Lowering a '79
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Pro
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Springhill Kansas
Lowering a '79
I have a '79 with the C5 five spoke wheels. I know to lower the back you just get longer spring bolts. What about the front? How to achieve 2-3 inches? Anybody ever done this before? I would love to see pictures of how it turned out.
Pro
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Atascadero Ca
its done with the springs... You're going to have to either cut the stock springs to get the desir'ed height, not reccomended. Or i would replace the springs. They're under 100 bucks and will provide better handling and give you the desired drop. It requires little mor that unbolting the shock, knocking loose a ball joint, and installing the new spring. You don't even really need spring compressors with the new shorter springs. Just be carefull when removing the old ones. These are from vbp, and provide stiffer suspension, ride better, and dropped my front 2 inches. That is a 255/60/15 tire in the front, with a 28 inch diameter...
Mine are 550 Gykahama or however you spell it from vbp. They do not have any coils cut off of them.
Mine are 550 Gykahama or however you spell it from vbp. They do not have any coils cut off of them.
Last edited by i885744; Nov 22, 2004 at 05:43 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Orlando Florida
St. Jude Donor '05
i885744, that looks great. I bought the 460lbs springs and had to cut 3/4 coil off to get the front as low as yours is. I am seriously considering to buy the 550lbs springs, after i cut the spring it's a little softer than before...
I believe the 550lbs springs may be a little too harsh for me without cutting - the height varys from car to car so hopefully I have to cut that 1/4 coil....
corvetteatv7,
If you want to cut your spring use a angle grinder with a thin cutting wheel, wear protective glasses and do not allow the spring to heat up too much. Cut a little at a time, do not cool it with water... take your time doing the cuts. It's a piece of cake, I did mine in the back yard because the sparks and grinding dust is going everywhere...
I believe the 550lbs springs may be a little too harsh for me without cutting - the height varys from car to car so hopefully I have to cut that 1/4 coil....
corvetteatv7,
If you want to cut your spring use a angle grinder with a thin cutting wheel, wear protective glasses and do not allow the spring to heat up too much. Cut a little at a time, do not cool it with water... take your time doing the cuts. It's a piece of cake, I did mine in the back yard because the sparks and grinding dust is going everywhere...
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Pro
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Springhill Kansas
Thanks for the info. That is a sweet '79 you've got. I did the same thing as you with the rear bumper cover. I think they look so much better like that.
Anyone know anything about the rear spring I had talked about from vbandp????
Anyone know anything about the rear spring I had talked about from vbandp????
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Orlando Florida
St. Jude Donor '05
you got the same bumper ? Wow, I have never seen this one before and don't even know what company made it. I got it off Ebay and it was used... the seller did not know how 'rare' this one is, it's got a taller fin than the stock 80-82 bumper and is fiberglass....
The rear spring: when I 'restored' my Vette I decided to clean and paint the stock rear spring and re-install it. I used silicone between the leafs to eliminate noise, the original installed liners were all shot and ripped in pieces. I thought that with new shocks and all new bushings it may be all right. Guess what: it is !
I have never driven a C3 with the fiberglass spring so I don't know how much of an improvement it is. All I can tell you is that
1) restoring your spring is cheap ($5 for paint and $4 for silicone)
2) if you don't like it you can change the spring at any time later
3) you save $350 in case you like your old spring (after the suspension rebuild)
The rear spring: when I 'restored' my Vette I decided to clean and paint the stock rear spring and re-install it. I used silicone between the leafs to eliminate noise, the original installed liners were all shot and ripped in pieces. I thought that with new shocks and all new bushings it may be all right. Guess what: it is !
I have never driven a C3 with the fiberglass spring so I don't know how much of an improvement it is. All I can tell you is that
1) restoring your spring is cheap ($5 for paint and $4 for silicone)
2) if you don't like it you can change the spring at any time later
3) you save $350 in case you like your old spring (after the suspension rebuild)
Thread Starter
Pro
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From: Springhill Kansas
Ok i was wrong about the bumper. Mine is a fiberglass reproduction 80-82 from Ecklers, but my car is a '79. I think they look awesome like this. I did not realize yours was a higher spoiler.
