Hey Guys,
My buddy and I are working on his '70 small block convertible. We've taken some weight off the front end by converting to an aluminum intake, aluminum water pump, and a mini starter. This car has factory A/C but he's going to change it to a Vintage Air system which uses a smaller/lighter compressor. The engine and front springs are out, and we can't reinstall the springs without the engine weight. We are afraid that we're going to put everything back together and the front end is going to be too high.
My question is, since we have the springs out, should we cut 1 coil off the bottom of the springs where the coils are close together to compensate for the weight loss? We don't have any height measurements before we started this project.
Thanks,
John

 

You never cut springs.
That was something people did once upon a time if you couln't get springs that were the right height.
Get the right one instead.

 

Bull, We all cut springs. yes cut one full coil, that way it still fits in the pocket correctly. I tryed half a coil, ended up pulling it back apart. Cutting the other half. I have alloy heads, intake, Radiator and the small Sanden compressor.

 

I wouldn't cut anything until you see how it sits. What springs are those?

 

You may have lost 100 pounds......it may come up some but not as much as one coil will drop......
I recommend putting it all back together and letting it settle in then decide. Doing it before hand is a crap shoot.
As far as cutting coils is concern.....I have been dong it for over 30 years.....my earliest S-10 pickups in the late 80's during the mini truck craze ALL had cut coils as we were beer poor Alpha teenagers with more time (and beer) than money.....never had an issue with the springs themselves...BUT...there is a way to do it. Use a cutoff wheel and take your time. Cut the bottom only and radius the tang at the end going in to the control arm as to not dig into the arm itself.
I cut a coil out of my 69' 427/400 Vert and it dramatically changed the look, handling and high speed stability (120+)......it had Moog big block springs in it and sat like a truck. The fella who bought it and restored the car liked how it sat so much that they are in the car to this day.
There are NO over the counter springs that will give each person exactly what they want for height and this has been covered here a thousand times.......
One thing about cutting springs.....before you remove them to cut, you know exactly where you are at....which is a better deal for me rather than spending money for "drop springs" and finding out they are either too high or low......
The spring rate will also increase slightly with them cut....but not so much where ride is a problem.

Jebby

 

See where it's at and if you are going to cut... try 1/2 coil first
On mine (BB) 1/2" cut off the open end of a 10 coil, 15-1/2" stock progressive spring made a drop of 1-1/4" at the wheel well center line
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ing-coils.html

(And as far as I'm concerned cutting a spring is fine... heating one up with a torch while it's on the car and letting the car sink down and then spraying with a hose to get it to stop....now that's a backyard stock-car thing

M

 

Rule of thumb for a stock spring is one coil cut will yield a 2" drop. I cut a coil off mine and it did drop about 2". YMMV.

 

As far as we know, the springs are stock base small block, A/C, progressive springs. You can see from the picture that the springs coils are not evenly spaced.
I think I'll take the conservative advice and see where it sits before changing anything.

Thanks for all the great comments!
John

 

I've wondered about this myself. Did pretty much the same mods the OP did including the Vintage Air. I figured that I dropped about 80-90 lb.

 

On a progressive spring you can also decide which end to cut, on the loose end it will have slightly more effect on the height (mine was about 1" = 2.5") and does "tighten" the suspension a bit more as it's getting rid of some of the soft end
Cutting off the other end is closer to the 1" = 2" drop that most people find.
Constant rate springs are typically 1" at the coil is 2" at the fender.
M

 

Might want to watch this:

 

Just get semi coilovers.

 

I put 235’s on the front of my 77 with one coil cut. It was just under a 2” drop.

 

That's what I did! Can't wait to put them on. My car looks like a Jeep.

 

Cutting coils is perfectly acceptable. And also there is no need to cut a full coil. You may only need to cut 1/4 or a 1/2 to get the drop you desire. That is OK too. Just make sure it fits into one of the spring pockets well, upper or lower. And same on both sides. Stock SB springs are a 250 lb/in rate. With 8.2 active coils. You have only lowered the load by 50 lb on each side. So I would start with 1/4 coil. 1/2 at most.