Terry, my earlier post about swaybars, included a copy of an older email
from Phil Either. Please be advised that his install info was for a TR4,
not a TR3. Oops, my oversight, sorry. However, I believe the install is
virtually identical. Also, the links to the pictures are dead. I think I
may have saved a copy of the photos which I can email to you if need them.
Here is another old post from Phil with more info on a TR4 install. Most of
that info was correct for my small mouth TR3 except that I was unable to use
the bumper brackets as mounting points. TR3As do use the bumper brackets,
though.
Phil, Brain, et all, if you are out there, thanks for the info you provided
to the list. It sure helped when I did my install.
Paul Willoughby
Torrance, CA
1956 TR3
1964 TR4
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Ethier"
<Sent: Monday, June 17, 2002 8:26 PM
Subject: Re: TR4 ADDCO front bar install?
> So many of you replied publicly and privately that I believe I should
> report how the sway-bar thing went.
>
> Several of my Minnesota Triumphs buddies came over on Saturday. One, John
> Kallaus, wanted to put an ADDCO bar on his TR4.
>
> To make the ADDCO sway-bar bracket conform to the Triumph bumper bracket,
> the ends were bent.
>
> To make it fit inside the Triumph bumper bracket, each of the ADDCO
backing
> plates was trimmed on one side with the saw that made Milwaukee famous.
> Then the plate was bent with vise and large hammer until it fit inside the
> Triumph bumper bracket. The change in radius meant that the slots in the
> ADDCO backing plate were now too far apart, so a rat-tail file was used to
> elongate the slots. The provided 3/8 bolts and Nyloc nuts worked
perfectly.
>
> The bolts provided by ADDCO to fasten the adaptor tabs to the upper
control
> arms were too long. The length apparently needed was 2.25 or 2.5 inches.
> The local hardware supply had only 2.5" bolts in Grade 5 and they worked
> fine, if a little too long. No, I am not cutting them off...
>
> John borrowed my Sawzall to cut the plates for his car. Since he too had
> been given the 3" control-arm bolts, I let him have the two extra 2.5-inch
> bolts I had bought.
>
> Ran an autocross today, and the result is OK. Rear-wheel-lifting is
greatly
> reduced. It is still possible to provoke oversteer with trailing
throttle.
>
> With the limited autocross exposure planned for the car, and its new
manners
> on the public roads, this is the setup I plan on keeping. Thanks for all
> your help, especially Brian Sanborn, who raved about the handling of his
car
> he was right) and supplied me with two excellent digital pix to show that
> I was not crazy to mount the bar this way. The trick to understanding the
> cryptic ADDCO instructions is to realize that they call these bumper
> brackets
> "struts".
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