You don't ever want to cut a " loaded" spring, the sudden release of stored energy will cause bad things.if you cut spring to remove it, you either let the coilovers go with the car or buy another spring to keep them when you're done with the car. Typically coilovers are removed, then sold off separately or transferred to new car.

 

Well, my thought was to jack the car up as to unload the spring first, then place an extra jack stand under the spring to support it before cutting.
Hadn't thought about selling the car as I plan to keep mine forever....lol

 

Those springs are very powerful. On my 69 I put jack stand under the leaf. Loosened the nut and lowered the jack. If your front wheels are off the ground. Compressing the spring will lift the the car and pivot it. When I was installing the new leaf. I didn't realize the spring had so much force it lifted the rear of the car about 8 inches of the lift.

 

I am looking at possibly doing this DIY coilover setup as it seems pretty cost effective.

One thing I noticed is I don't see where you find the upper bushings for the stud mount conversion. In the photos on amazon of the stud mount conversion kit from QA1, it doesn't appear to have any bushings. Can anyone point me in the right direction for sourcing just the upper shock mount bushings that would fit on a 92?

 

I just installed this coilover setup based on the p/n's in the origional post provided but the OP. I'm thrilled how GREAT this worked out as all the parts seemed to still be very affordable and the rusult from the driver's seat is amazing. This is how the car should have been built origionally. Before I knew about coil overs... I looked for a Z51 front spring for 2 years with no luck. I found many sellers trying to pass off a standard spring as a Z51 btw, so lots of wasted time there. Then I came across this thread and found this encomonical way to give coil over a try while not wanting to spend 3000+ on a "kit" which didn't seem as good as this setup for many reason.

1. The ride quality on 2 clicks compression 5 clicks rebound is wonderful. Its comfortable and very forgiving while being more controlled No more the bottoming, and I have it setup much lower that stock ride height.
( I dont understand how this is possible....more control, lower ride height, and better ride quality. )

2. Handles better then stock on very conservitive settings.

3. Far less cowel shake and chassis jiggle compared to stock springs and new bilstein shocks. The car doesn't feel like a junk box over rough roads anymore. Something I no longer have to accecpt. It feels closer to a modern Porsche quality (I have an convertible X brace too). I'm very suprised bu this since I rigid mound the top eyelet.

4. I did need to trim and re-weld the stock sway bar link, I sliced it and simple made it more of a triangle shape by about 1/4 of and inch. I also spaced down the swaybar mount with some 3/4 inch thick delrin sheet. Nothing hits or clunks.

I would like to make a few changes and 1 suggestion reguarding the the upper shock mount. The upper shock mount specified by the OP seems a bit thin.... so where can I get the upper shackle shown in post 89 (https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1600850546). Perhaps I should simply box weld the back and 1/2 the front with some 3/16 plate. And add a larger grade 8 through bolt. I'm also afraid the suppled 3/8 cariage bolt might not be up the stresses of track duty.

I would suggest NOT using a rubber bushing as show in post #1 by the OP and most it solid as in post 89. I thought the solid mount would be harsh since the C4 is already harsh over broken pavement and I was willing to accept that since I use my C4 only for track days. In reaility it is far less of a harsh ride then the stock setup. I cant really comprehend this at the moment. It's often said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" and "magic is just science we don't understand yet". This setup is magic.



3/4 delrin spacer with M10-1.5 x 60mm bolts.


Not loving this upper shock mount, will been to be boxed and need a stronger bolt.



The OP is my hero and I'd like to give'em a hug, buy him a nice fine meal and I tip my hat to him. Respect.

 

P/N 690001 is a better top mount. It's far more heavy duty and the appiication is 2004 Chevy Avalanche. Six 5/8's washers help to make it fit right in the through bolt area.

 

Glad I can help out! I haven't thought about this in about 7 years so it's a bit of a blast from the past!

 

This was a good thread a few years back, forgot about it… now that it’s back up, there’s something that needs to be addressed.

The Van Steele and VB&P spring rates are figured with fixing each end, and jacking the center with a linear and weight measuring scale… I called them up and asked as I needed correct data. That means that for a 1200lb VB&P or VS spring, it’s actually a 600lb spring on each side. For lateral loads, it’s perhaps 10% higher as the leaf spring rate is now pivoted around the outer spring support bolted into the K member.

anyway, that’s mostly why there’s such a disparity in a lot of arguments here.

I don’t know about the Halverson spring rates and wheel rates estimates, I believe they use GM data.

and early vs late LCA always matters. Also with the shock length, shocks need to be
much longer on the 88+ LCA. Van Steel carries some short shocks for the earlier cars including coulover setups that remove the flexible top plate on the LCA.. I switched from 1986 LCA to 1988+ LCA last year so these things are much clearer for me than they were in 2000… but the OP shows some excellent data on properly setting up shock length that many people seem to miss.

 

On this topic, if you are just looking to roodrat lower the car, 2009-2014 Yamaha R1 rear shocks work great.