Topic: 66 GT anti sway bar finish

[austr6]

Hello all, I'm in the process of finishing the front suspension on my 66 GT
Just not sure what finish should be on the anti sway bar?
Any ideas ?
Kind regards
Richard.

[J_Speegle]

They would have been a dark heat treated bare steel finish. Plenty of articles and threads on how to reproduce this look/finish on the site


Semi-gloss black   

[jwc66k]

They would have been a dark heat treated bare steel finish. Plenty of articles and threads on how to reproduce this look/finish on the site

My San Jose Oct 65 GT K Fastback's sway bar is painted semi-gloss black. When replacing the lower arms, I intended to replace the sway bar bushings, but because my Fastback came with heavy duty suspension, I did not find a proper ID bushings for the larger diameter sway bar that were not slit, so I stayed with the originals.
Jim

[J_Speegle]

Thanks Jim for the catch.  Not sure what I was thinking at the moment I typed that.  One of the benefits of public forum review

My screw up for the month/week/day   

[Bob Gaines]

Just to show variation on the sway bar finish ,the vast majority of 65/66 GT350 sway bars I have seen on survivor cars appear to be un painted dark heat treated spring steel. That may be what Jeff was thinking off when he first posted.  All of the NOS service bares I have ever had over the years (about a dozen) have been unpainted also. Typically many bare metal service parts get painted rather then left non painted . The point being in this case the service parts seem to have the same finish as the assemblyline parts.  The GT 350 1 " sway bar was special and maybe that explains the finish in that case.  I have seen a few that were painted but couldn't confirm they hadn't been messed with. 

[jwc66k]

Just to show variation on the sway bar finish ,the vast majority of 65/66 GT350 sway bars I have seen on survivor cars appear to be un painted dark heat treated spring steel.

Shelby was not building concourse grade cars and from several people that did get a look-see while 65-66 GT-350's were being built said that almost anything went. You can see inconsistencies in a lot of areas that were not part of the as delivered car. It's what makes a 65-66 Shelby unique.
Jim

[J_Speegle]

Shelby was not building concourse grade cars and from several people that did get a look-see while 65-66 GT-350's were being built said that almost anything went. You can see inconsistencies in a lot of areas that were not part of the as delivered car. It's what makes a 65-66 Shelby unique.
Jim

I think that often the "anything went" has its limitations and often owners and restorers have used it as an excuse or to make other choices. Guess that is where the "almost" comes into play. In this example I doubt that Shelby had people painting the sway bars and instead used what was delivered to them so that would create some limitations.   Heard one "anything goes" urban legend years ago where the person making the comment suggested that 65 Shelbys were assembled with 6 cylinders from San Jose   

Wonder how Peyton would react or respond if ask his opinion of some of the comments that have been made over the years. Were wish I could ask him this an a couple of other questions


But of course we're getting off thread

[Bob Gaines]

I think that often the "anything went" has its limitations and often owners and restorers have used it as an excuse or to make other choices. Guess that is where the "almost" comes into play. In this example I doubt that Shelby had people painting the sway bars and instead used what was delivered to them so that would create some limitations.   Heard one "anything goes" urban legend years ago where the person making the comment suggested that 65 Shelbys were assembled with 6 cylinders from San Jose   

But of course we're getting off thread

It has been my impression that ether the person was uninformed or part of the making excuses crowd when the ole anything goes sentiment was used when describing Shelby American production.

[Morsel]

I'm bringing this up again just for absolute clarification, my 66 GT K-Code sway bar has to come off my car again, when I did it originally I was told ( Jeff to do it bare heat treated natural ,so I gun blued it. but if it's supposed to be semi gloss black, I want to change it while it's off the car... just want to confirm that I should indeed paint it semi gloss black...

Thanks,

Jason

[J_Speegle]

 Yes it was originally semi-gloss black. Not sure what I was thinking of at the time or why I made that mistake.  No excuses - just happy it can be corrected.

[Morsel]

Yes it was originally semi-gloss black. Not sure what I was thinking of at the time or why I made that mistake.  No excuses - just happy it can be corrected.

No worries, easy fix when off the car, it's too bad, it really came out nice with the gun blueing, looked perfect

Thanks as always Jeff.

Jason

[Bob Gaines]

Yes it was originally semi-gloss black. Not sure what I was thinking of at the time or why I made that mistake.  No excuses - just happy it can be corrected.

Jeff, we have both seen the 65/66 GT350 ether way, dark heat treated and also some semi gloss black. My guess is that the GT350 detail is what you were thinking of . Not that it matters much but just thought I would mention it so you didn't think you were losing it.   

[CharlesTurner]

When I restored the '65 SJ hipo convertible, I couldn't find any paint on the sway bar and it is finished as dark heat-treated appearance now. 

Jeff, are you sure this is an all or none kind of thing?  Same with coil springs... everyone thought black paint...

[J_Speegle]

When I restored the '65 SJ hipo convertible, I couldn't find any paint on the sway bar and it is finished as dark heat-treated appearance now. 

If your referring to that particular car not sure (you would know better than I) if the condition lent itself to providing allot of finish details. Now the 6 cylinder IMHO would ahve been a different thing

Jeff, are you sure this is an all or none kind of thing?  Same with coil springs... everyone thought black paint...

Certain?  Well always willing to see some evidence. Time to find some originals and get out the aircraft paint stripper. We both know what the rules have said for many years but that should not hold us back here from trying to figure out the real answer

[CharlesTurner]

I was getting into evaporust when I did that car and remember soaking the front sway bar.  It came out the same as the coil springs, the surface got a weird blackish residue on it.  When rinsed, there wasn't any paint.