If my sway bar bushings are this bad, what else will need replacing?
 

My 74 Targa had been riding very rough lately, just making a lot of creaks and noises it hadn't normally made. So I had a peak underneath the car, and saw my rear sway bar bushings are completely shot. Are these a PIA to change? Also, what else is probably in need of changing, bushing/suspension wise, if the SB bushings look like this? Finally, is there any benefit for a hard driven street car to install the "fancy" WM sway bars I see for sale? Thanks for any advice!http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1268423264.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1268423280.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1268423293.jpg

I'd be really surprised it that was your problem. I'd suspect the spring plate pivot bushings as the culprit.

But you can certainly test the noise by spraying those pivot bushings liberally with some silicone spray. If your noise goes away, great. If not, go to the spring plate rubber bushings next.

Changing the sway bar bushings is very easy, at least the pivot bushings. They're held on with two 13mm bolts each, remove those, pivot the sway bar down, replace the bushings and reassemble. The drop links are a bit more work but not that hard.

On the other hand, the spring plate bushings are much more involved. To check this out, the torsion bar protrusion should be centered in the large plate that houses the bushings. I would bet that if your bushings have never been changed, the bushings are so worn and collapsed that the torsion bar protrusion is rubbing against the top of the large plate and you're hearing metal on metal noises.

Check your control arm bushings. Your front torsion bars may be rubbing the control arm tubes.

you are ultimately gonna have to replace every piece of rubber in the car

brake hoses are the most important for safety, closely followed by fuel hoses

then completely redo the F & R suspension - it is a rel. ugly job so I would do it right and do it once, not put in something cheap or hose it down with silicone to stop sqeeks
- check or replace the torsion bars too
- ball joints get replaced a lot, but they actually last quite a while

then, the other rubber in the car...

a '74 has a lot going for it and market prices do not reflect those criteria,so hwo much do you like your car?

The brake lines have already been changed out. Torsion bars I am pretty sure are original. How would I know specifically if they are shot?

Do you mean the above work is too much of a PIA and I should sell it as is, or that the market for a 74 with an 83 SC engine is good right now (I can't hardly believe that though...) and I should sell it while it's hot? I like the car, but I'm not sure what you mean exactly.

Can anyone recommend a brand of bushing to replace the above cracked ones with? It's a '74 targa daily driver. Comfort isn't so much an issue as performance and longevity. Thanks.

No, I mean you should keep it, fix it and drive it - for many long years. Maybe make it look like "last year's model" i.e. "longhood" - you can hotrod that nice 3L too. Steve Weiner drives a '74 IIRC.

Pull the t-bars out; inspect carefully all around the "tube" and all the way along it - look for any tiny pit, scratch, etc. If ok, then touch up any paint, slather with grease and re-install. Or change for different sized ones if that is an interest.

For the bushings in the pic above, I'd just use whatever Wayne has. If he as options, post them and you will reap many opinions - some undoubtedly correct.

The stock bushings are just fine. They don't squeak and last a long time. If you want a mild performance upgrade, find some 22/21mm stock sway bars from an '86-'89 911.
The weltmeister bars are pretty mediocre.

Can anyone tell from looking at the pictures if those are the original 1974 bushings?

Rebuilding the front suspension isn't that hard. If you're under there working on the roll bar bushings, I would definitely take the next step and do the control arm bushings. The first side will take you about 3 hours. The other side will take about 1 hr. New Elephant Racing bushings for the control arms are about $250. Changing them out is easy. Just takes a little patience. The torsion bars need replacement if there is any damage, rust, or dings on the outer surface or worn shiny splines.