scratched, but not rusty torsion bar
 

Can it be peened and painted? Front bar, no rust, typical collapsed bushing (apparently). The rub mark is about 4mm long, 2mm wide, clearly rubbing. Can feel a slight ridge with fingernail. I'm temped to peen it and repaint the area with a phosphate paint. Anyone else try this? Thanks,

You have a classic stress riser and the only way to alleviate it would be to blend it in with the surrounding area. The next question is what type of heat treating does the bar have? You would want to duplicate it. Peening is a good step to compress the surface and relieve stress but bars aren't that expensive.

It just isn't worth the risk. Just replace it.

If the scratch isn't deep you can blend it with emory cloth and continue using. You want to remove any sharp edges or steps and make smooth. I don't see a need to re-heat treat the part. This all depends on the size and location of the scratch - post a picture of the scratch so we can give you a better assesment.

It just isn't worth the risk. Just replace it.


!! Bears repeating.

Lets put it another way. People post here that they have had their bars fail for no reason at all.

Now you know you have a reason that it could fail. You know it because you are asking about it. Now think of how much money you will save if you bounce one corner of the car off of the ground when the bar breaks...

People are regularly changing their bar sizes so it is pretty easy and rather cheap to just pick up another bar over in the classified forum. It is cheap insurance.

OK Thanks, I'll replace it. Actually, this bar is from an entire set that I just purchased from another forum member, to replace my previously rusted bars. Seems I can't win!

The front bars rub when the end cap (the one with the adjuster) rubs it's way into the aluminum crossmember just below the cap. Reach up and feel for a groove worn where the cap rubs. The fix is to add a little weld material to the bottom of the cap (smooth it out with a file) to restore the fit of the cap and alignment of the torsion bar in the control arm.
-Chris

Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. The scratch you described sounds pretty minor to me (would have to see pics to be sure). The method I described is used to repair parts that are much more highly stressed that torsion bars with much greater consequenses in the event of failure. That said, stock torsion bars are cheap and plentiful. We have a set of stock SC bars in the garage- PM me if you're interested in them.