cut front springs

im going to cut my front springs on my 72 comet but before i do i want to no if anybody has tried that and would give some opinions here is a pic of the car now

 

Pretty common modification:
http://www.maverickman.com/Suspension.html

 

I wouldn't take out more than 1 full coil, go half at first. Take your time and use a cut wheel, do not torch cut.

 

How did your front end get so high?

 

my kid cut mine I think one whole coil maybe even two but the stance came out perfect. just BARELY dropped the front tire under the fender but still enough room to turn the wheel all the way with out rubbing anything.



I tried to find a before pic but I dont have one loaded here

 

ps looks like a nice car my son has a 74 the same color as yours and his front end sets up high but we changed his spindles from disc to drum and it changed his ride angle like that

 

while you can certainly cut springs a bit to get the final ride height you're looking for.. cutting too many coils will reduce the load carrying capacity of the springs.

IMHO, 2 coils is too much and the ride quality and safety will suffer. They can even move around in the perches if they end up too short. Been there.. done that.

Best case is to use drop spindles and then buy performance springs rated at about 600+ pounds and cut them down considerably less since you'll still end up with around 500+ lb springs once you have the ride height you desire.

Another old timers trick to reduce ride height and keep the load carrying capacity in check is to compress the springs as much as possible and then put them in the oven at about 550 degrees. That will give you a shorter spring after it's cooled down that still carries loads near original spec's since all the coils remain. Most spring shops can easily do that much more safely and cheap harbor freight tool type compressors should be avoided if you're heating them up like that. They can fail at higher temps.

I've lowered many/most of my cars over the years and ridden in even more and all the ones relying on excessively cut springs "just for looks" feel like they've been hacked.

 

i think i cut 1.5 coils

 

......why?

 

this is a good place to start being these springs settled different over the years.

with this advice, I would have another set of springs ready...

"i think i cut 1.5 coils"
"I think one whole coil maybe even two"

 

I'll take the old no good disc spindles if you still have them

 

Here's some stock V8 springs, compared to 1" lowering springs, lots of room for cutting..

 

But.....with compression and spring rate...these two springs could actually end up at the exact same height once installed. Best advice is to cut a little off, install, drive around, and see what you end up with. You can always cut a little more off (can't add it back on once you cut it off....)...or you can cut off too much and end up buying another set of springs.

 

Careful comparing those springs and thinkingg you have a lot of room to cut. That lowered spring looks to be a lot heavier spring and so it will not squat very much, if you cut the stock springs down to that they will be much lower than the lowered spring. I cut 1 1/4 coils out of mine to get a slight rake but as Frank said, it seems every car is different, some springs take more and some take less. I think those lowered springs would be a much better set up because they are also going to be stiffer so in a corner if you hit a bump they will offer much better stabilitythan the softer spring rate stockers cut for ride height.

 

Yes, I agree, but even with the lowering springs, I cut half a coil off, with no issues.