It was sitting higher in the back until the shackle extensions were removed. It is sitting about and inch lower in the rear now. I know its kinda hard to tell, but the driveway is the most level spot to try to see a difference. I still plan on getting some lowering springs. Has anyone had any experience with Summit springs? It looks like I can save some money if I go with them over "name brand" and from past experience anything that is Summit brand is usually a re-badged name brand product.

 

Might be a bit of an exaggeration. If it can drop a couple inches in the rear it will look great. Then it will sit about equal to the front height. Very nice car though!

 

With a "Summit brand" spring, you might get the height you want, but you are going to lose the handling and comfort that you would get from a "name brand" spring. Suspension is definitely one of the places that you usually get what you pay for.

Most of the import crowd buys chap springs because they are just concered with ride height, but they don't give a **** about the ride quality or handling.

Lots of time Summit can sell their stuff cheaper because they are off-brand stuff with much looser quality requirements. Summit doesn't sell anywhere near as many "Summit" branded parts as the name brands do, and they don't do any testing on their stuff either, so they have to cut corners somewhere to keep their costs down. Most of time if you talk to Summit's reps they can't even find specs on lots of their stuff. That's when I stopped buying anything of value from them, under their name brand

 

Ok so my '67 grille came in. When my Dad removed the '68 and went to put in the '67 lower grille molding, it didn't fit flush with the mounting surface. The upper grille molding fit with no problems but the lower just wont work. The mounting surface is flat and the molding has sort of an angle to it and wont sit flush. Since the car most likely has a '68 front clip on it, is that whats probably causing the problem? Is the mounting surface for a '68 different from a '67? It doesn't make sense to me considering the RS style grilles fit in both years. I wish I was around the car so I could mess with it and describe it better. Help please.

 

i know rs fenders have different mounting brackets on them than a non-rs fender. it might be different because the 68 grill has a deeper grill than a 67 so the lower part might be different

 

You've got 275/40/18 = aprox 26.5/8" tall x 10.3/4" overall width on back, so what's on the front? I don't see room in the front of my 67 for anything taller or wider than my 225/60/15 = aprox 25" tall x 8.1/8" overall width currently in use on 7" wide rims with a 4.5" back space. More back space risks tire rubbing tie rod end, sub frame rail or the sway bar. A taller or wider tire and I'm going to need fender mods or taller springs which may explain why your car appears high. I want larger rims, but fear I can't go over 16 x7" without ending up with a tire with a really low aspect ratio

 

Wasting Rubber...forums are funny places, everybody tries their best to be nice and avoid slamming anyone or come across as some hate-troll. That being said I think a dose of Tough Love is in order.

STOP pissing away your $$$$!!!!

Whatever roots of attraction your Tire/Wheel combo are growing...you need to take a chainsaw and cut them immediately. Your wheels are too big, your tire profiles are too small, and looking at the pics the offset on the rears are wrong.

As well, stop thinking that Springs are going to fix anything...they will only make the problem much worse. I will let somebody else opine over the fact that adding lowering springs will be like pouring white gas on a fire in this instance.

Take your car to a local performance or resto shop, have them look it over because something isn't right...at all. Given the rest of the issues you have who knows what has been done to that car. Did somebody weld in your rear leaf mounts in the wrong place who knows? Are those even the original rear leafs? Again...who knows?

First things first....get rid of those Wheels & Tires asap!!! You are robbing yourself of performance with your current set-up in a number of ways, they're hurting you...not helping you. If you would like I will be happy to list all the performance robbing reasons your Wheel/Tire set up is a problem in a follow-up reply.

Of course what do I know....I could be full of crap...see for yourself...and yes..those are 17's on my ride.





Hopefully this will get you on the right track...I don't even know you other than you are a fellow camaro-lover so please don't be offended. I just hate to see anybody try to fix a problem, by creating even more problems.

I hope this all works out for your and you get as much enjoyment out of your ride as I have from mine. Sometimes...a Pro is worth their weight in gold and will save you from a world of very expensive hurt.

