The Chevelle sway bar is on the bottom and the third gen F-body sway bar is on top. As you can see the end links are about an inch too far in and the sway bar bushings are also a tad too far in as well.
Though the third gen F-body sway bar looks huge (it is at 34mm O.D.) it is hollow. The sway bar's stiffness is proportional to the diameter to the fourth power. Since its hollow, you will need to take into account the inside diameter to calculate stiffness as well.
Whats the advantage to a hollow bar you may ask? Weight savings. If you do your homework, like the GM engineers did, you can have the same torsional stiffness from a hollow 1 3/8" bar as you do from a 1 1/8" bar with saving 10-15lbs. off the nose of the car.
So what will swap onto our chevelles? A second generation F-body sway bar will ('70 - '81). But if you are looking you might as well find a Z28 bar (1 1/8") or a Trans Am/Formula with the WS6 package (1 1/4").
Just in case you are looking for a third gen. sway bar to fit your '78-'88 G-body GM, look for these pin holes (Picture #1 & Picture #2) at the end of the sway bar to identify a hollow sway bar. Bread and butter third gen F-body Trans Am, Firebird Formulas, and Z28's will have the 34mm sway bar. GM did make a 36mm sway bar and they can be found on IROC Camaros. Good luck with the hunt!!
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