power steering and swaybar options

[Johnny 5]

Now that I've got most of the other stuff figured out, are there any bolt-in swaybars available for a 1950 plymouth? Another nice thing to have would be power steering.

[james curl]

Fat Man sell an adapter for a Chevrolet power rack and pinion steering. Tim Adams has one on his Plymouth business coupe. He has posted pictures of the installation in his coupe before. You might contact him off line. Check his profile. I think you might go to the recycle yard (aka junk yard) and check out a Camaro or Firebird sway bar to see if they might adapted to your front end.

[teardrop puller]

My 49 Plymouth (P18) has a front sway bar. Why would it not bolt directly in to a 50 since they are almost identical;

I have installed the fatman rack and pinion stearing. I think that you could make your own adapters a whole lot cheaper, I would never buy another one. The only hard part would be the adapters from Chev to Datsan 510 tie rod ends. I do not see why you could not find a right hand tie rod end that would work with out using the Datsan.

This is a pic of the stock swaybar in my P18

kai

[Plymouthy Adams]

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Edited June 13, 2014 by Plymouthy Adams

[james curl]

Tim, your sway bar looks to be about 1.00" in diameter, is it? Also how does it work without a connection to the frame to transfer motion to the other side? Is it a stock sway bar for your car? My sway bar is 3/4" in diameter and my "A" frame channel is 1.250" inside the flanges so it would be hard to install a larger diameter swaybar in the same location. we installed an Addco aftermarket sway bar on a freinds 48 P-15 coupe, it was 1.250" diameter and made a large difference in the way the car drives and how flat it corners. We had to weld a bracket to the lower "A" frame for the swaybar link to fasten to. We had to readjust the turning limits to prevent the tire from rubbing the swaybar. This caused an increase in the turning radius of the car which can cause a problem in tight places.

[Plymouthy Adams]

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Edited June 13, 2014 by Plymouthy Adams

[james curl]

Was your sway bar mounted above the frame horns? I know the 40 Plymouth had the sway bar mounted above the frame with a link to the "A" frame. The 48 Plymouth mounts the sway bar under the frame and into the channel of the lower "A" frame with only one bushing per side. I see that yours is long enough to accept two bushings in the open channel on both sides. Is yours a Sunbeam Tiger Sway bar? Also do you have any close up pictures of your disc brake and dropped uprights with the steering arms installed on the spindles? Your coupe sure looks good so far, I priced the fatman dropped uprights, Plydo rack and penion adapter, used rack and penion, Charlies disc brake adapters with disc and calipars, a rebuild kit from Kanter's for the front suspension and you are approaching $1000.00 to $1500.00. The complete fatman front clip is about $2500.00, so I guess that there is no cheep way to do what I want to do.

[Plymouthy Adams]

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Edited June 13, 2014 by Plymouthy Adams

[james curl]

I am looking at making adapters for the lower "A" frames to hold a ball joint. I picked up a pair of 67 big Chev. spindles,disc,and calipers at the swap meet for $40.00. Built a bracket to adapt the 67 chev lower ball joint to the lower "A" frame. I have made a mounting bracket to the upper "A" frame which is also chev, it is an offset "A" frame and caused too much caster. I am going to buy a tubular upper "A" frame ftom Speedway without the offset. I also have a set of spindles, disc, and calipers from a 76 Chrysler Cordova that I am also making an adapter for the lower "A" frame and will use the stock Cordova upper "A" frame. I have the front clip from a 41 Dodge coupe that a freind is installing a fatman clip on, so I can mock up my ideas and find out if I think they will work. I have already built brackets for a set of 64 chevelle spindles and drum brakes. Am remaking lower "A" frame bracket because the old adapter raised the spindle 3" (lowered the frame 3") and made the stock steering arms too high in relation to the frame. If I could find a set of 67 camaro steering arms which have a 3" drop in them then the original bracket would work. The new lower adapter will put the spindle within 1/2" of original. Do not know if any of this will work out but I am having fun cutting steel plate and welding the adapters. For an old man playing with ideas on how to do something different is better than watching TV or reading the news paper.