Nice pics of the sway bar Dave, thanks for the report. But how does it affect the originality of the truck? I'm trying to be the eternal purest when it comes to restoring my truck to its original condition. I hang with a few hot rodders and we have a lot of arguments on the subject of originality. There is a gray area when you try to define “original condition”, and it has to do with time and evolution. Do you mean out the factory door, out the dealer’s door, a year after the owner’s had the vehicle, 5years later, in other words, original to what time period?
I wonder just how many vehicles remained completely factory stock after the customer got hold of them. Not many I’ll bet. Heck I worked in the parts department of a Chevy dealership in the late 50’s and sold a lot of accessories and ordered aftermarket accessories from Western Tire and the Auto parts stores that people wanted installed on their newly acquired rides. There is nothing in the book that says that the guy that bought his new Chevy truck in 1950 couldn’t add a few accessories. He surely would have added a couple of mirrors, probably sun visors and maybe an outside awning over the windshield and a spotlight. Turn signals were a must after he had it for a couple of years and the right hand taillight to go along with them. The bumper guards and the fog lights came in handy to push start the neighbor’s car the night the temperature dropped to –15°. Warshawski and Warshawski was going strong by the mid 50’s and our owner probably paid a visit to their catalog when a few extra bucks came his way. Sure was dark when he opened the door at night so he slipped in a couple of accessory lights under the dash when the door opened. So what constitutes an original restoration anyway.
My rule of thumb is not to bend, cut, weld on, burn off, drill out, in short, do no harm to anything on the original frame or body. The addition of a part like the sway bar or bars is a nice “Accessory” to add to the old gal and when I get her up to snuff it’s no doubt one I will incorporate.
Gotta go make breakfast now!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
