Need some guidance on front springs....
#1
Need some guidance on front springs....
Recently got my 67 camaro running great. I don't know a whole lot of the history on the car, 350 sbc, convertible.... Here's my question...I have long tube headers that are awfully close to the ground about 4".. I have no clue what springs are on the front of the car but it has obvious wear, when i jack the car up the car raises about 3-4" before the wheels come off the ground and the springs have what can best be described as little "stiffeners" in them... little hexagon pieces of metal that fit between the coils i guess to stiffen it up. when i hit a bump the car goes up and WAY down and the pipes hit... so i'm wondering, if i replace them what are the specs for stock springs? I'm scared to go with 2" hotchkis lowering springs because i don't want the car any lower. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to find out if they're stock, where do i measure? from center of rim to fender? from ground to fender? 14" rims, don't have exact tire measurements, but can post them later. Just trying to get some ideas on where to start... what i'd like is some stiffer springs but to sit either the same height or slightly higher than where i'm at....
#3
After a lot of research and being fairly unsure on exactly which springs to get. I went with Moog 6320 springs and kyb shocks. I pulled the old springs which were sagging so bad i could push them down by hand with the spacers in them. I went from about 14-14.5" to now 16.25" from wheel to wheel well trim. I wanted higher just to be safe with the low hanging long tube headers.... but it's a little too high. I won't be doing anything soon as changing all that took most of a saturday, but after letting the springs settle over a 2-3 month period... would it be a bad idea to cut like 1/4-1/2 coil to bring it down about an inch?
#5
i've read about not using heat on the springs, don't worry i have no heat source to do that. I do however have a grinder i can put a cutting wheel on, or a dremel tool i can put a cutting wheel on, will that work?
#6
A cut off wheel will work fine, or sawzall with metal cutting blade. I'd definitely wait and drive it a while first. I'm sure the springs are going to settle down a little, no way of knowing by exactly how much though.
#8
you can use a cutting torch if you place the spring in a container of water with the level of the water about 1/2-1" below where you are cutting, but if you are not good at cutting you will have a lot of dressing up to do
cut off disk is your best option
cut off disk is your best option
#10
One full coil cut off will give your car about 1.5" lower. 1/4 coil and you wont even notice a difference. 1/2 will give you 3/4" lower.