BB Front Stab Bar, 7/8th or 15/16th

[Blake W.]

Re: BB Front Stab Bar, 7/8th or 15/16th

Anybody out there with a known original 63-72 with F-40/F-41 that can measure their front bar?

measured my original '65 F40 front bar in (3) places. all measured .938" (15/16") Hope this helps

[Dale C.]

Re: BB Front Stab Bar, 7/8th or 15/16th

I am still in the dark as to why a 68 or 69 BB would flat out call for the 3/4" front sway bar per the P&A, see above pictures. I know mistakes could be made but this is suspicious as it went on so long. My 68 BB has the F41 and does have the 3831972 (15/16th) but I don't think it was really an option on the L36 so I may go back to the standard, if I could figure out what sway bar to use. Thanks for the interesting feedback on this topic.
Dale

[John C.]

Re: BB Front Stab Bar, 7/8th or 15/16th

Dale

To me it just looks like a parts book error. The 68 corvette specs posted on the GM Heritage center call out a 15/16 for all BB.

John

[Michael F.]

Re: BB Front Stab Bar, 7/8th or 15/16th

my original 67 435 car with f41 has 15/16 .

[Duke W.]

Re: BB Front Stab Bar, 7/8th or 15/16th

I am still in the dark as to why a 68 or 69 BB would flat out call for the 3/4" front sway bar per the P&A, see above pictures. I know mistakes could be made but this is suspicious as it went on so long. My 68 BB has the F41 and does have the 3831972 (15/16th) but I don't think it was really an option on the L36 so I may go back to the standard, if I could figure out what sway bar to use. Thanks for the interesting feedback on this topic.
Dale

IMO the parts books are loaded with errors, and they rarely got fixed. Back when I was buying a lot of parts from a local Chevy dealer I even filled out some bingo cards that were included in the parts book to report errors. I never heard a word after and the later editions of the parts books had the same errors.

As I reviewed several years worth of AMA specs I also found what I consider to be errors in the listed anti-roll bar diameters.

The 1966 era Corvette News article (post #13) that reported the release of F-41 is definititive IMO. When initially released in '66 F-41 was only available with L-72. I don't know if it was ever released for L-36, but if your car does have F-41 it would also have the 550 lb/in front springs and seven leaf 305 lb/in rear spring, both of which should be easy to ID.

I believe my C2/3 front anti-roll bar utilization listing in post #6 is an accurate accounting of engineering release with the exception of when the 13/16" bar went into production for base suspension small blocks, but Joe reported it as MY 1973. Here's the revised list.

3831971 ...... 3/4" ... '63 - '72 small block base suspension
334930 ...... 13/16" ... '73-up small block base suspension
3871318 ..... 7/8" .... '65 396 and all '66-'74 base suspension 427, 454
3831972 ..... 15/16" ... Z-06, F-40, F-41, ZR-1, ZR-2, Z-07, '74 FE7
351596 ....... 1 1/8" ... '75-up FE7

The ...972 15/16" front bar was only utilized with F- prefix suspension options described as "heavy duty" or "special purpose" or special performance equipment packages (Z-prefix) that included suspension components of similar description.

Duke

[John C.]

Re: BB Front Stab Bar, 7/8th or 15/16th

IMO the parts books are loaded with errors, and they rarely got fixed. Back when I was buying a lot of parts from a local Chevy dealer I even filled out some bingo cards that were included in the parts book to report errors. I never heard a word after and the later editions of the parts books had the same errors.

As I reviewed several years worth of AMA specs I also found what I consider to be errors in the listed anti-roll bar diameters.

The 1966 era Corvette News article (post #13) that reported the release of F-41 is definititive IMO. When initially released in '66 F-41 was only available with L-72. I don't know if it was ever released for L-36, but if your car does have F-41 it would also have the 550 lb/in front springs and seven leaf 305 lb/in rear spring, both of which should be easy to ID.

I believe my C2/3 front anti-roll bar utilization listing in post #6 is an accurate accounting of engineering release with the exception of when the 13/16" bar went into production for base suspension small blocks, but Joe reported it as MY 1973. Here's the revised list.

3831971 ...... 3/4" ... '63 - '72 small block base suspension
334930 ...... 13/16" ... '73-up small block base suspension
3871318 ..... 7/8" .... '65 396 and all '66-'74 base suspension 427, 454
3831972 ..... 15/16" ... Z-06, F-40, F-41, ZR-1, ZR-2, Z-07, '74 FE7
351596 ....... 1 1/8" ... '75-up FE7

The ...972 15/16" front bar was only utilized with F- prefix suspension options described as "heavy duty" or "special purpose" or special performance equipment packages (Z-prefix) that included suspension components of similar description.

Duke

Duke

I think this thread has gotten lost in a parts manual discussion and trying to match numbers to years. Dale's original question was if a 1968 BB should have a 7/8 or 15/16 inch front anti-roll bar on the standard suspension. From GM's own published specs I listed earlier, car magazine articles of the day (see attached R&T article), and measured examples in this thread it appears that the answer is 15/16. I'll believe 7/8 when someone who actually owns a 1968 reports it.

John

[Michael M.]

Re: BB Front Stab Bar, 7/8th or 15/16th

Just went and measured my original front sway bar and it's 15/16". My '68 was built in November/December, '67 with a 427 L36 non-F41 suspension. No a/c, no power steering, no power brakes.