how in the hell do i lower this on a serious budget

any suggestions.

 

Deflate the tires...



sorry, couldn't help myself

 

It's all coil springs ain't it.....Cut em!!!!!

 

leaf in the back. and don t think i havent thought about running without air in the tires. how hard is it to get the coils out as well as the leafs?

 

grab some 2x3 or 2x4 tube steel and make some blocks for the back and whack the front start at 1.5 coils and she how it looks

 

like ford said buy some 2-3 '' blocks, lower the rear ,then go for the coils on the ft. less than 50 bucks.

 

sandbags in the trunk, seriously

 

Bingo

 

Join Starguitar with his holden....

 

Find someone knocking down a block building...

fill trunk with blocks...

cost: Probably free. Of course, you lose a lot of trunk space, but hell there's probably room for just about a full set of tires in there now, you only need one spare.

 

jeeze everybody's ribbing him.

mate sell ur arse on ebay and take it to the airbag shop!

 

I'd start with less then 1.5 coils, I would sneak up on it. 1/2 to 3/4 first, you can go forward and cut more.

 

on the front coils, if they sit in fitted pockets then you have to remove them in full coils, like 1 full coil or 2 full coils so they sit back in there seats properly, otherwise they will kick out on the sides. the more coils you remove the stiffer the ride will be.

 

Leave it alone. It looks good man. Every time I get into one of these cheap and dirty lowering jobs it ends up costing some bucks in the long run replacing frontend parts. Usually as soon as you get it apart it's time for ball joints, or bushings, brake lines,......always something. Its a good looking ride tho man.

 

I would be willing to bet there are places that sell springs just for lowering that car.. all sorts of cool suspension stuff should be available for that car.

as for leaves in the rear.... I think you'd better check again. unless for some reason 2 doors got coils and 4 doors got leaves.

... or i could just be incredibly wrong

 

You're gonna need a torch to cut the coils. Don't spend the bread on bagging it you'll never get your $ back. It's a four door.

 

hubnut is a smart man.

Dont waste your time or money lowering that modern car.
It has too many doors to EVER look good

 

i think its hillarious that people are so against 4 doors. to hell with you all i love it. she is my baby and i love her. this car picked me i didnt pick her. thank you all that gave me info on the tech side of this issue, and to hell with y ou who just wanna bash her cause she has 4 doors. i think that it is funny that we are supposed to be a culture of guys and girls who buck the system of car customizing, fashion, music and tattooing but when someone has 4 doors, oooohhhh what an idiot. i dont prefer the roadster look, do i bash it?no its just not my thing. jesus this pisses me off. sorry but i accept anyone with any car that is doing it themselves on a budget in their spare time, that is what hot rodding is to me.

 

Yes, have fun, 4 doors doesn't mean slow.

 

I would say spend the $100 for a new set of springs that are already made lower (2") (there are a few companies out there) and use 2 or 3" lowering blocks in the rear.. that way its still rides nice and you still enjoy driving it.

Nothing is free, doing it right sometimes cost a little extra.

 

i didn't bother reading through all the responses after I saw so many joking ones. Did anyone suggest finding some dropped spindles. that might lower it a bit. I think it looks fine as is though.

 

Best advice so far.

 

Are you sure it has leaf springs in the back? I call bullshit on that, I've never seen an A-body with rear leaf springs, and I had a '65 GTO myself.

Anyway, assuming it's 4 wheel coil springs, you could just remove each one, cut one turn out of them, and put them back in, wouldn't really cost you anything. However Eibach and a few other places will sell you actual lowering springs for the A-body GM cars that will ride much better than cut factory springs, and they're not that much money, probably $200 for a set of four.

I know you're on a budget and I can respect that but if you can scrounge up a couple hundred I think you'll be glad you did.

I personally like the way the car looks in the pic, I don't think lowering it is going to improve the looks any.

 

The car is cool and in my opinion would not be any cooler with less doors. Drop the back 3" the front 2" bellflower tip it and go have fun. Cut coils dont ride that bad as long as you can trim the bump stops a bit as well. If it is leaf in the back get a set of blocks and your done. Ignore the BS, I know from experience, I have a Nova Wagon.

 

Park In A Hole

 

Take a couple of coils out of the front and get some long u-bolts with some box tubing and put the block between the axel and the spring then bolt her down.

 

Sorry I forgot to tell you to cut the blocks out of the square tubing. So a 3" square tube will equal a 3" drop +/- a bit.

 

Hey, hey, just goofin', RELAX newbie. Drop it, shave it, and drive it! Did you add the vinyl top or strip it? -stick

 

Eaton Spring in Detroit can make any spring you want or need may even have springs to lower that in stock call them.

 

Just keep parking it behind that curb; that's good for a good visual 2" and was absolutely free.

About cutting front coils: back in the day, some guys found that they could remove the shocks, use a spring compressor to collapse the front springs, torch off one or more coils and fish them out of the lower A-arm (this is different from heating the springs to make them sag, and does minimal damage to the temper). Release the compressor, put the shock back in, and you didn't even have to take a bunch of stuff apart. I don't speak from experience, but two guys have told me that this worked satisfactorily for them.

If the rear springs are coils, are they the kind that spiral in on the ends (I remember that my '60 Catalina was)? If they are, you need to buy lowering springs, and they aren't terribly expensive even if you have them made to order (maybe $200 a set).