After installing mini tubs in the back of my project car to clear larger tires I had to relocate the trunk hinges about 2 1/2” inboard. Now I need to reinstall the torsion bars that hold the trunk lid open. They are about 3/8”in diameter spring steel with bends on each end. Has anyone had experience in bending spring steel? I am sure heat it not the answer because it would take the spring out of the metal. They look like this... Thanks! Jim
They were either bent cold or hot. do some google research on spring steel....gotta be info out there. Ray
I cut an old broom stick to length when I did my altered wheelbase thing. And put a handle on the trunk lid, so I could open it easily. You have a fun task ahead of you! let us know if you get them to work again. If you do, I'll be impressed.
You are going to increase the tension by shortening them.Might be too much . Not an engineer. Jim would know. Maybe use gas shocks instead ?
Thanks for the ideas. I really prefer not to use a gas strut or a prop rod. The mounts allow multiple positions for the bar so the tension is somewhat adjustable. My fear is that the bars originally were bent then heat treated to make them spring, which would make it more difficult to narrow. I have given some thought to bending them hot then having them heat treated again. Jim
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/can-you-put-sprting-back-into-spring-steel.185399/ A little research right here on the HAMB, info that might be well worth experimenting with. If you decide to go for it let us know how you wind up going about it and how it works out. Ed
Whatever you do, cutting and welding them won't work. Spring steel will break right on the side of the weld, welding makes spring steel brittle. Mark them where you need to bend them, cold bend them (heat will make the spring steel soft, then it will need to be re-heat treated) around something making tight radius bends, it won't be easy. Then cut off the excess with a cutoff wheel. Gene
You could shorten and sleeve them, I suppose. I'd notch the sleeve and weld each one ,4 places. Either it holds or it won't. I've welded a lot of **** that shouldn't be done that way, by the books. I don't think there's going to be enough material left to work one end with a torch. Try it. Worst that can is it falls on your head while you're fueling it , and the car burns to the ground. Those gas shocks would look pretty good then.
Can you find some from a donor car and experiment? I once used them for radiator support rods. Cut and threaded they were very strong and worked ok, but I worried I would get speared if I crashed -i took them off! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Timely post. The tailgate on my 60 Ford is missing one torsion bar and finding one has been impossible. I was thinking of going with a gas strut but wondered if they would work. I see now it's been done.
I had a very big (think 1900's) old, over stuffed rocking chair years ago that the spring under it broke. It was about 3/8" in diameter. I sleeved it and welded it and it held for the next 10 years and then I sold it. From that experience I would shorten it in the center, sleeve it and weld it.
They work so good that I go out and open my Novas trunk lid just to see how good it works. There are a few kits available for some cars but for the most part its just trial and error. Took a couple trips to NAPA but luckily the strut market has a lot of length options.
if you want a wider variety of gas springs, McMaster Carr (and probably others) sell them in all different sizes, spring rates, end fittings, etc. so you don't have to be limited to what was used on cars.
I've got a question about this project. Every tub job I've every done, I'd cut the hinges loose from the original tub, shorten the brackets, then re-mount in the same relative place. If you move the hinges in, you would have to modify the deck lid too, yes?
There must be a way to fabricate the new wheel well so that you can still attach the stock trunk torsion rods. Keep thinking.
I cut mine and rebent the ends when I narrowed the trunk for my roadster project. Don't mremember if I used any heat or not. I think I just did it cold. They are stiffer now but I had a couple of different slots to mount the spring. I used the lower slot. You could also bend them with a little less pre load built in. Mine has been opened and shut many times without any problems.
like Mark Yac said. I was pretty green when I did mine 30 yrs ago. made an adapter from the stock bracket to the new wheelwell & it works as it did before. SS
What about going to the junk yard and finding shorter length ones from a different car like a 82-85 Skylark or something small like that? Denny
First off I would like to thank everyone for your suggestions and cautions in solving this problem. I believe I have the solution. During one of our groups lunch “meetings” I brought up the trunk torsion bar issue. I mentioned some of the comments I received here on the HAMB and also said that I wanted to figure out how to make the stock bars work. One of my friends who is a very experienced hot rod builder and a retired tool maker said “why don’t you cut the bars to the needed width then sleeve and pin them?” My immediate response was yes why not? So I took the bars mounted them on the table of the Bridgeport and milled a flat on a section about 8”long. I then turned up two sleeves And drilled them to match the OD of the rod. I inserted each end 1 1/2” into the sleeve and counter drilled into the milled face slightly. When the pointed end on the set screw is tighted it goes into the counter drilled spot to make the sleeve secure. I was carefull to make sure the rods were indexed so that the ends lined up just as they did before I sectioned them. I installed them in the car and the trunk lid goes up and stays there just like it should. I see no reason why this should not continue to work, the set screws are very tight in the rods. Here are a couple of pictures that will hopefully explain what I did. (The picture of the sleeve is deceiving, it looks like the set screws are are not in line) Maybe this will help one of you on your project. Jim
very nice jim. another great idea from the saturday lunch crowd. I need to stop by and check out all of the progress.
Go ahead and bend them in your press. Suspension sway bars are the same steel and I reshape them all the time. Did this one for the rear end on my '36 Pontiac. Ford Courier bars are great feed stock for street rod sway bars. I bent this one in about 4" per side.
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