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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 520
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado | I may have a line on getting new t-bars made for the Plymouth/dodge body cars (maybe chryslers too?) from a known maker of torsion bars here in the US. They will make me a custom one off set if i want, but i'm thinking if i go through this effort it may be possible to get more made at a better price?
Anyone interested? anyone happen to know the exact length? i have a set of 952/953's im planning to send them for this, but they are stuck in anchors right now making it harder to get the exact length. The hex at the ends looks to be within .005 in size of the late 60's t-bars i have and according to the manufacturer, that makes things a lot easier for them (aka cheaper). No exact word on possible pricing yet, likely $500-700 for a set depending on numbers, hopefully cheaper if i get enough interest.... Might be cheaper based on the Hex being so close to the later bars.
I'd be having my set made in a larger diameter than the 956/957's, likely 1.20 or 1.15 as i'm putting a 392 in my Firesweep. They make different sizes for the 60's stuff so we *may* be able to mix and match sizes. I want to gauge interest before i talk to them again.
Size chart:
950/951 1.04"
952/953 1.08"
956/957 1.11"
Edited by Chrispy 2017-12-27 8:10 PM
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| that price is kinda high, you can get a 1.03 set for B bodies for like 250$.
This goes back to sales quantity for Fwl cars I guess. You might sell 50 sets?
I took the weight off my 392 with a hot heads intake and water pump and alternator. starter will be lighter also. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 520
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado | mikes2nd - 2017-12-27 6:57 PM
that price is kinda high, you can get a 1.03 set for B bodies for like 250$.
This goes back to sales quantity for Fwl cars I guess. You might sell 50 sets?
I took the weight off my 392 with a hot heads intake and water pump and alternator. starter will be lighter also.
$325 is last price i saw, but yeah, low production #'s. I'm really hoping since the hex is the same the come in cheaper, either way i'm getting a set. These are very undersprung. I i've got the HH intake, a light starter and a 518 going in behind the 392, so i still need more than the 952/953 set in the car. As far as i can tell the 57-58 bars are just a few inches longer than the b-body bars and are otherwise similar.
Edited by Chrispy 2017-12-27 10:23 PM
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Expert
Posts: 3887
   
Location: Northen Virginia | I'm interested, but the price could be too high. I have a NOS 1957 Imperial bar (somewhere in my storage), which is different to the rest. I will check my parts books tomorrow.
They were 2 types, STD and HD which I think was equipping the 300. |
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Expert
Posts: 3575
Location: Netherlands | I've got 3 FWLK-cars that are lowered and could all use some more springrate on the front. Also got 2 more FWLK cars as future projects.
But I'm quite not ready yet to spend big money for 3-5 sets of bars.
I do like their pricing-policy way more friendly than FirmFeel's.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 406
Location: Hilltown, PA |
I've had both e-mail and phone conversations with Matt here:
http://www.firmfeel.com/default.html
We didn't discuss price, but they are perfectly willing to make me torsion bars to fit my '60 with comparable spring rates to the current "high performance" offerings, as well as custom stabilizer/sway bars.
Gregg |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9654
Location: So. Cal | I agree with Mike. You would spend your money better by lightening your motor up. My 392 is lighter than a stock small block chevy with its aluminum heads. Making your car lighter is going to benefit you in many ways. Then if you want to improve handling further, purchase better springs for the rear. The rear springs seem to be the weak link on these cars, not the front ones. When I changed the rear springs on my '58 DeSoto, my car handled amazingly well. Felt like driving around a modern car. If you want to improve further, change the tires to lower profile and put in bigger sway bar in the front and a sway bar in the back. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 520
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado | Powerflite - 2017-12-28 10:09 AM
I agree with Mike. You would spend your money better by lightening your motor up. My 392 is lighter than a stock small block chevy with its aluminum heads. Making your car lighter is going to benefit you in many ways. Then if you want to improve handling further, purchase better springs for the rear. The rear springs seem to be the weak link on these cars, not the front ones. When I changed the rear springs on my '58 DeSoto, my car handled amazingly well. Felt like driving around a modern car. If you want to improve further, change the tires to lower profile and put in bigger sway bar in the front and a sway bar in the back.
