Mark in MN

Looking for a GM rear sway bar for a 1968 88/98. I know these are very difficult to find but I am hopeful that someone has one they are willing to part with. Not interested in any aftermarket bars that don’t bolt up the same as the original.

My understanding is 1965-1970 B/C Body (Olds or Buick only) is correct and 1971-1976 B/C Body will look different but bolt up. Either would be great but I would prefer the earlier style.

Think the diameter is 7/8ths inch and if measured between the front set of holes (center to center) 43 1/4" and at the rear set of holes 45”. Just in case you have some NOS bars laying around and you don’t know what they are for, possible part numbers include 396620, 401901, 404412, 386442, 393167 (or 393617 ?).

jcdynamic88

i got tired of looking for a hen's tooth in a haystack and used an A body sway bar i took of my 65 cutlass because i put ladder bars on that.i used a piece of 2 inch square tubing on each side to make up the space,the a body pieces for boxing the trailing arms fit the b body trailing arms.what a difference in handling on my 66 88 convertible with the swaybar,night and day and should have done it years sooner.the aftermarket a body bar is thicker and i believe is needed for use on the b body.jc

jcdynamic88

here it is installed

Mark in MN

Nice picture and installation on that sway bar!

Trying to keep everything close to stock in appearance but may end up with the A-body bar and spacers if the right factory bar is not found.

Over the past few years I have added Addco 857 front sway bar (a bit of a difficult install), Moog 5419 rear springs, 15" rims from a 87 wagon (think they are 7" wide) and 225/70-15 tires. These changes made so far have made the car handle like a mid 80s sedan with a slightly firmer ride and more level cornering. It will never be a performance car but it handles better and I would like to continue to make improvements. Plan to add Moog 5030 front springs after the lower a-arms are reinforced. The rear sway bar if the final part needed...

joe_padavano

I'll just add that the only factory application for the rear bar on the 1965-70 cars was on the police package. That's why they are so rare. The good news is that the lower control arms on the 65-70 cars are the same P/N as the ones on the A-body cars, so that swap is easy.

jcdynamic88

i can tell you that new springs,shocks and 15 inch wheels that i put on my 88 didnt come close to the difference the rear sway bar made .only someone as lucky as joe p. could find one of those bars.*)

joe_padavano

:d :d :d

72skytop

Hi. I agree. Nothing in the world will look more bad *** than a rear bar on one these big bombs. Who would have ever thought there would be somebody like myself that thinks that duals with GM resonators and crossmember off a 1972 98 with correct turn downs and a sway bar would turn us on when applied to something with wire hubcaps, correct optional 1.5 inch whitewalls, and four doors?

Steve Jerome taught me another place to look for that bar. I found mine in a salvage yard off an early 70's Riviera. Be sure to get the brackets that bolt into the lower control arms. They are sometimes very rusty unless you find them south of Kentucky.

Some guys have a mid life crisis with a Corvette. I had mine with a 98.

Steve said that bar would make a difference and it did. I could not believe it. Of course it does not handle like it is on rails, but better none the less.

brownbomber77

If you're feeling experimental, consider using a newer sway bar from a truck (or wide car) that bolts to the rear end and the end links to the frame like the front does. A lot less stress on the control arms and might be able to find something thicker.

Mark in MN

Still looking…

Appreciate all the suggestions, especially the idea of finding one from a Buick Riviera.

That is a darn nice looking 98 you have 72skytop.

aliensatemybuick

I have one of the earlier swaybars under my '65 Jetstar I; it came from a '68 (I think it was) CHP car. Guy was parting one and selling the disc brakes on Ebay too. That was...God, 16 years ago or more. One of the better "hen's teeth" finds of mine.

Reminds me of a funny story; before I found my bar , I was considering the later style (71-76 era B-body) bar. A guy from a certain other Olds forum had a Delta Custom with one installed, and I wrote and asked him to measure it end-to-end for me . Asked him a couple times, actually, and each time he had some excuse for not doing so, last one being that he misplaced his tape measure. I'm not the fastest "on the uptake", but I finally got the hint that he just wasn't gonna help me out, and gave up asking. Mentioned it to a couple friends at the time though. Fast forward about 10 YEARS, well after I found the bar now on my car, and the guy joined this forum, introduced himself, and mentioned his Delta Custom. Unable to resist, I asked him if he ever found his tape measure, and he had no clue what I was talking about. But one of my buddies who remembered the story and saw my post wrote me privately to say that he almost bust his gut laughing about it.

By the way, the best bet for finding the later style bar is under a '75 or '76 Caprice.

Mark in MN

Still looking...

Mark in MN

Still looking.

If someone that has one would be willing to take some measurements one could be made.

