What do you guys recommend to lower a 63 thunderbird? And where is a good place to get the parts? Man, I know that I am showing my inap***ude for auto customization. I'm an aircraft mechanic, but recently slid into a nice old 63 and i want to do her right. Thanks in advance. Wayne
you have a few choices, what really needs to be asked is how low do you want the car and do you want to be able to adjust the ride hight? Also budget comes into mind. You can buy aftermarket springs that are already lowered and have the correct spring rate for thier hight. Or you can cut your existing a few coils for the same affect, however the spring rate is now changed from stock and you might have a bouncier ride, but that can be addressed with some proper shocks. Next is airbags, this is more involved both finiancially and the amount of work needed. But you can lay the car on the ground and adjust for ****ty roads. Seeing that you are a skilled tradesman, i would grab a spring compressor, jack it up on stands, pull the shocks out and compress the spring and pull it out, not that familiar with T birds but its pretty straight foreward, the rear is even easier. Then cut the coils, i usually start with 2 coils then put it all back together and check hight, but you may want to start with 1. This is easy, cheap and the way it used to be done before you could buy everything new. Tons of resources here on the HAMB and once done you now have the knowledge, and knowing is half the battle. Have fun!
Yo Im having the same problem. Ive got a 62 t-bird, that I want to drop. I cant find anyone that has dropped one before, (but tons of pics of dropped ones.) Are they all bagged? I was planning on putting lowering blocks on the rear, But it looks like they wont fit, dont know for sure. The blocks I bought have a small ****** and the leaf springs have large holes w/ rubber bushings through threm, dosent look good. The front I planned to cut just like the other dude said. What sux is I have a set of 14" supremes on the way, and I wanted to have it slammed by then. I will let you know what I figure out, or hopefully someone will lend us a hand.
I just finished lowering the front of my 1962 Thunderbird. I cut 1 3/4 coils to lower the front. I have 15 inch wheels on my car. I havent had it on the road to see how well it rides.
I have 2001 Bullitt Torque Thrust on mine right now with no problems. 2" blocks (that I fab'ed) in the rear and stock front. Has a really good stance and drives great.
This was me with blocks and cut coils. This is me bagged. To put blocks in the rear you could fab them with a wider bottom hole to fit over the bushing with the metal surround(about 2"-3" diameter). Or...The top plate with the bushing comes off entirely. In stock form, it acts as a casing/bracket beneath the axle to prevent any lateral movement of the leafs. When tightened properly, your new u-bolts will provide the same stabilization. I used regular store-bought lowering blocks. The only thing I had to modify was the bottom hole on the block. With the plate gone, I only had to bore the block out another half inch and it sat on the leaf just fine.
Your front grille is SICK! how did you make that/what is it? Your car makes me wish I had the bread for bags. It looks perfect laying on the cement. wayne
About a coil and a half. Maybe a little less. The nose was always a bit higher than the rear. Yep. Mine had the front chrome bumper guard/license plate mount too. It was gawdy, so I did away with it pretty quick. Looks cleaner without it. That piece costs like 200 bucks to re-chrome anyways. Thanks for the kind words guys. Dude, if you're thinking about bagging it, DON'T SKIMP. Do it right or have it done right. They'll all lay frame. But make sure the rear is done by somebody who knows how to take it from leafs to bags/link. Also, the front a-arms have a swivel spring mount/perch on the bottom. It's freakin weird. You have to cut that out and fab a new bag mount that sits in the a-arm. Mine are just welded firm so they won't swivel, but I'd rather have new one's made. If you let it swivel, you'll rip your bags.
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