Cutting Front Coil Springs....and I've got ???

Ok, I've got this 64 galaxie with a 390.
For some reason, previous owner put in brand new springs in the front, and lowering blocks in the rear. I want the opposite rake that it has now, but I want the car to stay low.
So, I was thinking of having a couple old guy friends of mine help me on Tuesday to pull the springs and cut them down.
My questions are these:

1) How many inches does the front end lower for each full coil you cut off?

2) The previous owner at one point must have had an issue with the tires rubbing on the inside edge of the upper part of the front fenders because he already trimmed it out some.
If I cut the springs down, and I going to have a rubbing issue when turning? If so, what are my options to add some clearence?

 

mess with backspacing on the rims and tire sizes to help with clearence problems in the front

cutting coils is unpredictable especailly with newer coils you cut them re-install drive if you dont like you takem back out and repeat until your either happy with how it sits or pissed cause you went too far

i know areostar coils work on 60 and newer fords they are cheap and they drop your fron from 2-3 inches and make the car ride and handel better

 

how much drop do you want?

you cut out how much you want to drop it.

just remember you can always cut twice.

I usually start with one coil the cut a half at a time until you get the look you want.

rubbing would have to do with tire size, backspacing on wheels ect.

I think you are thinking to much about it. just take your time and post some pictures when you are finished

 

Hard to say no set rule expect about 11/2 to 2 inch per coil
Gas monkey cut some on one of there shows think I remember thay had to do it twice to get the look thay were after.

 

Even though some do not, shorter shocks will enhance the ride, after you settle for the amount of drop.

 

That 390 is a heavy block. Just remember, "Its easier to cut off metal then it is to add on later".

Brent

 

Also remember as you cut the coils the ride becomes more harsh the more you cut off. There is a formula you use that takes the diameter if the wire the coil spring is made from , the # of coils top to bottom ,height of spring and a few other things I cannot remember @ this time and you can figure compression rate/ inch. When you use this formula you will see how rapid shortening a spring by cutting coils will make the ride change.

 

since they have already been out,before i cut em i would make sure they are "seated" back in the spring pockets. just to be sure! they will collapse over time just keep that in mind. if you must cut start with one coil and re-install. lots -o- work but better to be safe than sorry.let us know

 

I think that is what I'll do.
I'll cut one coil, put it back together, ride if for a week or two, then see what the look / rake is.
If I like it, I'll come back here and ask about shocks.

How big of a job is this spring removal, cutting, then reinstalling? Is it a day long job? Half a day?

 

The tires are brand new.
It appears that bringing the wheels closer to the hub is what would help.
It has the disc brake set up off of a 75 Torino. I would assume they used the hub off that car, too. Would that typically be a correct assumption?

 

Just put a Tourch on the Springs slam that Bitch on the ground. Its all about the look

 

do not do that ^^^^

shoud be able to do it in a half day,

you will need the basic tools, pickle fork, cutoff saw/ grinder with cutting wheel, just be careful when dropping the spring out. I had one pop out and hit the wifes car last summer. not a good day

 

yeah they had to use that hub because of the disc being single piece units hubs made into the disc

 

well since you say the coils are newer it shouldnt take as long as it would if you were fighten almost 50 years of crud and road usage etc since its been appart recently

BE CAREFULL coil springs are nothing to take lightly leave the shock bolted in until everything else is unbolted it will keep the spring under more control place a floor jack under the spring pocket in the lower A arm (*a GOOD jack with a large 4 inch head not one of those cheap shit 2 inch head jobs) i undo the upper ball joint (most do the lower) you will need to undo the rubber brake hoses to allow it to lower completely if you do it this way and slowly lower the jack after its lowered completly then undo the shock then the spring should just twist out

 

As others have said, it will make your car ride completely different, which is something to consider. It's a TON OF WORK, and you may have to do it two or three times. All springs react differently. When I did it, I also had a problem with one side dropping 1/2" more than the other side even tho the same amount of spring was cut off both sides.

On my current ride, I went with dropped 2" dropped spindles and they worked great without affecting the ride. They do look to be a little pricey for your '64, but if you do some research, maybe you could find a better price...

http://www.dropnstop.com/page2.html

 

Use a spring compresser that fits inside the coil spring. You should be able to compress the spring enough to cut a coil off without taking the spring out. We use a die grinder with a cut off wheel to make the cut.

 

if you have never done this(removed springs) find someone who has to help if you can. read up on it .you can get hurt very bad, or worse. be very very carefull

 

Why not just run the aerostar springs?

 

Just be REALLY f'ing careful around coils, your car don't love you at all and will kill you if given the chance. Its a job you can do, just be mindful of the power behind that coil. Get some help.

 

As mentioned above, you will want a spring compressor that goes inside the spring.

It should be obvious, but the amount you cut off of the spring is NOT the amount the car will drop...it will drop more. This is because the spring is roughly in the middle of the control arm, and the end of the arm, where the ball joint is, will be raised a little more than the spring pocket area. Make sense?

 

After doing this job a few times I broke down and bought a quality spring compressor from Snap-On and made the job 100% easier. Please be super careful, coil springs are not your friend. Getting the springs out is the most dangerous, but reinstalling can be difficult, almost impossible on some vehicles without the compressor tool.

 

Dont use Aerostar springs because they will lower your car too much unless you like riding on your bump stops. I did this to my 64 and it lowered it 5"s in the front.

 

2X Cant be said enough

also run a chain through the coil and to a control arm, release the spring with pry bar after all the tension is released from it then remove the chain, Once the coil is cut and reinstalled, the next time you remove it, it will have alot less tension on it and may even be completely loose when you jack the car up, making the removal the second time around that much faster and safer. Also cut your bump stops in half (top to bottem), you will gain some travel and still retain a rubber bump instead of a metal to metal slam.

Godspeed
MrC.

 

I have a 62 Galaxie and 2 full coils equaled 4 inches lower. These were older springs and I have a 292.

 

I've got a 60 Edsel. Cut 1 1/2 coils from the factory springs and it dropped 3". These springs had never been out....70k mile car had sat in barn for 25 years.

 

That's all very helpful.
Some older guys in our car club are going to help me tomorrow (actually I am going to help THEM, but who's keeping track, right?).
However, I'm having second thoughts about doing it now.
I've had some people tell me that as a tail dragger it looks to "hood", WHICH I don't want as I'm trying to achieve the 60's look.
Then some other guys at a big cruise in on Monday night claimed that the tail dragger look was popular in the 60's and so was the back end being up a bit...thus BOTH ways would be acceptable.

Another of my older guy friends came over today and looked at the car, and he pointed out that if I just added a set of chrome lake pipes it would have a perfect 60's look just the way it is....and I like that idea...so I'm thinking of not doing anything tomorrow except getting the car tuned up and ready of BilletProof and Lone Star Round Up.

I'm going to try and post a picture in the next post. Haven't had much luck, but I'll try again.

MORE OF YOUR THOUGHTS, PLEASE

 

according to my uncle around here in the early 60's the look was to have the front up higher then the rear

the superstock cars were set up that way to help in weight transfer

 

doesnt work

 

God for the life of me I can't post pics anymore for some reason. I'll try again tomorrow. So dang frustrating.

 

I'm leaning toward that.