I just installed an ADDCO 7/8" rear sway bar on my 1971 Cutlass and found the bar is only about 1/4" from the bottom of the differential case. This seems waaay too close. This has to be bent wrong. What is the clearance with an original bar?

(I removed and welded in the spacers then re-torqued the lower arms with the full weight of the suspension on them before installing the bar. The rubber bushings were replaced about 20 years ago and were still in good shape. The bar wasn't wide enough and the five tiny 0.040" shims they included didn't come close: I had to make 3/16" spacers for between the bar and the lower arm on each side.)

They don't make them like they used to: I previously put a bar on my 1986 Cutlass that came off a junkyard 1980 Monte Carlo and it fit without needing any shims.

 

That's plenty of room. There's no relative motion between the two parts. Don't loose sleep over this.