 

Where to begin..First a disclaimer: I am not a professional mechanic by any means. I am currently sitting at my desk in an office in Turkey killing some time on here. I have been working on cars for about 10 years now and I learn something new every day. I have not even been around the car in person. I had my Father check it out and I bought it. My Father is not a "professional mechanic" if by professional you mean has a certificate mounted on his wall that says he took some course at some community college blah blah blah. He is a professional if you mean has built more cars from the ground up than I can count on one hand and owned more classic cars and hot rods than I can count on two.

Anyway Im not sure what you mean when you say "given the rest of the issues" Do you mean the fact that it had shackle extensions at one time? It has a '68 front clip on it? Trouble with the grill install? The hood doesnt line up perfect? Big deal.
1. Shackle extensions: when my Dad was my age it was a pretty common occurrence. Some people liked the heavily raked look. (Oh and there are air shocks on the back that are about to come off.)
2. '68 front clip: I could really care less about having '68 parts on it. I have no desire to have an all original car by any means. Originals are just boring to me, no offense to people that own originals its just not for me(probably because I come from a family of drag racers and street rodders) Besides if I was restoring a '67 and I found good useable parts from a '68 laying around hell yes I would use them.
3. Grille trouble: Still haven't figured this one out. The lower valance on a 67 and 68 are the same so I figured the grilles were interchangeable. (Anybody with any input on that issue it would be appreciated.)
4. The hood lining up: There are now problems with the hinges or anything. The passenger side bumpstop is too high and the drivers side was missing one completely. Installed on and lowered the passenger side=Problem fixed.

From what my Dad says, the car drives and handles just fine and sticks to the road good, and I trust him over anyone. There is nothing that is mounted in the wrong place when it comes to the leaf springs. Original leafs? Probably not.

No need to explain anything about how performance robbing my wheels are. Low profile tires wont hook up that well, I know and the size and weight of the wheel increases rotating mass, slower acceleration, longer braking distance. I could keep going but I made my point. I didn't buy the car to race. I bought it to cruise and have fun in. If I wanted to be the fastest thing on the street I would have kept my Procharged Z06.

This statement is just your opinion. The wheels and tires package I have is correct for my vehicle and I am definitely not the only one running it. Here is a link with someone with the exact same package I have AND a Hotchkis lowering kit with a one inch drop block added and 3/4 of a coil removed and no problems. Why do you think lowering is going to cause me problems?
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=159541

This is about how I want mine to sit: http://usera.imagecave.com/crazyjseay/boss338.jpg
If you look around the internet, you will see that this exact wheel and tire combo is becoming increasingly popular on 1st gen Camaros. Next time, look around a little bit before you try to give someone "tough love" about there wheel and tire combo. (Oh and I've seen pictures of cars with my wheels and tires on it that have stock suspension and they sit the same way and just as high.)

I just don't know why your acting like something is wrong with my car. Just because it doesn't fit your taste doesn't mean there is something wrong with it. Nothing is perfect. I'm active duty military, I don't have the money to buy a "perfectly restored" vehicle.

I still plan on buying a lowering kit. Either Global West or Hotchkis. I will take others advice and stay away from Summit brand.

 

shevrolay....RE: "everybody tries their best to be nice and avoid slamming anyone or come across as some hate-troll. That being said I think a dose of Tough Love is in order."

Your front wheels are my case in point. "I fear I can't go over 16 x7" without ending up with a tire with a really low aspect ratio (profile)" Your front tires look like rubber bands, Nice brakes though. You also neglected to post Your tire size, rim width, back space.

 

I wouldn't take advice from those who criticize Summit brand lowering springs, unless they've had them and can speak from experience. I bought a set from Summit last year for my '71 and finally got around to putting them under my car recently. I still had the stock springs on it after 40 years, and they needed to go.
I couldn't be happier with the Summit lowering springs handling, ride, etc. I had reservations also, but I've purchased a lot from Summit over the years, and never been disappointed yet. Considering what I could have paid for new leafs, I'll use that money for other things and be happy with what I chose, and the money I saved. They were even on sale when I bought them, so the savings was really good!
As for the previous comments about "tough love". That's not tough love, it's one guy's opinion. I'm not too fond of his tire/wheel combo, but it's his car and he can put whatever he wants on it too.
And I'm glad you're not hung up on a numbers matching theme. I appreciate those cars, and understand them, but I prefer hotrods that have been personalized.