I just bought a set of v8 springs to complete my v8 swap. I went with the v8 grabber w/ AC springs, a little heavier to help with handling. Before i put them on and get it aligned, is it worth cutting a little off to lower the car in the front a bit (especially since the A/C springs will likely make it sit a little higher)? Any recommendations about how much to cut? Thanks! P.S., i don't have access to a plasma cutter, which i know is the recommended way to do it, so i will be doing it with a hacksaw--the "other" way.
Have done this on a 75, cut one and a half coils out with a cut off wheel on an air tool. Did not use V8 springs though. 6cyl srings seem just fine, did use 14in tires on front and 15's on rear. This is the same car that Mavman is putting the turbo on(new engine ready to install after grenadeing the old one on too much boost for cast pistons).
Some advice when cutting coils: When bringing the car to a shop for alignment, inform them that the front has been modified a bit. I failed to do so when I cut the front coils on my 70 and brought the car to an alignment shop. The camber was set to factory specs by the shop but was not proper for my setup.
Tire Size They are P195-60 x 15 on the front and P265-50 x 15 on the rear. Weld wheels, I think the rears are 15x8in with 3 1/2 backset. The fronts are 15x6in but can't remember the backset on them. I thought the fronts were 14 but Mavman corrected me on that.
cutting springs Personaly if your looking for a handling I wouldn't use the stock springs and then cut them more... your just losing the spring rate... i understand about the center of gravity dealo but it would be much better if you used aftermarket springs with a higher spring rate up towards 600lbs or so. Then cut them if you need to lower it. Below is a pic with my car with aftermarket 600 lbs springs with 3/4 coil cut off. I have another car which is more like old guys with the skinny tire set up along with stock v8 springs cut as well... but its 1 full coil cut. Which that much cut you will not be able to fit anything larger then a 195/65 or 70 or 215/60 with out rubbing. I will post the second car below this Good luck
If you went through all the time and $$ to buy new springs, then why would you bother cutting them? Return them, or sell them to someone, get your $ back, and buy lowered ones from the get go.
Aftermaket coils don't lower the car enough, they say they lower it 1 inch, however if you belive everything people advertise these days we wouldn't be doing the mods on our mavericks that we need to (like headers)...if you installed any aftermarket springs on a maverick you would know what I mean. And if you have I am sure that my car is a bit lower then then the one you might have installed. Also don't forget the aftermarket poly coil spring insulators are about 1/2 inch thick. So if you have a 1 inch lowering spring and then you put a 1/2 inch poly coil spring insulator in you don't have a so called 1 inch drop... which aint really a one inch drop anyway Bottom line is aftermarket springs have have a greater spring rate then a stock spring. If you notice I cut one coil off a stock V8 spring and only 3/4 off the aftermarket one. Even If I cut a whole coil off the aftermarket one it would still have a great spring rate then a stock uncut V8 coil. Thats why I did what I did. I hope that clears things up
yep sure did (see pic below) ... bought those side moldings from you 3 weeks before I said..."hey I think I'm just going to paint it." Duh beats me don't know why... but I am going to paint the white one and use some of the good moldings off the other car... so they don't go to waist.
heres the the pic of the otherside.. btw good catch or keen eye you have there eh? Or was the girl that made you look at it. Anyhow, somedays I think I should have keep them on (moldings) ... but I still have the white LDO so I am going to leave it... with the ugly retro look... besides most get a kick out of it... like HOT ROD TV did... can't compain there
just da info I need...... been spendin a bit a time cypherin bout droppin the front end of da mav. kinda like that lowdown look. lernt a good bit here and have decided one of two ways. either I am gonna cut some stock ones ( not the ones in my car) or I am gonna just be lazy and strap couple of old cast iron heads on the shock towers. Dan
maverick man how do you make the images small enough to post on the board? Mine are around 2Mb and the board only takes about 1
use photoshop or some other photo program.. you can reduce the size therfore reducing the MB or just lower the rez to around 72 dpi. Or if you are shooting with a digital camera you might be able to change the rez there. good luck
