So I'm Currently grafting an exploder 8.8 to my Celica and one issue I keep putting off is the sway bar. The factory one won't fit the ford stick, and the stick anti roll bar won't mount to the Celica (duh...) so aside from spending big cash on a custom setup, is there a way to make a hybrid? Could I just make brackets in the Celica chassis to accommodate the ford bar? Or can you weld two halves of each bar to the other bar and make some kids Frankenstein? Thanks.
New brackets are the answer here. You do not want to cut and weld the bar itself. Just make sure you mock up the bar and drop links and check it thru the full range of travel and roll to verify clearances.
You could measure the points where the bar would ideally be to use the celicas mounting points and axle mounting points and search a boneyard. Given the multitude of designs produced over the years something is bound to be close by accident
Can you heat the ford bar up and bend it to fit? Because the area where the bar terminates is right in the way of the control arms. (4 link 1985 Celica GT)
Am I the only one that came here, expecting to learn how to make my own air locker?
bigdaddylee82 wrote: Am I the only one that came here, expecting to learn how to make my own air locker?
Me too.
fasted58 wrote:bigdaddylee82 wrote: Am I the only one that came here, expecting to learn how to make my own air locker?Me too.
I came in thinking ARB had set up some kind of design-online site for their massive overbuilt off road bumpers. 
Trackmouse wrote: Can you heat the ford bar up and bend it to fit? Because the area where the bar terminates is right in the way of the control arms. (4 link 1985 Celica GT)
Its a spring, so no. Don't do that unless you know how to heat and cool it properly so that it stays a spring.
If you have a strong enough bending solution, you can bend them to alter them.
You could always poke around the salvage yards for bars off of other vehicles to find one that fits your dimensions.
Another option would be to use a VW Super Beetle (or Porsche 924/944) rear torsion bar as a sway bar by using the splined sections from the torsion bar carrier and welding those to a set of arms that meet your length and angle requirements. This gains you the ability to alter your sway bar rate fairly easily and inexpensively.
Think I'll try extending the links to the ford bar. And see if that interferes with anything else. And I thought about the "ARB" text and decided to go with it, you know, since this is a board for racing cars and not pigging around in the mud with a truck.
Alternatively stare at it long and hard and get an idea of the best shape and measurements and either crawl under junkyard cars or crawl through the Internet looking for something to match your shape. Ehh on second though you might have best luck just drawing a picture with measurements and asking the hive if anyone's seen one similar.
I have an '83 Celica GT with a 1UZ in it. We removed the Power Brute LSD over the weekend because it was injured. It is going to be rebuilt and reinstalled, but I'm very interested in hearing about your 8.8 swap for future reference.
Both sway bars on my Locost were made out of mild steel.
A student of mine was inspired, and has made quite a few out of solid round mild steel, as well as tube steel, all with success.
As long as the bar isn't being forced out of elasticity, mild steel would probably work just fine.
Look into 3-piece splined or "NASCAR style" sway bars. If you can make one of those fit, you'll have a wide range of cheap sway bars available.
Most dwarf guys use bars from shroeder and use custom arms to fit. NOTE: on the charts in the link you see the length of the arm and the effective spring rate of the bar at the attachment point. for instance if using a .600 dia bar with 8 inch arm at the point where it connects to the control arm the force would be 117.2 but if you had to use 16 inch long arms the force drops to 29.31 Bars
Powar wrote: I have an '83 Celica GT with a 1UZ in it. We removed the Power Brute LSD over the weekend because it was injured. It is going to be rebuilt and reinstalled, but I'm very interested in hearing about your 8.8 swap for future reference.
Is there a build thread for that car?
sesto elemento wrote:Powar wrote: I have an '83 Celica GT with a 1UZ in it. We removed the Power Brute LSD over the weekend because it was injured. It is going to be rebuilt and reinstalled, but I'm very interested in hearing about your 8.8 swap for future reference.Is there a build thread for that car?
I second that. I'm putting a 1uz in my Celica and only three other I know have done it. All documented on celicagts.com. So tell us stranger, who are you?
bigdaddylee82 wrote: Am I the only one that came here, expecting to learn how to make my own air locker?
nope, and An Air locking differential might be nice in a multipurpose car that sees winter duty....nah, that would be silly.
Find something with similar width and endpoints that work for you. I have a BMW E36 swaybar in my miata geometry based exocet.
sesto elemento wrote: Is there a build thread for that car?
Nope. The car was assembled over a number of years by some good friends of mine. The suspension, diff, swap, wiring, MS install, SSR wheels, etc were all 'done', but really, the car was barely driveable when I bought it a couple of months ago. A couple of alternators, fender rolling and pulling, replaced electrical connectors, diff, a wiring change or two, and now I have a car that is usable and very enjoyable.
It still needs a lot of cleanup, some tires, a new wideband, and it may end up with a new harness built by guru friend of mine. Thankfully, the car was built out of a rust-free ~150k TN chassis with no rot and decently-preserved original paint.
I'm a member of a couple of the Celica forums but have never posted. The GRM forum suits me well. The more focused car forums aren't really my thing any more.
So what is an "ARB" The interweb said
"arb, ärb, noun informal short for arbitrageur."
ARB = Anti-Roll Bar in some race car discussions. I confused a lot of the folks here in NASCAR land for a while when I did not use swaybar. Most seem to have come around to knowing what I mean even if they still say swaybar.
To get really silly, you can use FARB and RARB for front and rear units...
As long as it I not a FUBAR we are good. 
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