I'm an Iowa transplant and play a scientist for a large animal health company by day, and an aspiring car restoration wanna-be by night. And I try to play husband full time. I love animals, and I love what I do and where I work; it's literally my dream job. And I get to come home to my almost-dream car (make it a 69 Mach 1 and then it's my real dream car).
We have an 11 acre horse farm in beautiful MI where we raise our 6 chickens, 2 horses, 3 cats, our Golden Retriever, Junebug, and of course 1 Mustang. I enjoy updating our house, making improvements to the farm and tooling around outside in general, playing guitar and piano, camping, and, in a past life, mixing sound. Oh, and working on my car!
I'm posting these instructions on how to install the torsion bar because this is a huge area of need on the web, yet there is little to no actual good (or accurate) information on how to do this.
It is the scariest thing you will do on your car, yet with the right tool and method it is remarkably simple and fast. You can easily install both of your torsion bars in 5 minutes!
I have written instructions below, but I actually demonstrate the installation in this video:
Things needed:
Safety glass: duh
Face shield: I don't want that thing hitting my face if it snaps back
Ear plugs: if the bar snaps out it is LOUD
This tool made out of a piece of 1/8" steel flat bar will make this job very simple. It is the same tool used by Ford. They are available for sale online or you can make one yourself, which is what I did.
This is the plan for how to make the tool.
The tool fits onto the end of the torsion bar as shown.
You'll want to install this with the trunk open as far as possible because this is the point where there will be the least torsion on the bar. I prop the trunk lid open with a little board. First, set the L-shaped end of the bar in the hinge as shown. I put a zip tie over to hold it in place during the install so it doesn't pop out.
The tool is going to connect to the other end of the rod. Before it is bent down, this C-shaped end of the rod is going to be pointing straight to the back seat. Once you put the tool on it, twist it down, slide it into the first tab, then slowly raise it up into place and it will lock into position. This whole step here takes me about 15 seconds to do. Start with the first slot.
It is easy!!! That's why I wanted the world to know...it seems so intimidating and scary, but with the right tool it's quite easy. And thank you. If your name is any indication of your own car, I'm guessing you have a pretty nice looking car too!
The dimensions on the diagram did not work for me. The holes were way too big. I changed 5/16"R to 5/16"D and 1/4"R to 5/16"D. Distance from center to center is 2.00". I measured my torsion rods at .270"D so the .312"D holes work well. Otherwise, good demo.
The diagram isn't mine...it was the dimensions of the original Ford tool. I don't remember if I had to make my holes bigger or not, I made this tool so long ago.
WAY COOL Thanks for posting this you made it look EZ!! Nice looking car to!
ReplyDeleteIt is easy!!! That's why I wanted the world to know...it seems so intimidating and scary, but with the right tool it's quite easy. And thank you. If your name is any indication of your own car, I'm guessing you have a pretty nice looking car too!
DeleteThe dimensions on the diagram did not work for me. The holes were way too big. I changed 5/16"R to 5/16"D and 1/4"R to 5/16"D. Distance from center to center is 2.00". I measured my torsion rods at .270"D so the .312"D holes work well. Otherwise, good demo.
ReplyDeleteThe diagram isn't mine...it was the dimensions of the original Ford tool. I don't remember if I had to make my holes bigger or not, I made this tool so long ago.
Delete