I am restoring a 68RS 327 to original appearance, but would like the benefits of a 13/16 or 1" sway bar. What are the best options for a larger sway bar that looks closest to original in appearance?

Rick's advertises a 1" bar that they say is an exact reproduction of a bar that was originally available only over the counter. Does anyone have any experience with this?

My understanding (from reading restoration manuals) is if you modify the stock sway bar specs it may have unintended consequences such as it not handeling better. I can post what they said but you might want to make sure what your doing will make a difference.

Back in the day, I lifted a large front sway bar off a 69 Z/28 in a boneyard, and installed it on my 67 standardvert. It fit, looked stock, and for sure improved the handling of the car. As far as where to find one, I dunno.

Maybe it was when you add the rear swaybar the problems come up...

Maybe it was when you add the rear swaybar the problems come up...
Exactly! Never add a rear bar unless it's an engineered MATCH to the front bar. Vital to stay out of the ditch.

Exactly! Never add a rear bar unless it's an engineered MATCH to the front bar. Vital to stay out of the ditch.

Same goes for the front bar - a 1" solid bar is WAY stiffer than the stock 11/16" bar, and will cause the car to understeer (push) big-time. Not a great idea to try and out-engineer the GM chassis engineers out of a catalog; most vendors that sell bars haven't a clue what they do - they just think "bigger is better". It isn't.

Yep again, but at least understeer is safer than oversteer. For the last 37 years Addco has taken care of me. Still in one piece. The front bar is 1". Back in 69 when I installed it, it came with a set of coil springs to dampen the ends and tune the bar. They were a set of four that were similar to valve springs and were used in lieu of rubber. Tossed em as soon as urethane was invented. Here's a picture of the rear bar. They don't make 'em like this anymore. They sent a new replacement this year for free. They also took back my old bar for their museum. Honest.
http://epitomesrebuild.com/images/141.JPG

http://epitomesrebuild.com/images/145.JPG
Wow! Pretty dirty. This was during my quarter century cleaning and upgrade. Below is a month later, this spring.

http://epitomesrebuild.com/images/242.JPG

If you still want a 1" front sway bar, send me a PM.