adding the rake back in: Cut the springs?

[Ron Dame]

I'd like to get some of the original rake back. Sure the "best" way is to remove body shims and even open up the wheel wells.

But if I cut a coil off of the springs, how much would it drop it, and would I end up with new issues with clearance and caster?

[GaryBe]

NEVER, EVER cut your springs, NEVER!! Do a search on this topic in the search field and read all you can.

There will be other knowledgeable folks that'll chime in soon to advise.

One thing I've always wondered is, has anyone every "Air Bagged" an Avanti? 

[Ron Dame]

I had searched for cut springs, cutting springs, lowering, and a few other combos and did not find what I was looking for. What terms did you use in your search?

Thanks!

[pantera928]

 

[Mel]

I agree with Gary above; NEVER cut coil springs.  As I understand it, if you cut a coil spring you'll end up with a higher spring constant -- i.e., a firmer ride.  Here I'm guessing but if you cut springs, you might not have enough adjustment tolerance for proper alignment, particularly the camber.

You could get some rake by lifting the back end a bit.  Eaton makes springs from original spec's and I replaced my back ones, heavy duty version which added another leaf to the mix, which gave the car quite a bit of rake; I actually put some lowering blocks in place to bring it down a bit.

[John D]

I'd actually like to know more about why they raised the II's, is the SBC taller or ? Why can't you just set it up to 63/64 dimensions? I'm sure there were sound reasons, I just don't know what they were... 

[brad]

6 hours ago, John D said:

I'd actually like to know more about why they raised the II's, is the SBC taller or ? Why can't you just set it up to 63/64 dimensions? I'm sure there were sound reasons, I just don't know what they were... 

No, there were no technical reasons for the lift, just pure asthetics of the new owners of Avanti motors. One of them didn't like the rake. plain and simple.

 

[Kodjo]

I have an SBC 350 and the altenator it touching the hood allmost. I did cut away a part of the insulation for that. So, lowering the front of the body will certainly give problems with my setup:

[John D]

I would think if one can find a slightly shorter uncut spring, that's not really any different than adjusting a coil over type. A realignment may be needed at the new ride height. Note- Body on my 79 was lowered and wheel wells re-arched but that may have been facilitated by the c4 front suspension that was grafted in... 

[Ron Dame]

On 9/6/2022 at 12:24 PM, pantera928 said:

 

Thanks Pantera!

Edited September 8, 2022 by Ron Dame

[DAVANTI means out front]

I ran across this when I was looking for a place that makes custom springs.  According to EATON Detroit Springs, one style of coil spring can be cut safely.  https://www.eatondetroitspring.com/cutting-coil-springs/

[Dwight FitzSimons]

I'll point out the obvious, and that is that putting shorter springs will not affect the engine-to-hood clearance.  Removing body shims between the frame and body would.

--Dwight