63 impala... cutting coils, need stats!

i've read all about you guys cutting springs on your imp's.... tell me:

1) how many coils did you cut?

2) how much drop did you get?

3) are you happy with it?

Front and rear?

Thanks!

 

I lowered a '61 Bisquickie w/S-10 front springs front and rear. Lowered it about 4 inches up front and 4.5 out back. And, they are cheap!! Yards will practically give em to ya!

 

wow that is an idea!

i think 4" would make my mufflers drag!

thanks for the input!

any others?

i'm hoping to hit about 2"...

 

Second attemt yeilded this:
1-1/2 turns cut from each[all4] coil will let ya still clear a speed bump....barely .......First time-I tried two full turns and was on the snubbers with no ride left.

 

61 bel air rear springs.cut one off the top and one off the bottom of the spring.dropped it 2 1/2" if you cut off 2 at one end it will go lower you will see what I mean when you pull out the coil

 

I agree with Choprods.
On my 62, I cut two coils on the front. It was too low, so I had to add a one inch spacer set to each side.

On the rear, I did not have to drop,
62's set low in the rear from factory.
Also, I started with new springs thd stiffest rate I could buy. Older springs which have lost some of the spring rate will yield more drop per coil of cut.
You also increase spring rate when you cut coils, which gives you a stiffer ride.
Not to mention the speed bumps Kenny talks of.

Accompanying photos show car with 16 inch wheels and with 15 inchers.


Jim

 

1 1/2 on my 61 Post.

 

I'm in the same boat with my 64 Impala. I've heard but still want an opinion from the all knowing out there. That if you take the front end, out of a 96 Impala (disc brakes and all) that it will bolt right in, lowering your front end by more than an inch and a half to boot!

Is this True? Does anyone know????

 

My '62 :2 1/2 cut all around- 2 1/2 (stationary) inches off the ground at it's lowest point,meng!

 

so many things to think about. how low do you want to go? how do you want it to ride? all cars are different but i would start out with 1 and a half first. depending on how low you want. remember, it is alot easier to take it back apart and cut more than finding other coils. my 2 cents.

 

I cut 1 1/2 on the front of My 67 and only 1 in the back. It rides really good still. I would have liked to take 1 3/4 out of the front but I'm to lazy to redo it now. 2 would have been to much on my car.

before and after photos on the ride height.

 

thanks all... i'll probably start with 1 off (ok, ima wuss)

some of you guys (and you know who you are) should change your ID's to
AZZfaltSCRAPER1...2 ...etc.... man thems some low cars!

 

2 coils all the way around (new moog coils).

 

I took 1&1/2 off of the 63 Buick before I went to air ...About a 3 inch drop..Like they said..Just enough to clear an Average speed bump.

 

Wanted to add that I took the car to get the tires rotated and balanced and the wear was PERFECT! The 3inch nail in my back tire, however, wasn't Thank God it didn't pop on the way to The Day Of The Drags!
Hell yeah, Low is the way to go; why should the T and A guys get all the fun?

 

Zombie post brought back by a 1-post FNG... gotta be a record at 11 years!

 

Yea lame as fuck. And the dumb ass didn't even bother posting anything.

 

The only way to lower the front without messing up the steering geometry is by the use of drop spindles. Short coils for the back is OK. My 64 Biscayne has 2" drop spindles and short coils in the rear. I think its stance is perfect.
Gary

 

Not a Chevy but.... whacked 1 coil out of the stock 6-banger springs.

 

What year s10 coil springs did you use to lower your Biscayne. I have a 63 Biscayne I wanna lower

 

I used 2 " dropped spindles and cut 1 1/2 coils off my front springs. I got the ideal ride height but ruined the ride. I should have cut only one coil but I got greedy.

 

I had a 63 SS that was stock I never thought about changing it.

 

On my '65 Belair (with a 327), I bought new Moog big block front springs and cut 2 full coils out of them and it rode nice. I forget what the ends are like, but you may have an orientation between the bottom coil end and the top coil end. The Ford springs are ground flat on the top end.

There is a Moog pdf file spring chart online that is about 12 pages long, it lists every coil spring they make. Figure out what you have and select from the chart for where you want to be.

 

This thread has so many variables I just bought a 60 El camino and will be cutting the coils but its hit and miss. I had a completely stock 66 Nova with its original 50 year old springs at the front I cut only half coil off and you would swear it had drop spindles. The car was already a little low from the springs sagging after such along period

 

The springs in my Ford have 80k miles on them, with 1 less coil this is far as I want to go. They did settle since I installed them in April. Old springs are a crap shoot.

But I've been cutting springs down on cars for years. I'll do one side, bolt up enough things and take it off the jack stands and eyeball it. If I like it, I'll do the other side. Its one of those things where cutting less is recommended since you can't put it back on. There are spacers that can be installed if you do go too far.

 

I know this is off topic but new to the board and can't figure out how to start a topic. I have a sbc 350 n th350 trans. Everything is rebuilt. Everything is new from the ignition to the torque converter. My problem is. It idles at 1,000rpm but will jump to 1,500 then back down. When I put the car into gear it drops to 500rpms and want to die. The only thing I didn't replace was the carb to manifold gasket.