First choice is original 1965-1970 B/C Body (Olds or Buick only)
Second choice is original 1971-1976 B/C Body

aliensatemybuick

Check out the following post by me in an older thread about the same topic for measurements:

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...38/#post576405

Other useful info. in that old thread.

jcdynamic88

sandpiper13

I am going to share your solution with my mechanic. I am not going to thrash the car around or go road racing, just want to reduce the lean on turns without making it ride like a C2 Corvette. It is primarily a driver. So far previous owners have repainted it in original color, installed new convertible top, electronic ignition, replaced entire exhaust and suspension parts. We put in a retrosound radio with 4 new speakers and an amp. Recently acquired the parts to return exhaust to side exit, will be replacing master cylinder with dual line system, and will be adding a/c. Considering front disc brakes. I want the original look, but modern safety equipment, especially under hood, needs to be considered. First mechanic always preached brakes and tires!

I appreciate all the help from you and other, more knowledgeable enthusiasts. It is convertible season in south Florida right now! My first car was a 1965 Starfire convertible and I acquired my second one, after an extensive search, last year, some 50 years after the first one! Best wishes for a healthy and happy new year, if you are ever in the Fort Lauderdale area give me shout.

newmexguy

Riviera is considered "E" body. Buick stamped some of the common parts used on large cars with "BCE". Assume this was to designate that they were to be used on all large car lines. Am sure there are Riviera hordes out there, but CTC auto ranch in texas is the only place that has a multiple selection of "boat tail" (71-73) Rivieras that I know of.

55 2nd series

I'm not on the site here often, but I just ran across your old post regarding the sway bar. I have a '68 98 convertible that I am parting out. Based on the info about the only ones that came with a sway bar were the police vehicles, I'm not sure if mine has one, but I will be glad to check. I doubt that my convertible saw much police action, unless it was the lead car in the chase.



Thanks, Gary

sandpiper13

My mechanic approved of your solution and was most complementary of your ingenuity. Could your recommend a vendor and sway bar. We will also be returning the exhaust to one year only side exit of the 1965 Starfire since I was able to secure those pieces. Thanks again,

jcdynamic88

i honestly dont remember who i got the sway bar from but i think it was the parts place.dont forgot to box the lower control arms.keep us posted with your results

65superrocket

So if a rear sway bar from an early 70's Buick Riviera would work, what about this:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sway-Bar-Re...bile#vi-ilComp

joe_padavano

Well, I'd be VERY skeptical of that part. First, if you go to the Summit catalog, the title says it's 1", but the specs table says it's 7/8". If you click on the applications tab on that page, you find out that it actually fits the 1985-up FRONT WHEEL DRIVE cars, not the early RWD cars.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/A...U/applications

65superrocket

Yes, I agree. That particular sway bar looks similar to several on numerous websites and ebay. Very hard item to pin down. The conclusion I've come to is, it does not exist as an aftermarket part. I checked recently with Hess Brothers in Red Bluff California. Their yard still has a fair number of 60's Oldsmobiles and they had none. In fact, I had to explain what it was to them.

joe_padavano

Yeah, we knew that already. As I've posted before, UMI sells a bar for this application, but it's their A-body bar with spacer blocks to fit the wider spacing between the LCAs on the B-body cars. And the only factory installations were on Delta 88s with the RPO B07 police apprehender package, so you are very unlikely to find one in a wrecking yard (if you can even find a late-60s Delta in a wrecking yard anymore).

snowri

For those 71-76 B/C owners wanting a factory rear sway bar, thought I'd share that I found two at the same yard in N. Texas!! Both were full-size Pontiacs (one was a Grandville and the other a Catalina... both measure .95" diameter). Assume Pontiacs were more suspension oriented. I have the Addco rear sway bar on my '75 Delta... it uses brackets which I welded in and boxed nearly 20 yrs ago. It performs (1.0" diameter) well but don't like the look of the visible Addco bracket.

65B01Delta

Hard to come by, I have one on my 65 Jetstar 1 , 4 speed car.... I do know of one, but it's not available / for sale.

snowri

Forgot to mention that this same yard had a rear sway bar for a 1976 Eldorado... same lower control arm mounts but straight bar b/c no rear differential. Suspect it would work for 71-78 Toronado.

cfair

I went with Addco bars for my ‘66 big cars. They work well, but hang low off some ears which are bolted to the lower control arms. Some people hate the fact that they hang low. I’m happy about how they clean up handling.

I can recommend against anyone bolting a rear control arm to unboxed (aka “open”) lower control arms. The torque from the rear sway bar will (and did) snap an open lower rear trailing arm. The open arms were not engineered for the stresses from a rear sway bar. I lost my rear trailing arm on Christmas Eve one year.

I use the fully boxed arms from Hotchkiss for my ‘66 98 convertible and ‘66 Starfire. I found that the 64-66 A body rear trailing arms (both upper/inner & lower/outer ) fit the big cars. That means you can buy & use these better Cutlass/442 parts on the big cars. This is a very rare circumstance, but I have 2 cars done this way and they’ve held up for 25 years or more.

So, in short the combo is 64-66 A body boxed rear trailing arms with an Addco rear sway bar for 65-70 big cars. At least that’s what I did.

Chris