Vintage VW Beetle-Reinstalling the Anti-Sway Bar

Reassembling the front end assembly takes a lot of guts. Just like the rest of the project, breaking systems in to subsystems and subsystems into components isn't that difficult. Determination, limited know how, de-greaser, scrubbers and grinders work well.

Putting it back together is another story.

I mean, I have the basics, turn the bolts in the opposite direction as when you took it off. However, touch, feel and experience play a big part. Removing a heavy object is easier than putting it back on. However, the same gravity that eased removal now fights against an install. You need more engineering and help to put parts back on.

This latest project had me pretty intimidated. The repair manual shows how to remove the sway bar, bushings and metal sleeve. A little reading and you realize that's just brute force. Unbend a fastener and pound it off. But the book also states to throw away the old sleeve.

Why throw something away that is perfectly good?

Here is what the original sleeve looks like:

Metal Sleeve Before Cleaning

Sleeve fastener connected to one side of sleeve.
You can see the tab that will later need to bend down.

  

To save money, I ground the rust off, prepped to surface and repainted it. Now, I'm ready to face the really intimidating part; putting that sleeve back on.

After searching the web, I saw there was no real advice here other than to buy a vice-grip sheet metal clamp (looks like pliers, but with wide pinching surfaces) squeeze the ends together and slide on the tabbed fastener:

I couldn't find any locally and decided to use regular old adjustable "C" clamps. They worked like a champ. So, here's what I did (Use this method if your front end assembly and control arms are remounted onto the chassis:

1. Clean all parts

2. Paint all parts

3. Slide bushings onto sway bar. Largest bushings go first on both ends of sway bar. Bushings are made with uneven ends. Just ensure that the narrowest areas of each bushing (just look and you'll see) point toward the end of the sway bar. If not, physics and angle will prevent easy application of the sleeve.

4. Hold up sway bar onto each lower control bar so that the ends point down. The top of the sway bar should be just in front of the lower two bolts that hold the front end assembly onto the frame.

5. Pick a side, any side. Slide the largest metal sleeve onto the largest bushing. The open end of the sleeve faces down at the front end of the car.

6. Apply and tighten a "C" clamp to bring the open ends together. Slide the sleeve fastener with tab end up from the bottom of the sleeve. You might need a hammer and chisel here.

7. Hammer the tab so that it closes around the bushing.

8. Use same process for all remaining bushings and sleeves

9. Repaint any damage from the install.