rear sway bar on 74 monaco?
Aug 7, 2011 21:30:16 GMT -5
Post by sigmfsk on Aug 7, 2011 21:30:16 GMT -5
I saw two 1974 Monacos at the show with rear sway bars. Dave Weaver's bluesmobile (which, from what I can gather, is a 74 Brougham, that's been updated with parts from an ex-police car), and Dave's stunning 1974 fire chief Monaco.
The bluesmobile with a rear sway didn't phase me too much; a rear sway isn't any less bluesmobileariffic than having tilt steering and Brougham door panels.
But the fire chief car surprised me. From what I can tell, rear sway bars weren't offered by the factory until 1975. Here are the parts catalog pages from 74 to 77. Look at part 17-30-1. Notice that 74 doesn't have a listing in the D column.
Could one get a 74 c-body with rear sway bars?
I'm wondering what the "theme" is for the fire chief car. I expected that it would be something like:
1) exactly how THIS car once was
2) exactly how SOME car once was
3) how a car may have been configured, or could have theoretically been configured.
It has dual spotlights, both having an exterior mount - maybe a unity 216.
It seems that many folks think that the unity 216 was the only correct method of installing a spotlight on a 74 monaco (since that was what the CHP did), but a factory installed spotlight used an interior mount. My Marin County had an interior mount. And it looks like Chicago PD used the factory interior mount for the 74 Monacos:
From
copcardotcom.fotki.com/photographs_of_greg/chicago-police-vehicles/chicago-police-vehi/1974dodgemonaco-2.html
So if the Chicago PD used factory installed spotlights for 74 Monacos, wouldn't the fire department too? But that is wondering what the fire department would have done, and it seems that they certainly COULD have ordered the car without factory spotlights and then installed their own with exterior mounts.
But could they have ordered it with a rear sway bar?
This chief car is super sweet, and I understand it was a big dollar restoration. I'm not trying to get into nit-pick city, but the sway bar seemed a significant oddity, and I'm wondering if I'm missing something, or if the restoration/replication includes more room for flexibility than I expected.
your friend in wondering about coulda / shoulda / woulda,
arthur
The bluesmobile with a rear sway didn't phase me too much; a rear sway isn't any less bluesmobileariffic than having tilt steering and Brougham door panels.
But the fire chief car surprised me. From what I can tell, rear sway bars weren't offered by the factory until 1975. Here are the parts catalog pages from 74 to 77. Look at part 17-30-1. Notice that 74 doesn't have a listing in the D column.
Could one get a 74 c-body with rear sway bars?
I'm wondering what the "theme" is for the fire chief car. I expected that it would be something like:
1) exactly how THIS car once was
2) exactly how SOME car once was
3) how a car may have been configured, or could have theoretically been configured.
It has dual spotlights, both having an exterior mount - maybe a unity 216.
It seems that many folks think that the unity 216 was the only correct method of installing a spotlight on a 74 monaco (since that was what the CHP did), but a factory installed spotlight used an interior mount. My Marin County had an interior mount. And it looks like Chicago PD used the factory interior mount for the 74 Monacos:
From
copcardotcom.fotki.com/photographs_of_greg/chicago-police-vehicles/chicago-police-vehi/1974dodgemonaco-2.html
So if the Chicago PD used factory installed spotlights for 74 Monacos, wouldn't the fire department too? But that is wondering what the fire department would have done, and it seems that they certainly COULD have ordered the car without factory spotlights and then installed their own with exterior mounts.
But could they have ordered it with a rear sway bar?
This chief car is super sweet, and I understand it was a big dollar restoration. I'm not trying to get into nit-pick city, but the sway bar seemed a significant oddity, and I'm wondering if I'm missing something, or if the restoration/replication includes more room for flexibility than I expected.
your friend in wondering about coulda / shoulda / woulda,
arthur
