Torsion bar install question

It is your choice , I have let them hang down as far as needed to get the job done, :

Say or reads noting about angle or position when installing the torsion bar(s) in a factory shop manual

it does but in a different area. See post above yours

I understand that when installing torsion bars you are supposed to let the lower control arms hang and insert the torsion bar when it's hex lines up with the hex in the lca while raising it to get it to line up. How far are you supposed to let the lca hang? Right now I don't have anything bolted in place as I am installing everything from scratch. There is no suspension on the car other than the ucas (which aren't attached to the spindles as the spindles aren't mounted yet) and the lcas. I have the passenger side tbar a little way into the trans. crossmember and the lca hanging basically vertically as the strut rod isn't in place yet. I can insert the tbar into the lca by just raising the lca a little bit. But if I lift the lca up a little bit more the tbar will also go in on the next set of flats on the hex with the lca still angled somewhat toward the floor. I then have to lift it a little further to get the strut rod to go in the lca. So, how far is the lca supposed to be hanging when inserting the tbar?

I suggest bolting both control arms in place and attaching the spindle to both. From memory:

If the bump stop is installed adjacent to the upper control arm, remove it- you're gong to need all the downward travel you can get to get the torsion bar into the lower control arm. Likewise remove the height-adjuster bolt on the lower control arm, if it is installed.

Grease the hole in he chassis mount that holds the back end of the torsion bar.

Determine correct orientation/side for your torsion bar. I forget whether you slide it in from the front side or the rear side of the chassis mount, but you can figure it out. Slide it in about halfway and install the grease boot.

Grease both ends of the torsion bar.

Put a floor jack under the spindle to hold it in position, and raise/lower it as needed. You can also tap on the "finger" of the height adjuster to rotate the socket where the torsion bar will go, but using the jack is probably easier.

Align the torsion bar to the lower control arm and tap it into place (hammer and wood block on back end). If it won't go, swear, check the elevation of the spindle, and retry.

Continue driving the torsion bar forward until the back end clears the retaining groove in the hole of the chassis mount. Install snap ring.

Stuff more grease around the torsion bar from the front side of the chassis mount and slide the boot over it.

Install bump stop and height adjuster bolt that you took out earlier.

This, I leave the height adjuster bolt and its block in place with the bolt backed out so the link is setting on the block.

Says or reads noting about angle or position when installing the torsion bar(s) in a factory shop manual but the first page does show the "strut" in place on the LCA that would limit how far the LCA could drop without a T-bar installed.

I didn't measure but if I put the tbar in the socket with the lca hanging all the way down I believe it would have to be jacked up more than an inch or two to connect it to the spindle. Also, as I mentioned, I think it would twist the tbar quite a bit more to get to where I could attach the lca to the spindle. Maybe the second position when I lift up the lca by hand is the one I need to insert the tbar into. I don't know but I hope I can get the tbar install finished tomorrow.

Tighten everything except the control arm pivots.

They should be just loose enough to allow them to pivot and not bind the bushings.

Set the ride height with the wheels on the ground and while the suspension is still on the ground supporting the car tighten the pivots.

Thanks seems I was trying to convert the only shop manual torsion bar info I found to a format I could post and didn't see your post . back at you.

I took 2 short 2x4's cut a shallow groove length wise on each with a circular saw and C clamped them together pinching the torsion bar between them and hit the bottom block with a hammer and knocked them right out.

I finally got to finish up today. Got the other t-bar in place, just had to move the lca a bit. Thanks to everyone for your advice in the posts above. I am having a problem with getting the t-bar dust boots onto the trans. crossmember though. Does anyone have any suggestions on an easy way to do this? I've tried for over an hour so far just on one of them and I can't get the boot to slip onto the crossmember, I test fit it before the t-bar install and it went on no problem but now with the t-bar there, I can't get it to go on. Probably doesn't help that I used poly boots.