Welding Tips and Tricks

a friend has a 39 chevy master deluxe street rod.
he wants to adapt a larger diameter front sway bar from
a newer model chevy but it would require cutting
and welding.
any help here on the do or do nots of a project
like this?
craig

from what I understand sway bars are actually a type of torsion bar spring. The bar twists as one wheel tries to move differently than the other. I would think they are a heat treated high carbon steel that would not work will after welding

Mark

motox wrote:a friend has a 39 chevy master deluxe street rod.
he wants to adapt a larger diameter front sway bar from
a newer model chevy but it would require cutting
and welding.
any help here on the do or do nots of a project
like this?
craig

Craig, you are probably more than capable of doing this project but this is a critical part so if something ever happens, it's your ass on the line. My humble opinion.

mark
not being a car guy i have a limited idea of
the material used in sway bar on a car built before i was born
operates. my first thought was heat treated but
figured one of the genius car guys had more info.
thanks for your reply.
craig

motox wrote:mark
not being a car guy i have a limited idea of
the material used in sway bar on a car built before i was born
operates. my first thought was heat treated but
figured one of the genius car guys had more info.
thanks for your reply.
craig

so i can answer on the steel from what i know about swords.. they are spring steel as well, why back yard sword makers love old springs

so your average welding filler metal lacks any kind of spring like properties ie it bends much it stayes hence why when you bend test something it stays bent and dose not "spring" back and evan if you heat treated it it would still lack all spring steel qualities in the weld aria.. so if it bent it would stay bent..

bottom line dont evan bother with it.. there are places they make springs and i bet they would be able to make what he needs.. one of those places over in MN is husky Spring

Yes, as the above mentioned. Sway bars are spring steel and for your intent, not weldable.

thanks guys. its great to have such a large group
of knowledgable, smart minds to pick!
he found an after market company that makes
the components to upgrade.
craig

This actually isn't a hard job. There are gm sway bar mounts you can buy from energy suspension. Then you just need to find a sway bar from another car that meets your needs. The welding from this point would be on the parts that you would be attaching this to.

Bill w
"This actually isn't a hard job. There are gm sway bar mounts you can buy from energy suspension. Then you just need to find a sway bar from another car that meets your needs. The welding from this point would be on the parts that you would be attaching this to."

Bill
thank you i will happily pass this on to my buddy.
craig