Hey guys, I am looking at a 65 sedan deville that I will probably pick up this week ($300 ) and I want to lower it 2 or 3 inches. I wont be doing bags (yet) and was wondering what is the best way to go about doing this. Is there anyone that sells shorter springs? Or can I cut the springs? Any insight would be much appreciated, I dont know anything about these cars but i think im pretty good with a wrench. Thanks
Jamco Suspension makes drop springs. http://www.jamcosuspension.com/products/sfID1/6/sfID2/41 They are even an Alliance vendor.
Mine has cut springs and correct shorter shocks. Rides great. Ther is another locally that has bags and it's only about an inch lower than mine. Save your $$$$ and skip bags....unless you're going grocery shopping.
I have a 59' Coupe. They had a stock option for "Air Ride" suspension that I hear was a mess and that most folks that had them converted. Makes me wonder, though, about how easy it might be to modern day bag it since the frames were already designed around that option. And what about the ride? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
My buddy had a 65 that we lowered by cutting the springs. if done right you will have a great ride. use bilstien shocks and cut with a cutoff wheel only no heating or cutting torch allowed. his car went from riding like a freakin tuna boat draggind door handles around fast turns to riding like a respectable good handling machine. corners were much flatter and didnt have that harsh ridfe like a lot of lowered cars do. we lowered it about 5in front and about 7 in the rear. try it and you wont be dissaointed. although bags can be great too..... Eric
Sweet man, im getting stoked on this! What bilsteins did you guys use? got any pics of it by chance? I would like to go that low but Im afraid it would be too low for around these parts.
Cut them while they are in water. Leave just the coils you want gone out of the h2o and cut away. this keeps the springs cool and retains the 'spring' of the steel. And it really does ride nice. Better than my '91 Caprice wagon....go figure.
Good info guys! The $300 65 got sold (Damn it!) but I found a 68 cdv for $1000 with 89000mi , is the suspension pretty similar to a 65?
Ok, Im going to look at a 68 tonight, anything In particular with these cars I should look for? The guys says EVERYTHING works on it.
With the 68, Cadillac introduced the 472 engine. There are more speed parts available for this engine than the 67 and down.
I bagged the back of my '66 and for the front just used a torch and let the car slowly drop till I liked the height. In total I dropped the car 2 1/2" in the front. I was too cheap for springs since I wanna bag the front same day. I put wood under the frame 2 1/2" inches, so as the car came down it stopped on the wood, then I let it cool. It sits perfectly level.
Mine is lowered til it looked right. Basically, t's on the stops in the rear and damn close to 'em in the front. It drags quite a bit. My driveway has permanant grooves in it. I recently tore the exhaust off in the road...good news is my weld held and it tore the metal!!! Don't be afraid to cut, reassemble, cut again...etc until it's where you want. BTW....I have a pair of rear air shocks on deck in case I wanna haul somethin'. Ya ever seen Tommy Ivo's Caddy tow rigs?
Ok, I picked up that 68 last week here are the pics from the ad, Ill have to try to get some more. It needs some body work and paint, its got the original hubcaps plus two more, just about everything works and it runs like a champ! The interior is pretty good, the dash looks great! The guy I got it from started taking off all the trim pieces and emblems to get it ready for paint but they are all there along with a whole trunk full of parts (and its a BIG trunk) http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7353/3n13ka3o0zzzzzzzzz97ra5.jpg http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3015/3n43o43p3zzzzzzzzz97r5c.jpg http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5488/3nb3k83o9zzzzzzzzz97r80.jpg
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