, too!

To me, any AI-generated information is "verify then trust".

FWIW,
CBODY67

 

[Big_John]

Yeah, right! FCBO featured in AI! Cool. This was my first time using ChatGPT too.
More pictures attached. I'm definitely going to need to locate or fabricate that mount and weld them in.
The 3 holes are a curiousity though. There are more along the frame, so I wonder if they might be where the splash guard would be clipped into.

View attachment 731735

View attachment 731736

View attachment 731737

View attachment 731738

I was thinking that I had a picture of the splash shield under my '65 300L and I found it. Looks like there may be some differences here because of the years and Plymouth versus Chrysler.... But there's a decent pic of the bracket.

 

[Thad dude]

I was thinking that I had a picture of the splash shield under my '65 300L and I found it. Looks like there may be some differences here because of the years and Plymouth versus Chrysler.... But there's a decent pic of the bracket.

View attachment 731753

Yup, that confirms it. And confirms my guess that the holes were there for the mounting of the splash guard. Thanks again!