68 a-body sway bar painted or bare

Hello

Is the swaybar painted black or bare on a a-body? And same question for the brackets on the k-frame as well.
I thought I saw black paint on mine but the rust and grime was making it hard to tell. Been blasted for a few years now and finally getting to it.

Thanks.

The one on my 69 Dart is painted. This is a pic of the underside taken 4 yrs ago when I first bought it. The car had been parked since 1974. A little nasty looking, but original.

Looks better then mine did.

Thanks for confirming.

I have one that a guy took off of his brand new 68 Barracuda to go drag racing, definitely semi gloss black with a yellow paint daub.

Almost forgot, the bracket is black as well?

Yes.

I own a '69. I believe the bar and brackets were spray painted or dip painted black as a unit, since Mopar offered no replacement brackets or bushings - you had to buy the bar plus brackets plus bushings together as an assembly at the parts counter. All 5 items were a unit at assembly and must have been painted that way. Off course, the paint would have fallen off the bushings with age and use. The 4 bolts were added at assembly and were not painted.

BTW those are original stabilizer links in the photo above.

Photo below shows the yellow paint daub. It looks like spray paint to me.

Canucklehead, is the daub spray paint or brushed? Can you post a photo?

Sorry for the picture, it's buried in my shed.

I can pull it out tomorrow, but to me it looks brushed on.

I wonder if the paint daub was a different color for different diameter sway bars,ie: 340 @ 7/8" vs.383 @ 15/16"?

Good point as they did the same paint code I.D. on the torsion bars or they would need to measure each one which is too slow of a method for production. A swaybar is another type of torsion bar IMO so it would fit the process for I.D.ing them.

Common I.D. method on all production type springs (coil, torsion, even leaf).

This is good info about being all on when painted. Changes how I will do mine.
Thanks.

A couple of more pics, definitely brushed on.

Another

Okay, are the bars pictured with the yellow paint daub, off of
340 cars or 383s!

My photo is from a 340.

According to the 1969 Mopar Parts Catalog, there was only one "Sway Bar Shaft" for all A bodies regardless of engine. That's not to say 340 and 383 sway bars were the same factory installed, but it sure looks like it.

Thanks Canucklehead!

The fellow I bought it from told me it was from a 68 340 Barracuda.

Interesting, my 69 parts book lists 340 and 383 bars as the same but my 68 book lists a different part for 383. They are the Canadian versions and have some differences from the US version. My 68 book lists 2462838 as all a-body except 383, which is listed as 2535533. My 69 book lists all A-body as 2535534. I just assumed 67-72 A-bodies were the same.

The parts book lists replacement parts, not necessarily what came
on the car from the factory. For instance, all, over the counter
lower control arms came with sway bar brackets, no matter if the
car they were going on had a sway bar or not. The dealer data book calls out .88 sway bars for small block cars and .94 for the 383s.I'm guessing, because of the low volume of big block cars built, and the small number of bars they sold, they just sold the smaller bars for everything.

Interesting and good info, thanks guys.

Question: What about the '69 M-Code 440 Dart and Cuda, did they use the 383 big block .94 sway bar too?

Yes

That is a very nice front sway bar, very nice!!

What documentation do you have to back up that statement?
Never heard that before.

Yep, I got lucky with that one. He had the torsion bars in the same condition that my buddy picked up. If I ever restore my driver M-code Dart I would probably use that bar, even if it's not correct.

Factory Parts Manual, 2-10-6/7, 2535364 Right, 2535365 Left.

Last question. For those that have never removed their swaybar, k-frame mount bolts down from the top or up from the bottom?

Bolt UP FROM THE BOTTOM, nut on top.......I know this is a '69 Super Bee but it is a 5600 mile survivor but all of my five B-bodies I've owned and all of the cars I've photographed are with the bolt up from the bottom and nut on top.

I was asked to share my M Code Dart sway bar paint dub, it appears to be a blueish green but is hard to tell.