right rear sway bar mount mysteriously torn from car

yellow car · yellow car's Garage

I noticed that my 73 has a problem with the right rear sway bar mount.

It has been torn from the car with the bolts and nuts from the mount still attached.

I have not hit or scraped anything?

What is best method for repair.

Thanks, Eric

ZOA NOM · ZOA NOM's Garage

Happens all the time. Just get it re-welded, and add some reinforcement cross pieces.

Grady Clay · 02-05-2006, 12:33 PM

Eric,

Unfortunately a common problem.

There are cast steel aftermarket parts that are dramatically better than the OE installation. The two biggest issues are rust and the fact that the load is spread over a fairly small area of the frame sheet metal. If I were doing this repair to my 911, I would use the steel parts and add a “scab” reinforcement from the torsion bar tube, along the chassis, over the cast steel piece and aft 10-20 cm. I would make it where it had 4-6 mm clearance to the chassis (except where it is rosette welded to the chassis.) I would leave lots of drain vents top and bottom. Sort of an improved version of the Factory 914-6GT chassis reinforcements.

Plan for when you are finished to plug the bottom drains with putty and fill the cavity between the chassis and scab with primer paint. Some taps with a hammer will get the paint to penetrate and purge any air bubbles. After you’re sure the paint got everywhere, remove the putty and let the paint completely drain. The reason for this exercise is so you don’t leave a cavity that promotes rusting in this critical area.

You should inspect/reinforce the other side also. The left side is less prone because of the fuel pump mount on your ‘73 (actually ’71-’76). If you are inclined, this might be the time to move your fuel pump to the front, remove the rear pump bracket and properly reinforce as the right side.

“While you are there,” carefully inspect the torsion bar spring plate cover attachment. I would remove the four bolts and cover on each side and carefully inspect the chassis for cracks where the threaded pieces are welded in the chassis. Some scraping and cleaning will be necessary to get to bare metal.

Best,
Grady

Zeke · 02-05-2006, 12:33 PM

Welding it back on with reinforcement. Tyson of TRE has made up a piece before to "box" the the mount and give it more strength as well as more inches of welded attachment to the body.

It is not uncommon for these to break loose. For one, a larger swaybar (do you have a larger bar?) can put more stress on the mount. And the body can become weakend in that area by rust, so you might check things out thoroughly before trotting off the welding shop.

Search under Tyson's name (Tyson Schmidt) and maybe you can find a pic of the thing he made up. You can also buy some pricey, but stronger replacements. They are in Pelican's catalogue.

Grady Clay · 02-05-2006, 12:48 PM

Milt is right on.

Here is Tyson’s thread showing a proper installation.

Best,
Grady

yellow car · yellow car's Garage

Thanks everyone.

Tyson has already done some other magic with my elephant bushings.

Looks like a trip to TRE is in order.

Thanks, Eric

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by yellow car

Looks like a trip to TRE is in order.

careful...that place is *evil*.

My car is there right now.

EVIL!!!

lateapex911 · 02-05-2006, 01:45 PM

Also, WEVO has some great mounts available that look like they will do the job.

Their stuff is top notch.
(For those wha aren't close to Tyson)

Zeke · 02-05-2006, 06:49 PM

Apart from Tyson's enthusiasm for the WEVO mounts, this is what he has done in the past that I was referring to:

He also states that reinforcing the nuts is just as important as they will rip away from the mount. Anyway, you can't beat the WEVO unit except to save some money by trying something along the order of what he did here. Again, for any larger bars, maybe don't waste the time.