I would like to add at least a front sway bar to my 1975
Midget. The body roll on highway on ramps is pretty comical,
I have to grab the tranny tunnel to stay inside the car.
My car does not have any front sway bar, although I beleive
they were either an option or standard on some editions, since
the Moss catalog seems to refer to "factory" size.
As an aside, I think my car might have had one at one time. On
the front frame rails, there are two pads about the size of the
brackets in the Moss catalog. It would fit along with the history
of my car if it had at one time been fitted with an aftermarket
sway bar. The wrecked engine that came with the car also had
.030 over pistons, and the stereo hole evidently had some attention
at one time beyond that crappy non-original radio that I got with it.
(going on tangent)
I think my car was once owned by somebody who put a lot of
love into it and hopped it up a bit. They rebuild the engine
.030 over, did some bodywork, replaced the top, and so on. Then
the engine failed with a broken connecting rod through the side
of the block. They welded it up and sold it to (read "screwed over")
the PO.
The PO was clueless, but at least knew he was clueless,
and just kept it around for three years and only put a few
miles on it. But he also put money into it blindly at the local
repair shop, so the car did enjoy new shocks, new hydraulics, and
other goodies that I am very thankful for. But his personal
peak mechanical acheivement was replacing the expansion
tank with "one that had the straw thing in it".
Then he ran out of money, and the car came to me. I took a bold
leap into reliable transport by installing a freshly built engine
that gave the car the ability to go more than 40 miles without a
head gasket failure. But I digress.
(returning from tangent)
So I am looking for both parts and advice. If I can get a
factory assembly from a parts car somewhere, I'd probably slap
it on and be happy. But I may want to buy an add-on kit like
an Addco.
Does anybody know of a kit that includes everything? Vicky
Brits seems to have the Addco, but it doesn't look like it
includes the tie-ends, it looks like it's meant to be installed
on the ones the factory uses. Which... I don't have.
Incidently, from the Moss images, I see the bracket that
mounts the bar to the car. Where does that bracket mount to? I
see three holes drilled into the front of each of my spring
brackets with nothing attached to them. Are these the
holes it mounts into? And by the existance of these holes, am
I also proving that my car once had a sway bar?
So does anybody have a parts car with the bits to sell me? Or
does anyone know of a kit that includes everything?
Or from another angle: how much can I improve my suspension
without performing major surgery? I am sort of being conservative
and thinking a factory style sway bar is worth doing. But if I
could get much better results without breaking the bank, I'd
be all ears to hear it and would skip over the factory setup
right into something more.
I don't see too many "middle of the road" Midgets, most of
the ones I have seen or driven are either stock or completely
modified to perform but with many dollars invested. If it
follows the 80/20 rule, then perhaps I can get 80% of that
performance for 20% of that price?
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Trevor Boicey 1992 Celica GT (95% of the driving I do)
tboicey@isocan.com 1975 MG Midget (95% of the repairs I do)
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