[78w72]

Originally Posted by 67Fbird

those little braces are usually first thing tossed as no headers clear them. Also front sway bar should be 1 5/16 IIRC

i have hedman headers on my 78 WS6 & they clear the brace bars. had hooker comps on another 78 WS6 with a 455 & they cleared also.

T/A front sway bar is 1.25"

[GoreMaker]

It's a moot point, I'll likely be sticking with manifolds, although I may switch to reproduction Ram Air D-port manifolds if I can find them. I'm trying to remain as stock-appearing as possible, and it looks like what's on there right now are stock manifolds.

[Skip Fix]

78 WS6 had the 8" snowflakes, 1 1/4 front bar(biggest factory bar) with nylon end bushing links, 14:1 "straight" ratio steering box -not variable like the standard TAs, larger rear sway bar standard was 5/8 increased to 3/4 I believe , maybe 13/16. Rear spring front spring eye bushings also were supposed to be different. Polysteel tires spec'd and I think specific shocks for all those changes.

Camaro braces are flat and longer and go forward also to a hole in the back of the crossmember. My plain 79 Camaro had all the holes for those. My 81 WS6 TA has the small braces, my "plain" 78 TA did not and eventhough I checked the WS6 box the dealer did not get it ordered. Bought the steering box new, 8" wheels used. Nylon sway bar end links crumble with age vs poly.

[FrankieT/A]

Originally Posted by 67Fbird

those little braces are usually first thing tossed as no headers clear them. Also front sway bar should be 1 5/16 IIRC

Doug's with 2" primaries clear them.

[GoreMaker]

So technically this is off-topic, but since its my thread, I can go ahead and do that.

I do a lot of work on B-body wagons. I own three of them, all 90's models (Buick, Oldsmobile and Chevy). I autocross the Roadmaster, it's a ton of fun. One of the nice things about B-bodies is that their front suspension is essentially a heavy duty version of the 2nd gen F-body's, with most of the bits completely interchangeable. The F-body subframe is basically just the front section of a B-body frame. So while looking into these WS6 frame braces that we discussed in this thread, that reminded me of the similar frame braces found on B-body wagons:



This brace starts at about the same place as the one on WS6 cars, except it bolts to the bottom of the frame rather than the inside. Then it bolts to the LCA mount (again, same as a WS6), and continues onto the front crossmember and bolts under there, too. So it not only helps prevent the LCA mount from deflecting, it also triangulates the entire front part of the frame.

That had me curious, so I ordered a couple of NOS pieces from eBay. Lo and behold, it fits perfectly on my '77 Trans Am!



Obviously none of the bolt holes exist, but that's a simple matter to fix. Unfortunately, that's only the right (passenger) side. The left side would also fit, except the exhaust is in the way just ahead of the LCA mount because of the starter. This is with a pontiac 400 and stock manifolds. I think if the exhaust downpipe was redirected just a little bit with a better bend and less clearance from the starter, the brace would fit fine there, too.

So this isn't "authentic" WS6 equipment but I think ultimately it would work even better. It's OEM GM, requires minimal drilling (and maybe some exhaust massaging) to make it fit, and costs next to nothing. I got these pieces for $25 each, and they can be found on any junk yard B-body wagon. I don't know if they're present on sedans, but it's possible.

[burd]

Here’s a WS6 front bar set up. All factory. OG hardware You can see like a lock tite still on from the factory.
Yep, no fisher price toys. I borrowed that saying from 427 King, he sells only top notch clean rare parts. You can find him on eBay
Check out his store.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/427-king/m....=16&_rdc=1

[78w72]

yes we know what the factory WS6 bars look like... theres pics posted earlier in the thread.

fisher price toys?? & what does a random ebay seller have to do with this topic?

[burd]

Just for talk.
I didn’t hear you mention the factory put a sealer on the bolt threads. What, you guys can post 20 pages on how hot your oil should be when it’s changed but I post a pic of a ws6 bar w/ factory lock tite on the bolts and it’s out of line?