WHat is the factory finish for sway bars?

[71ChallRT]

I am restoring my 71 Challenger and was wondering what the original finish was for the sway bars?  I have seen two opinions from a couple of the "gurus"...one says natural, one says diped in black paint.  ANyone know what's right?  Maybe both, depending on what vendor's part was put on your car new, like some other things are?   Any help would be appreciated.

[burdar]

There is no definate answer.  I've been reading past posts on this subject from a few different sites.  Some say they were painted black.  Others say the manufacturing process left them darker than other bare metal parts but that they weren't painted.

I painted my rear bar to look natural.  I'm probably going to paint my front bar a flatter black or charcole color.  If some new information becomes available, it will be an easy fix.

[Cuda Cody]

Both are correct. 

[kielbasa]

On my AAR, the sway bar and hangers were both gloss black.......I put POR15 (semi gloss, which turns glossy after the 2nd coat) on them and it looks ao close to correct that I was happy how they turned out.

[71ChallRT]

Thanks everyone.  I think I know what I want to do now.  Like burdar said, whatever I decide, if definite info comes out later, it's an easy fix.

[Grec]

Just to add to this debate...

I just pulled my front sway bar and I am definitely seeing raw steel under where the bushings were.

The rest of the bar is so dirty / rusty that it's impossible to tell.

Brackets have traces of black paint on them...

[PlumCraZRT]

Just to add to this debate...

I just pulled my front sway bar and I am definitely seeing raw steel under where the bushings were.

The rest of the bar is so dirty / rusty that it's impossible to tell.

Brackets have traces of black paint on them...

Just to add to this debate...

It seems possible the motion of the sway bar inside the bushing may have been enough to wear the black paint off?

[Grec]

Just to add to this debate...

It seems possible the motion of the sway bar inside the bushing may have been enough to wear the black paint off?

Quite possible. I'll probably start stripping the bar down this evening. I'll do a delicate scraping in a couple areas to see if I can find traces of paint before I take the buzzy wheel to the thing.

[LAA66]

 I bought this rear bar from a local guy that knew e bodies pretty well. Quite an inventory of old Moparts all categorized on shelves and in drawers. He was working on restoring a cuda at the time. Anyways the bar appeared to have been dipped in gloss black with undercoating overspray when I got it.

[Grec]

Had a chance to take a closer look at my front bar and discovered that under the dirt, rust etc there was in fact black paint on this thing.