Good evening everyone --
apologies for the long post ---
would like some assurance from the "experienced" on front coils and ride height adjustment .... yes, I did quite a few searches on the matter and have garnered quite a bit a good info …. but I’d like a tad bit more in the way of hard numbers if possible just to ensure I’m on the straight and narrow …. but first, what’s what and what's been done ….
Car details – ’67 FB factory “GT” with power discs, manual steering, 289 “A-code”, 4-spd top-loader …. other than headers and an old hyd 6250-C Shelby cam (circa 1971), rest is plain vanilla/stock (but upgrades to follow) ….
Recent work just completed -- Global West UCAs and 1 3/8” drop (using GW template), retaining LCAs (MOOGs) as these have little mileage on them and in great shape, new Contour “Blue” 620s, 1” drop coils .... have not yet agjusted camber/toe (but as she sits now, she quite bow-legged -- lots of positive camber consistent with 2" up height) ....
fast forward …. install of UCA went well and new springs installed OK …. but (as several others have noted when they did this), the front end sits about 2” higher than I’d like/expected …. before installing the springs I used a jack to swing the suspension assembly through its travel range – no binding/sticking/etc …. the 2” height increase is IMO solely due to the springs and is measurable as the difference between the center of the lower spindle “knuckle” (where ball-joint mounts) and the center of the LCA pivot bolt (this is the GW recommended way to measure this -- they want the difference to be no more than +/- 1/4" .... btw, this is consistent with the difference measured from the spindle center to fender wheel arch top) ….
OK, common knowledge in the forum says if nothing is binding, then I should eventually cut the springs to achieve the ride height I want (is this correct, or am I overlooking something here??) …. my other questions are –
1) How much time and or driving should be done between adjustments?? (Yes, I did move the car around the driveway after finishing, so it’s not that “camber grab” problem from a dangling suspension.) How long should one wait between adjustment sessions?? Perhaps I’m too impatient here as I was hoping for instant gratification on ride height.)
2) When cutting the coils (I’m assuming that’s what I’ll have to do – hate using that spring compressor!!), common practice is to lop off 1/4 of a coil at a time. But, what’s common experience (for like kind of car) in the forum on how many 1/4 cuts need to be made if one wants to reduce ride height by 2”?? Guess that equates to roughly 1” of compressed spring height as the UCA geometry amplifies the amount of height changed by roughly 2:1 (but not exactly). If anyone has installed the Contour "Blue" coils in a similar situation, would really appreciate hearing your story. For better or worse, I'm shooting for around 13" as the front ride height to allow for 1/2" sag over (long) time.
3) I bought the springs through CJPony. They did not have a different spring for small vs big block. Is this an issue? I queried them about this and they said it should be OK. OR instead of all of this spring cutting, should I get springs from some place like Maier???
I want to plan on how much time I need to devote to this part of the mod work or wheter I need to buy different springs. Thanks in advance to all who provide their sage advice and wisdom … misery loves company!!
hate those spring compressors ….
Scott
apologies for the long post ---
would like some assurance from the "experienced" on front coils and ride height adjustment .... yes, I did quite a few searches on the matter and have garnered quite a bit a good info …. but I’d like a tad bit more in the way of hard numbers if possible just to ensure I’m on the straight and narrow …. but first, what’s what and what's been done ….
Car details – ’67 FB factory “GT” with power discs, manual steering, 289 “A-code”, 4-spd top-loader …. other than headers and an old hyd 6250-C Shelby cam (circa 1971), rest is plain vanilla/stock (but upgrades to follow) ….
Recent work just completed -- Global West UCAs and 1 3/8” drop (using GW template), retaining LCAs (MOOGs) as these have little mileage on them and in great shape, new Contour “Blue” 620s, 1” drop coils .... have not yet agjusted camber/toe (but as she sits now, she quite bow-legged -- lots of positive camber consistent with 2" up height) ....
fast forward …. install of UCA went well and new springs installed OK …. but (as several others have noted when they did this), the front end sits about 2” higher than I’d like/expected …. before installing the springs I used a jack to swing the suspension assembly through its travel range – no binding/sticking/etc …. the 2” height increase is IMO solely due to the springs and is measurable as the difference between the center of the lower spindle “knuckle” (where ball-joint mounts) and the center of the LCA pivot bolt (this is the GW recommended way to measure this -- they want the difference to be no more than +/- 1/4" .... btw, this is consistent with the difference measured from the spindle center to fender wheel arch top) ….
OK, common knowledge in the forum says if nothing is binding, then I should eventually cut the springs to achieve the ride height I want (is this correct, or am I overlooking something here??) …. my other questions are –
1) How much time and or driving should be done between adjustments?? (Yes, I did move the car around the driveway after finishing, so it’s not that “camber grab” problem from a dangling suspension.) How long should one wait between adjustment sessions?? Perhaps I’m too impatient here as I was hoping for instant gratification on ride height.)
2) When cutting the coils (I’m assuming that’s what I’ll have to do – hate using that spring compressor!!), common practice is to lop off 1/4 of a coil at a time. But, what’s common experience (for like kind of car) in the forum on how many 1/4 cuts need to be made if one wants to reduce ride height by 2”?? Guess that equates to roughly 1” of compressed spring height as the UCA geometry amplifies the amount of height changed by roughly 2:1 (but not exactly). If anyone has installed the Contour "Blue" coils in a similar situation, would really appreciate hearing your story. For better or worse, I'm shooting for around 13" as the front ride height to allow for 1/2" sag over (long) time.
3) I bought the springs through CJPony. They did not have a different spring for small vs big block. Is this an issue? I queried them about this and they said it should be OK. OR instead of all of this spring cutting, should I get springs from some place like Maier???
I want to plan on how much time I need to devote to this part of the mod work or wheter I need to buy different springs. Thanks in advance to all who provide their sage advice and wisdom … misery loves company!!
hate those spring compressors ….
Scott