Tempest update & a couple dumb questions

I got the back of the Tempest together & backed it out of the garage to check ride-height & clearance.

I ended up cutting 1-full coil out of the rear springs, which dropped the car to the point I now have -1 degree of camber on each side, which I'm pretty happy with.

I think it looks pretty good too, I just need to get the front down a bit & increase the rate a fair amount.

I decided to fab a swaybar for the rear vs. a Z-bar or some type of camber-compensator. I may change my mind after the first autox, but from my understanding a Z-bar will raise the rear roll-center, which is what I don't want.

So, my first dumb question - Having never built a swaybar before, I presume I'll need to heat-treat it? It's made from 3/4" 14-gauge tubing, with 1/4" steel arms. Any tips/advice?

Second question - The original rear bumper is shot. I'm sure if I had the $$$ I could find someplace to restore it, but hey, this is GRM! I do, however, have friends - and one of them gave me a spare bumper from his '62 Rambler, which is very similar, except for one difference: The bumper on the Tempest is nearly straight across, while the bumper from the Rambler has a slight arc all the way across. What's the best way to try & straighten a ~6' long bumper? I've tried wedging one end & prying by hand, but I think I'm going to need some way to press it. Thoughts or ideas???

Is the tempest bumper bad enough that you couldn't make a fiberglass copy? Fill the dents with bondo, make a mold, make a new bumper from the mold, and cover with chrome vinyl decal material. Ta Da, a new, light weght bumper.

heat treating raises the "elastic limit" of the material. google will find you the equations for torsional stress, so all you have to do is plug in your dimensions and run the numbers to see if the bar dimensions you've chosen will have you operating above or below the elastic limit. if you're below, heat-treating is just wasted money.

other engineers wanna chime in on this?

OK...why don't my pics show up? They were there in the preview.

Thanks for those tips tho! And Wally, yes, the stock bumper is twisted & flattened from where it was backed into a pole.

Might as well practice bending metal bumpers on the existing bumper. Grab a good torch, a strong vice and a couple of sledges. You might be surprised by the results.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=281895

http://books.google.com/books?id=OpGC-r-fmPoC&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=straighten+Chrome+bumper&source=bl&ots=e_J4yRiOeS&sig=jdxlEvxSUx49OIBXrcu3PRqXaMI&hl=en&ei=HRbeScnkE4_MMKuLiFQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/bumper-straightening-77426.html

http://www.classicoldsmobile.com/forums/eighty-eight/2685-bumper-restoration.html

http://www.bumperboyz.com/main.htm

Good luck!

Well, OK...thank's for those links, looks like I won't bother trying to straighten the one I have. lol

OK, let's see if those pics work...

Hey Pete,

It sounds like this is a 1st gen Tempest with the swing axle rear. (?).

If yes, the last thing you want to do is put an anti-roll bar on the rear. Why: It will transfer weight to the outer wheel, which is the last thing you want to do with a swing axle car.

A Z-bar would probably help and a camber compensator similar to the ones used on swing axle VW's should help as well.

For the Heat treat on any of these bars : Fred Puhn's book: "How to make your car handle" has the best description of what material to start with and how to interview heat treat shops so that you get what you want.

Good luck!

Rog

I could be wrong, but i think heating chrome will mess it up.

Nascar style bar?