'77S to SC Drop Link Conversion Questions...

[boyt911sc]

The plan is to install an SC rear sway bar and drop link in a '77S car. I am in a quandary how to remove this '77S drop link post and convert it similar to SC's trailing arm mounting. Any suggestions, tips, ideas, and recommendations are highly appreciated. Here are some pictures to illustrate my dilema.

This is a '77S trailing arm with rear stabilizer bar link post (???):


Picture of SC/Carrera trailing arm with drop link mounting hole:


Picture of a '74 rear stabilizer bar link:


Picture of SC/Carrera rear stabilizer bar link:


Some lingering questions:
1). Is there a drop link for '77S to accomodate an SC or Carrera rear sway bar?
2). What conversion do I need to do to be able to install a Carrera sway bar?
3). What other methods were used by other people in the past.
4). Please help me or direct me to these information.

Thanks in advance to all, Tony.

[poorsha]

Check this out:

http://www.dietersmotorsports.com/01-2003.htm

[RoninLB]

old thread on this


Rear Sway Bar Mounts

[hbkramer]

Tony ,
did you pick up the 77 T up in allentown at hale brake??
Bruce

[frankc]

Tony,
What did you end up doing with the trailing arms? I'm in exactly the same boat with 77 trailing arms and 86 sway bars/drop links. As pointed out in the thread Ronin mentioned above (which I posted to some time ago) it appears the studs can be removed from the trailing arm and the bolt from the new style drop links will fit.

Originally posted by Bobboloo
I've got a set of early aluminum trailing arms (mid-year) that came with the ball joint type connector. The ball joint unscrews and you can attach later style drop links to it. I checked and the ball joints also will screw into the later Carrera trailing arms as well.

What I didn't know was that, according to your picture above, there appears to be some type of sleeve that is installed in the 78+ trailing arm where the drop link mounts. Is this actually attached/screwed into the trailing arm? Or is that just the sleeve from a drop link bushing stuck the to arm?

I'm removing the trailing arms this weekend to install monoballs, and I had planned to attempt removal of the studs as well, but I would sure like to hear from anyone else who has tried this (and succeeded). I'll post a follow-up on my results.

Frank

[frankc]

Ok, so I got the trailing arms out and get a good look at the drop link posts and I find something strange. In other threads where it is mentioned that the posts can be removed (911sc Rear Suspension & Swaybar), they show the following picture:




However, here is a close-up of the post on my trailing arm:



Notice that there is no steel hex insert in my trailing arm. What is holding this post in the aluminum? At the base, the aluminum looks like it was melted at one time. Does this have to do with the process used to anchor the post, or is that just left over from the casting process?

I have been putting blaster on this post for several weeks in preparation for removing it, now I'm concerned that a different method was used to attach it and it won't simply unscrew. It would be nice to have a close-up shot of the drop link mount for a 78+ trailing arm where it attaches to the arm for comparison.

I'm now leaning towards the Tarett drop links to avoid this whole issue.

Frank

[Ferrino]

Is it normal for the "ball" on these pre-SC trailing arms to be welded directly to the arm? I would like to revert my ball-type trailing arms to the later style of having a bolt that threads into the arm for the swaybar endlink. Some other posts have suggested you can just unscrew the ball and then buy the bushing that spaces the endlink from the trailing arm to effectively get the SC/Carrera connection. Anyone done this?

[boyt911sc]

I ended up removing the '77S tailing arms and installed the SC/Carrera trailings that I had for years sitting collecting dust. And shortly after that, a member needed a '77 trailing arm and bought the pair for the price of one.

Tony

[Flojo]

Win win ;-)

[Mahler9th]

On my '75 arms, the ball is not removable. Not sure about other alu arms. I will not try to remove these ball studs.

As mentioned by others, several aftermarket rear bars come with drop links that attach to the spring plate area. Tarett sells drop links for those wishing to attach to the spring plate area.

For my car, attaching to the spring plate area is not desirable, and I am not going to go through the trouble and expense of changing to later arms. Instead I will leave the ball studs in place and fabricate drop links.

I will use steel rings with proper length, O.D. and I.D. for the stock plastic bushings for the arm side. Approx. 1 inch ID with a 1/8 inch wall tube should work. Alternatively I could just cut the rings off of the stock drop links.

Then I will need to weld approx 10-12 mm or 3/8 - 1/2 inch threaded rod to each ring and fit up an appropriate female rod end. The result will be adjustable drop links that will snap onto the ball studs on one end and work with a later sway bar on the other. I will modify the later bar with extra holes for adjustability.

I have seen this done on a friend's car. In his case, he cut the rings off of some drop links instead of using tube.

[Ferrino]

Originally Posted by Mahler9th

For my car, attaching to the spring plate area is not desirable, and I am not going to go through the trouble and expense of changing to later arms.

Why is it not desirable on your car? I'm thinking of going along the Tarrett droplink route - attaching to the trailing arm instead of the ball-stud.

[Mahler9th]

My car is a racing car and is very low. My friend has a similar car and told me there isn't enough clearance for the spring plate approach. So I will copy what he did... except I will likely use pieces of tubing instead of cutting the older-style drop links. I will sell my older-style 18 mm bar with all of the hardware, including the drop links which are kind of spendy when purchased new.

[frankc]

I decided to simply purchase a used set of later style trailing arms instead of risking damage to my arms by trying to remove the ball stud.

Used TAs are not that expensive, especially when you factor in the price you get for the 74-77 style TAs when you sell them.