I'd love to rock aluminum heads, however they are $3,300 vs a set of bars. I'm 100% with you on the gains in shedding weight off the motor, i just can't spend big money to do it when i have the rest of the car to get done.
Getting out of the low 100lb/in range and up to say 200lb/in will do wonders for the car, with a properly matched rear spring and decent shocks it should handle pretty well with modern tires under it. I plan to be pretty low so need spring rate to help with that as well.
Edited by Chrispy 2017-12-28 3:40 PM
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7393
Location: northern germany | yes, as i posted several times before, the best way to get stiffer springs is to make the front end lighter, along with sway bars and some other mods these cars handle GREAT. i know this is not very popular, but if you relocate the battery to the right rear of the trunk it will completely change the roadabilty, its like a day and night difference. another plus is that the battery will last alot longer, away from engine heat. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1117
Location: STL, MO | I have the 956/57 bars on my car, cryo blasted and shot peened, good gas shocks and 225/70/15's and the '92&518 overwhelm it. I have the HH intake, alternator and lightwt starter. Would be stoked to buy HH al heads but have too many eng. projects right now to budget those in. Didn't Herman have some grief w/pst or just susp bars awhile back? Snapped bars you could stab someone with. |
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Expert
Posts: 3575
Location: Netherlands | I had a pair of 1" Just Suspension bars break on my '73 Dart during daily use (Left and right broke seperatly over the course of 3 years). But their replacement bars are holding up fine, up till now.
Just Suspension doesn't offer these bars anymore I noticed.
My Dart went from stock .087" bars to the 1" bars which was almost double the original springrate. This was a very good improvement, along with good quality shocks.
It's my opinion these small Darts should've come stock with these bars, but 'handling' was not something high up the list on the cheaper models.
I now would like to step up another size or two or three.
Edited by BigBlockMopar 2017-12-29 10:01 AM
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9654
Location: So. Cal | You must be a glutton for punishment. I ran .92" bars on my small block '67 Barracuda and the ride was pretty harsh with any bumps in the road. I swapped them out and put .89 big block bars in instead. |
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Expert
Posts: 3575
Location: Netherlands | But did you have good shocks on the car and not a pair of 'upgraded bicycle pumps'. Cheap shocks give a cheap ride.
Shocks must match the springs.
But for as long as I remember it's been said overhere that American cars always were soft sprung over the years. |
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Regular
Posts: 84
| You guys have checked the later b body cars and I note from about they are slightly shorter than FL bars. Has anyone checked C body bars. The Newport, Polara ,Fury size bars should be longer. |
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Regular
Posts: 84
| B body bars are 41inches, early C body bars are 44 inches, late C body is 47, and Imperial is 50 These are readily available. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 520
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado | I haven't managed to get mine out the anchors yet, but that early c-body sounds interesting...
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 406
Location: Hilltown, PA | I'm sure you guys are aware of this but since you're comparing bar lengths from various chassis I'll mention it -
When I was talking to the guy at Firm Feel he reminded me that some of the pre-standardized torsion bars (standardized being the mid-to-late 60's A, B, C, and E bodies) had different "clocking" of the bar ends, and possibly different bar end sizes.
He requested that before he makes a set of bars for me that I remove the originals and take several good photos to verify clocking and bar end configuration.
Just something to keep in mind.
Gregg
Edited by LostDeere59 2018-01-12 6:05 PM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 520
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado | LostDeere59 - 2018-01-12 4:04 PM
I'm sure you guys are aware of this but since you're comparing bar lengths from various chassis I'll mention it -
When I was talking to the guy at Firm Feel he reminded me that some of the pre-standardized torsion bars (standardized being the mid-to-late 60's A, B, C, and E bodies) had different "clocking" of the bar ends, and possibly different bar end sizes.
He requested that before he makes a set of bars for me that I remove the originals and take several good photos to verify clocking and bar end configuration.
Just something to keep in mind.
Gregg
I plan to send in my set of 952/953 bars so they can match them exactly. |
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Interest in NEW 57-58 Torsion bars
