For my front end rebuild, I was lucky enough to snag some meticulously refurbed LCAs from member @hemi71x . But they were so beautiful that I didn't want to re-install the janky old bolt-on sway bar tabs that have been on the car forever.
I ordered a set of tabs from @BergmanAutoCraft . Really nice -- super thick metal. They are somewhat different from stock tabs and it's a tight area near the strut rod and angled lip of the LCA, so I knew I would have to mod them a bit to make them work (Peter confirmed this).
So here is what I did, and I'm really happy with the results:
1) For each bracket, I cut a ~3/4" long and ~1/2 deep notch out of the lower outboard side.
2) On the other side, I sliced off about an inch of the "pointy" side to make sure it doesn't interfere with the strut rod.
3) Those modifications allowed the tab to sit square against the side of the arm, butting up against the bottom lip and the rivet. Then I welded it everywhere I could.
4) Compare that to a factory tabbed LCA and the hole is in the correct place at the correct angle (Note: This picture is nicked from one of @hemi71x 's for sale ads.)
Now I'm going to paint them black and put it all back together.
I hope that is helpful for anyone who is considering adding tabs to their LCAs.
I ordered a set of tabs from @BergmanAutoCraft . Really nice -- super thick metal. They are somewhat different from stock tabs and it's a tight area near the strut rod and angled lip of the LCA, so I knew I would have to mod them a bit to make them work (Peter confirmed this).
So here is what I did, and I'm really happy with the results:
1) For each bracket, I cut a ~3/4" long and ~1/2 deep notch out of the lower outboard side.
2) On the other side, I sliced off about an inch of the "pointy" side to make sure it doesn't interfere with the strut rod.
3) Those modifications allowed the tab to sit square against the side of the arm, butting up against the bottom lip and the rivet. Then I welded it everywhere I could.
4) Compare that to a factory tabbed LCA and the hole is in the correct place at the correct angle (Note: This picture is nicked from one of @hemi71x 's for sale ads.)
Now I'm going to paint them black and put it all back together.
I hope that is helpful for anyone who is considering adding tabs to their LCAs.
