MSA Rear Sway Bar pics/advice please

[zack_280]

Does anyone have any pictures of the rear sway bar from MSA? I would like to see how it is mounted. I already have the bar and I was trying to place it to see where I needed to drill the mounting holes. One problem is that the exhaust is in the way. The other is that it doesn't "look" like it will work without some interference somewhere. Things are pretty tight in there. I would like to know exactly what I need to do before cutting the exhaust down.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I did search, no pics were available.

[ktm]

One question (not to offend), why did you get the MSA kit over the ST bars? The ST kit comes with all the mounting hardware for the rear. No cutting/drilling is necessary.

[zack_280]

I knew that was coming. I got the MSA kit because someone in my area had it and was selling it.

[jmortensen]

FWIW I took my MSA rear bar off of my 5/70 and I was amazed at the amount of bind it had. It was binding on the frame in the front, and then I had to play with the end link length as well which was really funky. I'm glad I got rid of it. The ST bar apparently needs to be spaced back about 1/2" or it binds as well, but that's really easy to do, and once in the right zone it's a much nicer design IMO. The later MSA bar for the 280s might be a bit better because they have the brackets that drop down off of the frame rail, unlike the 240s.

My car used to pull REAR wheels off the ground in slaloms with that bar on. That's pretty weird for a Z...

[Mike]

One question (not to offend), why did you get the MSA kit over the ST bars? The ST kit comes with all the mounting hardware for the rear. No cutting/drilling is necessary.

Actually, if he has an early car there is no mount points for a rear sway bar. I was in the same boat.

I purchased a MSA kit and it was installed on my car over the weekend. Let me get a few picts for you.

-- Mike

[texasz]

Actually, if he has an early car there is no mount points for a rear sway bar. I was in the same boat.

I purchased a MSA kit and it was installed on my car over the weekend. Let me get a few picts for you.

-- Mike

Correct, that's why the ST kit is recommended for the early cars as it comes with all the mounting hardware thus no cutting nor drilling is necessary. I have one in the box sitting under the rear of my early 240Z waiting for me to get around to working on the car again.

[240ZMan]

When I purchased my rear bar for my 73 from MSA, there was a lot of confusion because mine already had the brackets from the factory in FRONT of the rear wheels. The MSA kit they initially sent me was designed to be mounted with the bar BEHIND the rear wheels. In the end Sal made up a custom kit for me with a different rear bar.

Earlier you said you didn't see how it could fit. Perhaps you need to flip it around the other way? (Front to rear, or rear to Front?) Just guessing that might be your issue...

[jmortensen]

I took a pic of the two together when I got the ST bar:

[zack_280]

Earlier you said you didn't see how it could fit. Perhaps you need to flip it around the other way? (Front to rear, or rear to Front?) Just guessing that might be your issue...

I know. I was reading through some of the threads and it seems like some people are saying it mounts in the front. Hopefully someone here can elaborate on that.

I'd appreciate the pics Mike.

Zack

[240ZMan]

Zack, There are two different shapes for the rear bar depending on whether it mounts from the front of the rear. A "front mount bar" can only mount from the front. Likewise a "rear mount bar" can only mount from the rear.

The MSA kit for 70-73 comes with a rear mount bar (at least it did 2 years ago when I bought mine).

The blue bar in Jon's picture above looks like a front mount bar to me.

[jmortensen]

No, the blue bar really is the rear sway bar, the gray is the ST bar. The way the bar mounts is that the straight part in the middle attaches to the frame rails that connect the wheel well to the front suspension bushings. Mounting the bracket to the frame rail requires drilling one hole in front and one in back of the rail, then using long bolts which come down from the floor past the rail and capture the D ring part that holds the swaybar bushing. The bent arms then go up over the leading edge of the control arm and the end link part is pretty self explanatory. I think the blue bar might be upside down though... the gray one is right side up.

[240ZMan]

Jon: sorry I wasn't more clear: I meant your blue one was a rear bar with the mounts being attached in front of the wheels, not behind them. Wish I had a drawing