[beltrunner]

This is the 3rd set of new after market front springs I've put on my '71 455 Formula as I get ready to put it back on the road. Each set has left the car sitting too high in front. Each time the various companies (3 different companies) have told me that they sold me the correct spring, that the old cars sat a little high in front, and that the springs will settle in after awhile. Bunk...The ground clearance at the front rocker panel is 10" (I believe 8" is the factory spec). The center of the front wheel wells is 30" off the ground. What is a better wheel well ground clearance? And not to trust another set of springs, I'm going to cut some off the ones I have. Anybody have any good or bad experiences doing this on this type vehicle?. And I'm told that on this car a 1" cut from the coil equates to a 2" body drop. Does this sound right? Any help is appreciated. I want to finally post some photos of my car, but not until it's sitting right! Thanks again.

[RicksGTO]

make sure you are leaving the control arm bolts loose after installing the spring until you've driven the car a block or two. Also make sure the ends of the coils at the bottom are in between the guide holes in the lower control arm so they seat in the pockets right

[keith k]

Originally Posted by beltrunner

And I'm told that on this car a 1" cut from the coil equates to a 2" body drop. Does this sound right?

Yes, the front springs have about a 2:1 motion ratio... so that's about right (personally I'd cut about 7/8" if you want to drop it 2"). Note that the 1" you want to cut is a vertical measurement... not along the spring wire. So stand the spring up, and cut however much length of coil you need to in order to get the spring's standing height to be 1" less.

Oh, and in the spirit of measure twice, cut once, I'd pile some weight on the front of the car until it looks "right" to you, and measure how much lower it is. 2" may not be the right number.

And since you've had 3 sets of springs come out high, I would indeed verify correct installation procedure per Rick's note above before cutting anything.

[2manyT/A'S]

Herb Adams (aka VSE) educated us on this 30 about years ago.

Cutting a half coil should give you about a 1" drop & this will ALSO increase spring rate.
As I recall, MOST aftermarket springs have a higher/stiffer than stock rate,so he always said to start with base firebird springs & once cut it would be closer to stock WS4 rate.

You want to use an abrasive cut off wheel,not a cutting torch.

[beltrunner]

Thanks for the quick response guys...this will be my weekend project if it doesn't rain...

[Lloyd-TX]

Typical aftermarket springs . . . why, oh WHY can't they get it right???

Heed Rick's advice above, and 2many's advice about base 'bird springs as well. If you cut 1/2 coil off of those replacements - it's gonna ride ROUGH!!!

[thefirebirdm@n]

Would you mind naming the companies you used? I've always heard Eaton was the place to buy springs and that they will not sell a spring without discussing it with you over the phone and that they cut them per the application and are always very accurate. Just curious if they were one of the ones you bought from.

[GETRIDAONE]

Firebirdman By now you probably saw my other post about leaf springs. I think Eaton shipped a bulk shipment in a plywood crate to the retailer I bought from. The springs were put in the crate while they were still wet from painting. There were pieces of plywood stuck to the springs that I had to remove. The paint wasn't to great either so I had to repaint the whole thing.
I ordered Eaton / Detroit Springs front coil springs after looking at their website and picking the correct one. From the picture you can see what it looked liked with the new springs.
Don't set your expectations to high with them !!

[beltrunner]

So I modified my Too-High springs.And yes Firebirdm@n this set was from Eaton and were about 3 inches too high. The other sets were from Jc Whitney, and NPD...all too high! The Jc Whitney springs also had zero suspension movement after they were installed...I mean no possible movement short of driving off the Empire State Building. My spring compressor exploded while attempting to remove a spring from the ball joint side this time (wow...that is scary...watch out for that one...practically saw my life pass before my eyes...) so I did the job differently this time, by removing the a-arm bolts at the frame and dropping the engine-side of the arm down. Worked out much easier this way...especially when putting the thing back together...for me, less than half the time,and cussing...I cut exactly one coil off the bottom of each spring, which was about an inch. The car now sits 2 inches lower than with the uncut after market springs. Maybe a little higher that the old stock springs, but I used to hot rod back in the early 60's, and we always had a little front-end rake on our cars, so I'm okay with it now. And it rides and handles the same as with the NPD and uncut Eaton sets I had on it before. So I'm good with this mod. I'll put up some photos real soon. Thanks again for the help.

[2manyT/A'S]

FWIW: If I was looking for replacement front coils for one of MY 70-81 birds,the first ones I'd try would be the stock replacement ones that Moog sells.
They SHOULD be available at your local autoparts store.
Start with the base bird springs,as noted in my post above.

[vidguy]

Holy Crap!! I thought My car was 4 wheelin... GETRIDAONE I feel your Pain...I'm getting a nose bleed just looking at that stance...

[GETRIDAONE]

The 14" tires don't help filling the openings. I kept telling myself they will settle some. I would drive around in the driveway making a lot of firm braking stops to get the front to go down. Bounce it up and down with no shocks in yet. The hood, air cleaner, spare & jack ain't never going to weigh that much. I was just putting off changing the springs while hoping for a miracle. Came out OK in the end.

[vidguy]

That looks MUCH nicer. What did you end up using?

[GETRIDAONE]

I cleaned and painted the old ones.

[2manyT/A'S]

Thats's TOO FUNNY & SO typical!

If your original springs are not broken & still even height,they are usually the BEST ones you could use.
A little bit of sag is OK,because a lower ride height is WAY BETTER than the 4WD drive look that seems to come with ALL replacement springs.

"If it ain't BROKE,don't fix it."