My son and I have been rebuilding the front suspension on his '66 Imperial. It is time to install the torsion bars and I was looking at the 1966 FSM for the procedure. There is a diagram that specifically calls out for Imperial. However, I have questions as there are parts shown that are not present on his car. Specifically the seat for the adjusting bolt (which was not present on either side) as well as the representation of the cross member which is different in this car. Am I missing something or is the FSM diagram for a different model, even though it clearly states Imperial.
'66 Imperial Torsion Bar Install
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You might also look in prior model year Imperial factory service manuals. I suspect the Imperial items will go back to 1957?
You might also download the 1966 Chrysler Parts Manual, too. There should be an expanded view of the complete front suspension in there.
Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
You might also download the 1966 Chrysler Parts Manual, too. There should be an expanded view of the complete front suspension in there.
Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
YES! The FSM has it WRONG! It's been 45 years since I had the job done but I remember I had to tell the shop that the manual was wrong!
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That looks like the assemblies out of the convertible I parted.
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These are out of the ‘66 convertible.
Those bolt seats are what is missing. Now the search begins.
Why would someone leave those off?
Following up on our torsion bar installation.
A few things we learned:
Early '57 - '61 Chrysler and Desoto for sure may be others as well adjuster bolts and anchors are a different size. The Adjusting Bolt is longer, Swivel is longer and Seat Washer is thicker. Bolts use the same pitch/thread gauge. You might be able to use the earlier bolts but the length could possibly become an issue with top cover clearance.
After market Torsion bar boots are hit and miss especially the poly boots. While they fit over the Torsion bar they do not fit over the Anchor. We had one original boot that was about 80% but very brittle other boot was MIA. I soaked the 80% boot in AT-205 for 24 hours and it became very pliable with no noticeable degradation. My search for OE boots turned up 3 sets of NOS boots priced from $75 to $90 for a pair.
Torsion bars were installed with full drop on the suspension and loose forward nut on strut rods. FSM calls for Torsion Bars to be clocked in either the 4 or 8 o'clock position, this is done by using the grove that runs across the end of the bars between the ID #'s as a pointer. The Left bar mark was positioned at the 4 o'clock pointing towards the center of the car and the Right bar was pointed at the 8 o'clock pointed towards the center of the car. We cleaned and chased threads on both bolts and swivels and applied anti-seize very lightly using a stick of anti-seize. Bolts operated very smoothly and adjustment was accomplished by hand using a 15" breaker bar. We ended up with 8 full turns to get the ride height we wanted. Control arm's were then torqued as per FSM. The initial ride height may be readjusted after the car has been driven and the fully rebuilt suspension settles.
There have been lots of questions regarding Torsion Bar installation and hopefully this will answer some of those questions. This install was done on a '66 Imperial but other than the different mount method and possible clocking spec's it should apply to other C bodies.
A few things we learned:
Early '57 - '61 Chrysler and Desoto for sure may be others as well adjuster bolts and anchors are a different size. The Adjusting Bolt is longer, Swivel is longer and Seat Washer is thicker. Bolts use the same pitch/thread gauge. You might be able to use the earlier bolts but the length could possibly become an issue with top cover clearance.
After market Torsion bar boots are hit and miss especially the poly boots. While they fit over the Torsion bar they do not fit over the Anchor. We had one original boot that was about 80% but very brittle other boot was MIA. I soaked the 80% boot in AT-205 for 24 hours and it became very pliable with no noticeable degradation. My search for OE boots turned up 3 sets of NOS boots priced from $75 to $90 for a pair.
Torsion bars were installed with full drop on the suspension and loose forward nut on strut rods. FSM calls for Torsion Bars to be clocked in either the 4 or 8 o'clock position, this is done by using the grove that runs across the end of the bars between the ID #'s as a pointer. The Left bar mark was positioned at the 4 o'clock pointing towards the center of the car and the Right bar was pointed at the 8 o'clock pointed towards the center of the car. We cleaned and chased threads on both bolts and swivels and applied anti-seize very lightly using a stick of anti-seize. Bolts operated very smoothly and adjustment was accomplished by hand using a 15" breaker bar. We ended up with 8 full turns to get the ride height we wanted. Control arm's were then torqued as per FSM. The initial ride height may be readjusted after the car has been driven and the fully rebuilt suspension settles.
There have been lots of questions regarding Torsion Bar installation and hopefully this will answer some of those questions. This install was done on a '66 Imperial but other than the different mount method and possible clocking spec's it should apply to other C bodies.
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