Hi, I'm Charlie in Texas.


I recently bought an 82 Spider 2000 in pretty decent shape. Drives surprisingly well... at least... it did.


The other day, something bad back aft occurred... and I thought Oh crap what was that?? Then I realized the back of the car started rockin. Well THAT was no bueno! Pulled over and had a look... found some cheesy thin-walled bar had broke... some sort of stabilizer. Towed it home.


Spent a short while skimming the web to find it's called a panhard rod. Okay... that's an odd name for a stabilizer. Why not just call it a rear stabilizer? Anyway, found there are two types... the older and the newer. Being an 82 model, I needed the newer.


It arrived today and I went to pull out the old one. That's when I noticed it was different... not just the shape, but the length as well! Apparently, my car being an 82 should have the shorter version with the bend in it. But, the one that was in there was the longer, straight version. So back to the web and order the other.


It's not that big a deal... just that I will have to wait a few more days to get the other rod (I was really excited thinking I was going to have the car fixed today).


Then I got to thinking... so what's different under my car that makes it need the older version rod? If something major is different, will I run into other things later that might not fit because someone modified something with parts from an older car?


Another thing that surprised me was how that rod doesn't really have a lot of meat to it. The water pipes in my house are thicker than that rod!


Thoughts?

Only times I've seen a Panhard Rod break is when someone hooked up a tow rope to it or tried jacking it up to raise the car.

I don't know whether it can be called a stabilizer bar. Many people call an Anti-Roll Bar a Stabilizer Bar. A Panhard Rod doesn't limit body roll, it just locates the axle in relation to the bodyshell, i.e. stops it moving sideways - as you discovered the hard way! It might be regarded as a half-way alternative to a Watt's Linkage. (look it up ).

Re:- the change in the length/shape of bar? Idk, did Pininfarina take over production of the 124 Spider from Fiat in 1982? Was there a change in axle type from the older 'banjo' removeable final drive unit type to the later type that had a rear cover plate instead of a bulge and had the final drive unit built up in situ in the axle (i.e. from 124 to 131/132 type)?

AL.

So it turns out... the panhard rod changed during the 1978 year model. Earlier models use a straight rod, later models use a bent (and shorter) rod.


My car is supposed to have the shorter bent rod, but it turns out... someone in the past has changed the rear end. I was told that my car should have a rear diff with a rear cover. It does not have the rear cover... it's a solid piece. So when whoever changed rear diffs, they had to change the panhard rod as well.


It was suggested that either...


A) The original rear end blew up so they swapped in this older version because that's what they were able to get their hands on, or...


B) A previous owner was looking for a performance upgrade since the older rear ends are geared a little bit lower.


In any case, I now have a panhard rod on it's way that will fit in the car.


I am also gathering everthing needed to add an extra "brown wire" from the starter to the extra unused terminal on the switch.


I Can see that working on this car will always be a learning experience!