Technical Lowering 1953 Bel Air: Best way to remove springs?

like said, it works if you do it right... done thousands,.. and have fixed as many the some one botched up.. just heat a dime size spot in the middle of the spring... never put heat on the first 2 coils..

 

check out this last raced in 1936 race car... they heated the springs,... thats how every one did it before everybody got in the sport to sell parts and make money off every one..



I still do it that way... back in the day, a reverse eye was what you got from runn'n your mouth lol..

 

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Some of us drive our cars faster and longer distance than that would hold up.

 

I recent changed the lower control arm and if i would only change the spring i would remove the inner four bolts, the spindlebolts can be a pita to match up the threads, if you know you know.
Put a jack under it, loose the stabilizer and shock, loose the four bolts and lower it.
Heating up springs is just a way to cause trouble in the future, just cut it.

 

When I suggested the torch I meant to lower the car without removing the spring from the car by torching it. Reading through the thread it here looks like it could be confusing; does it mean to heat it to remove it or heat it to lower it. What I was getting at was this: don’t tear the car apart until snow flys. If you really must lower it right away you can do it in 20 minutes with a torch. Everyone must decide for themselves if it’s ok for temporary (it doesn’t sound like any long or fast trips are planned for this year), ok for permanent (in my opinion yes), or not safe to do at all. Before all the lowering pieces were available this is the way it was done. The race car is cool but it has leaf springs so not exactly the same but the point it made. If you don’t have an acetylene torch you can use map gas with a propane torch.

 

BTW does a 49-54 Chevy have ball joints?

 

I’m kidding

 

I agree with the manual to remove springs. But I will tell you a lowered spring will never alien to spec. These car only have maybe 4 degrees of camber adjustment. Save you money and get lowered uprights and dropped steering arms, rebuild the front end and then an alinement.

 

Thats correct, and if someting is just slightly bent during 70 years of driving its even worse.
The camber adjustment on these front end are just a joke compared too the "modern" cars like 55 Chevy

 

LOL...that bent leaf will take 10 times the abuse a reversed eye spring.. I've replaced a dozen or more reversed eye spirngs where they bust hitting a pot hole those springs when reversed have no strength, the whole weight of the car is riding on the little bend, kinda like standing on a roof vs hanging from it... my 29 rpu, did fine till I put the hemi in it.... then the eye broke off the spring...

 

I was just gonna ask that.... do they have joints???

 

you ruin a spring when you cut coils off... then it doesn't sit on the pocket right and you cut all the progression out of the spring... the first coil on a coil spring is like the tender spring on coil overs... all the middle coils are what sets ride height...

 

the reason to lower the inside, is because if you lower the outside it's too hard to stuff the new spring in

 

No biggie, only take a half a day or less, to pull the springs, cut'em, and put them back in.

 

Not when you cut a coil or two off the original spring (no cost beside time and maybe a cutoff wheel), or use a replacement shorter spring. I do agree that the camber adjustment runs out and it is hard to get stock alignment back after lowering these. Another option is to step the lower control arms. Only do this if you can weld good. But listing as another way to lower these with or without other lowering methods.