Anyways I was thinking of just rebuilding mine, but it is in decent shape, i just want better handling for auto-x-ing.
Anyways I was thinking of just rebuilding mine, but it is in decent shape, i just want better handling for auto-x-ing.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Orlando Florida
St. Jude Donor '05
Originally Posted by lostpatrolman
why shouldnt you use water to cool the spring? I thought frequently cooling with water is fine.
If you frequently cool then it is fine - but is very messy when you hit the water with the cutting wheel and you may get the water inside your angle grinder...
You should NOT cool with water after the spring got hot, then it is very possible that you harden the material which will result in cracks. The properties of the material must be taken into cosideration: there are material that are called 'air hardening', means they change the properties and harden even if you allow them to cool down slowly, most materials (like most alloy steels) harden only if you force them to cool down quick (water or oil). There are exceptions but I forgot a lot of the stuff that I had in school 14 years ago...
the worst thing that can happen is that some part of the spring (or whatever it is) hardens out and has no transition to the part that is not heat affected and soft - that's where it will crack and break.
Cut the springs and stop before the steel turns red ... the cut should not show any blue discolorization when you're done.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Orlando Florida
St. Jude Donor '05
Originally Posted by corvetteatv7
Ok i was wrong about the bumper. Mine is a fiberglass reproduction 80-82 from Ecklers, but my car is a '79. I think they look awesome like this. I did not realize yours was a higher spoiler.
Anyways I was thinking of just rebuilding mine, but it is in decent shape, i just want better handling for auto-x-ing.
Anyways I was thinking of just rebuilding mine, but it is in decent shape, i just want better handling for auto-x-ing.
For auto-x-ing you'll probably not be happy with the steel spring, don't waste time on refurbing it.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Orlando Florida
St. Jude Donor '05
You'll find out if you like the way the car handles after you installed the front springs...these are sometimes on sale for $59.... then you can decide if you want to spend the $350 for the rear... just my 2 cents...
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,461
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From: Allen TX
But I just bought a new spring for the rear a year ago and dont feel like dropping close to 100 for front springs only to find out that they make my car handle worse cause of huge amounts of understeer.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 2,508
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From: Wisconsin
You want the car to be set up with some understeer. When throttle is applied the car will go into neutral steering. A thicker sway bar in the rear can increase the amount of oversteer. A thinner sway bar in the front can reduce the amount of understeer.
Pro
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Atascadero Ca
my setup has the 550's up front, with a 1 1/8th inch front sway bar.
Rear is a 330lb fiberglass spring with 8" bolts, which lowered it just about perfectly. No rear sway bars. Rear tires are a 275/60/15
Its a small block manual tranny 73' bilstein shocks all the way around and it handles like its on rails.
Rear is a 330lb fiberglass spring with 8" bolts, which lowered it just about perfectly. No rear sway bars. Rear tires are a 275/60/15
Its a small block manual tranny 73' bilstein shocks all the way around and it handles like its on rails.
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From: Springhill Kansas
Originally Posted by i885744
my setup has the 550's up front, with a 1 1/8th inch front sway bar.
Rear is a 330lb fiberglass spring with 8" bolts, which lowered it just about perfectly. No rear sway bars. Rear tires are a 275/60/15
Its a small block manual tranny 73' bilstein shocks all the way around and it handles like its on rails.
Rear is a 330lb fiberglass spring with 8" bolts, which lowered it just about perfectly. No rear sway bars. Rear tires are a 275/60/15
Its a small block manual tranny 73' bilstein shocks all the way around and it handles like its on rails.
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2003
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VBP 550's uncut dropped my '76 nicely, and I don't think they're too harsh. I used Zip's 7 leaf steel spring in the rear and raised the differential mount bracket with custom bushings to keep the halfshaft geometery correct while dropping the rear with longer bolts. I also trimmed down the front diff. mount bushing and rear bumpstops a little to keep some decent travel the rear and relocated the upper rear shock mount about 1/2 inch higher.
Now I'm in the process of lifting my 4Runner...
Now I'm in the process of lifting my 4Runner...
Last edited by PigPen; Nov 23, 2004 at 12:57 PM.