what is the simplest/easiest/most effective way to lower a 63 nova wagon? has lea springs in back...do not plan on puttin disc brakes on anytime soon so not drop spindles for front...I want an even drop front to back...
Cut the coils, start with 1 1/4 & 3" blocks out back. check out my signature & this site http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/index.php
Be a little bit careful going TOO low on a stock suspension. Bump steer problems can get ugly with these cars if ride height gets too far from stock. 1badnov would know about this better than me, as his car is dropped. My '65 is pretty close to stock height. Saggy stock springs put the front end right where I wanted it.
This was a little to low with stock parts. I cut 2 coils with 4" blocks out back. Looks good but hard on the ball joints. The drop spindles make life easy.
ouch....yeah, I was actually not wanting to go that low anyway...will stick to 2 or 3" blocks....what about aftermarket springs?
Go to a spring shop & they can make you a custom set. I used a set of moroso drag springs & cut the down before, they have 5/8 wire instead of 1/2. Not sure if there's any thing else out there. Try asking over on the nova site.
In my opinion, you want to keep your tie rods close to parallel to the ground. If you study what happens on this car with jounce / rebound, you'll see that the tie rods swing in an arc, changing effective length. This gets worse as you go lower (effective length change with suspension movement becomes more dramatic). Idler arm bearing conversion kit, and good lower control arm & strut rod bushings are a MUST with these cars. Again... just my opinion.
Those thing had crazy front suspension, I believe the coil was on top of the upper A-Arm. There are bolt-on front clips from Fatman and Art Morrison, but expensive.
do it the right way and be done with it. you will spend more money, but the components are safer and will last longer. not to mention you wont be wearing out tires like toilet paper. Year One has a buttload of suspension parts for 62-74 Novas. i have a 63 Nova 2 door, i am pretty sure the wagon suspension is the same. 2" drop monoleafs for the rear - $349.00 2" drop coils for the front - $199.00 $550 for a 2" drop is kinda steep, but i think worth it in the long run for ride quality, tire wear, and safety. you can block the back for about $50 as well. if 2" doesnt end up being enough, cut a 1/4 coil out of those drop springs, and put a 1" block under the dropped monoleafs. then you should be 3" all the way around. that's pretty low on a Nova. i should be buying these same parts and doing mine soon. let me know if you go this route, or vice versa depending on who goes first. 1badnov, that blue coupe is slick. how the hell did it fall apart like that and flatten the tires?
http://www.classicnova.com/ Talk to Walt, this is were I got all my stuff from. De-arched leafs with the eye reversed. Air-over rear shocks. Air lift up front,with 2" drop spindles.
Thanks- Probably block the back and buy the 2" drop springs for the front....cpp only has 1.5 " drop springs from what I could see so will look at the other place recomended...
Lots of good info. Gonna lower mine someday, but for now I just pile a bunch of friends in it. With those old sagy srings I get around 2in.
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