Rear Sway Bar Questions

[biergoat]

Hello, the rear sway bar bracket on my '77 Targa snapped off recently. This is the part that is attached to the car, the u-clamp, bolts and the bottom of the bracket broke off in one piece. I am thinking of welding in a new bracket and re-installing the old sway bar with new bushings, etc. I have a few questions related to this:
1. Is it safe to drive the car w/o the sway bar? Is there a risk of screwing up the chassis if driven?
2. Are there any alternatve upgrades that do not involve welding? Do the Weltmeister kits use the same brackets?
3. Anyone have some brackets or rear sway bar stuff kicking around?
The original sway bar looks to be 16mm. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated, thanks!
Jeff

[safe]

Most 77s came without rear swaybars so its quite safe.
The rear should be 18 mm on your car if its the original. You should also have a 20 mm rollbar in the front.
Those cars without a rear rollbar (like mine) hade a 16 mm front rollbar.

[tonythetarga]

Get the updated sway bar bracket and weld it in. I had my mechanic do it for under $50 bucks. Put the sway bar back in with new bushings and away you go. Why would you want to leave it off? It would be OK for a drive home situation. This is really a minor fix.

[unclebilly]

Search for my thread on this from the summer.

When i bought my 77 coupe, the rear sway bar was missing, I AXed it a few times like that - the understeer was a bit unnerving.

The passenger side mount had also been ripped off of my car prior to me buying it. I fabbed up a new mount out of 1" band iron with some 8mm nuts wleded in behind it and welded it in place. I mounted up a rear sway bar from a newer 930 and custom made the links for compatibility. The car handles entirely different now.

To answer your questins:

1. It is safe to drive without the rear sway bar (probably safer because the rear end won't kick out on you if you lift in a corner).

2. You can buy a rear sway bar mounting kit for an older car that didn't come with a rear sway bar and it will bolt in.

3. See my previous thread - I think I posted an 'After Photo'.

For the record, I think all 77's came with the rear sway bar but I could be wrong.

[gabenheimer]

About six months ago I posted a step-by-step procedure for replacing this bracket. If you can weld, its an easy job. No need to buy aftermarket brackets. If you would rather not weld, take it to a good shop. As stated in an earlier post, this is a minor repair. If you have any questions about my repair job, just send me an email or PM.

Randy

[jpahemi]

Go for the WEVO bracket, it's the best around.
j.p.

[stlrj]

Some people prefer driving without the rear swaybar.

JAG

[biergoat]

Thanks for all the help! Is there a performance advantage to welding on new brackets as opposed to bolting on the Weltmeister adapter? I assume I would have to grind off the old brackets either way, correct?