no_radio

My '74 SB coupe with VB 460# coils and 245-50-16 tires sits a little too high for my tastes. I am planning to cut between 1/2 and 1 coil from each spring to adjust the ride height down a little.
Has anyone done this, and can you comment on changes in ride quality or handling as a result?
Thanks,
Jeff

mrvette

I dunno, I got those spring in my car, and it dropped an inch or so from stock height allready, I think....pretty low for the rack steering and engine pan....
dunno I"d want lower, hate leading with my chin..... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :auto: :auto:

Gator81

Did the same thing, same springs, on my '81. Cut off 2/3 of a coil. Still a little high, should have gone 3/4 or 7/8 of a coil. Blame it on the aluminum cylinder heads, hell, I don't know. The way they make the spring, the top coil is flat, so you don't get as much drop for the amount you cut off as you would think.

No problems after the cut. Made sure I had plenty of grease in the upper and lower spring pockets. No change in ride or handling, other than that the handling is GOBS better than it used to be (stiffer springs, new poly bushings, new ball joints, new tie rods, etc.)

Don't plan on getting the job done with a hacksaw, unless you've got the arms of Goliath. Use a recip saw (sawzall) with a couple of those hi-temp expensive carbide blades. Don't use a torch, the heat may affect the spring.

no_radio

Thanks for the quick replies already! Glad to hear someone has had success with this already.
I'm not worried about being too low...my car has no options (no AC, no power steering or brakes), and soon to get aluminum heads. It sits pretty darn high right now, I don't think one coil is going to put it in the weeds.
For cutting I plan to use an air power high-speed cutoff wheel, blasts through just about anything without much trouble.
Anyone else?
Jeff

BeaterShark

Search the archives and you will see many different results. From what I remember it will range from 1" by cutting 1/2 coil to 1" by cutting 1 coil.

I advise to start with 1/2 coil and then drive it around for a couple of days. If you need to go lower, then do it again. If you cutt off too much, buy the 550 lb/in springs as this is about the rate the 460 will increase to (well, you'll be over 500 lb/in) if you cut off 1 coil of the 460 spring and it is advertised to be 1" lower.

I haven't done this but I plan on it.

Shark Racer

I'm gonna go out on a limb here.
Here's my measurements of the 550 lb springs I've got on my car:
"coil diameter is 5/8"
Overall length = 12 1/4"
spring diameter 5 1/8"."

And 70BBVert's measurements of his 460s:
"Coil dia - 5/8" + (.675")
13 1/2" tall
overal spring dia 5 1/8""

I'd say to cut 1 1/4" off the coils. However, new springs are only $80 if my advice is off... ;)

-Steve

Jughead

$48/pr at Advance Auto(TRW) I cut 3/4 of a coil to lower it about an inch. My fender lip height is 26.5in.

no_radio

1970 Stingray - What size are your wheels and tires?
I have 16X8" Vintage 45 wheels with 245-50-16 tires.
Thanks,
Jeff

Jvette73

Heres a pic of my 73 small block vette with cast iron heads and aluminum intake with 460 coils.....uncut. The rear has 330 monoleaf and was lowered 2" with longer spring bolts. 235/60-15 tires. I wouldnt want it much lower. Remember that the 235 tires are only 26" diameter. Most run tires taller than that which would fill the wheel well a bit more. I would put them in first then cut later if you want it lower. Just my 2 cents.

no_radio

The 460 coils have been in for about two years, ~2000 miles driven. It just sits too high for my tastes.
I just called and ordered the 10" bolts to lower the rear end, I'm going to try to get after the coils this weekend if I get a chance.
Jeff

MARKUS_P

no radio, just a little input from me.
If you´re going to cut your springs, keep the temp. of the spring down.
Cool it if necessary, otherwise metal fatique will suffer and change your spring rate beside that it will increase due to the amount of coil you cut away.

Somebody even use a torch to weaken them until the car comes down and compresses the spring with the cars weight.
I´d never do that, not would I suggest that to anybody.
The steel of the springs is heat treated, heating it up by cutting with a bad cutting tool will destroy it´s characteristic, if aou don´t cool the spring.

That´s what I was told a long time ago from some guys who do serious racing. Just my 2 cents.
BTW I ordered 550 lbs gymkhana springs from VBP.

adam

Good numbers Pacin;

Now how many coils are in each - that's the other number you need to determine
the spring pressure. Also, measure the diameter of the coil itself (this should be the
same between the springs.) Maybe I still have the formula.

Hmm, the 550 is .627 and the 460 is .675 I would have thought the were the
same or opposite.

I cut my springs 3/4 turn and it turned out real nice...

Remember, the spring rate goes up when you take a coil off. The VIP document
said 20% - that works out to 460-550. I'll have to get the forumula to check
for sure...

Or, does anyone have the spring rate formula - it was something like N*4*r^3/ R^3
where r was spring diameter, R was coil diameter and N was number of coils.

Jvette73

I cut 1 coil off some big block springs for a Cutlass with a 455. I just used a standard hacksaw.

MotorHead

Here you wanna measure once and cut twice :yesnod:

You should put the aluminum heads on first and then drive it for a while then cut only 1/2 a coil off first. If it is too high after a week of driving cut another 1/4 or 1/2 off.

I thought I would do it the easy way and cut 1 coil out and I found out that not only did I have to do it again but I had to spring for new springs too :skep:

Jughead

My tires are 255-50-16 on 16x8 rims. I cut the spring with a cut off wheel on my grinder.
Didn't find any heat related problems.

lars

I've cut quite a few of them. I usually end up cutting 1/2 to 3/4 coil to get a car down where I like it. The first time I did the cutting on a '65 GTO with some really heavy springs I cut 1 coil. I ended up buying new springs and cutting off 1/2. Now, I cut 1/2 coil at a time, pop the front end together (with the bolts and ball joints loose, roll the car back and forth a bit to let it settle, and check it out before I cut more.

I've used a hacksaw with a good blade, a bandsaw, and a high-speed cutoff wheel. All these methods work just fine, although I prefer the power methods over the hacksaw...

71roadster

I cut 3/4 coil of my #460 lb springs and the height was perfect for my iron headed motor. We'll see after I put the new motor in if I need to lose another 1/4 coil.

Regarding lowering the rear with the longer bolts. After getting the longer bolts on my #330 spring, they were extended as low as they could go to get my height where I wanted it, but the problem was that the spring ends and the bolt ends were to close to the ground. So close that if I got a flat, it would drag. Dangerous and illegal. I finally decided that there was just too much curvature to the fiberglass spring. I called up the vendor and told em what I thought and they agreed and they shipped me a new one with a little lower rating. When I pulled the one I had off, it was marked at about #345 rather than the #330 it should have been. Either way, I think most of the fiberglass springs just have way to much curvature and most folks just don't realise thats why they need longer bolts. The steel springs are vitually flat when there is weight sitting on them. Even my new spring is not flat and I had to use the longer bolts to get an almost stock height, tho not as much of them as before, and I cut off the extra to avoid any interference in the event of a flat. Something to think about.

Chris

VegasJen

chris, still have that 345# spring? want to sell?
i would seriously recommend the 1/2 coil first. yeah, it's a pain in the butt to pull them back off and cut it again if it's not as low as you like but think of it this way: your going to pull them twice most likely anyway. unless your lucky and hit the nail on the head the first time around, you'll pull them and cut more off if a 1/2 coil didn't work. but if you cut a full coil and it's too much, then your going to have to pull them off anyway to replace them with the ones you just bought to fix the screw up.
BTW, i cut 1/2 off mine last year. with the lower profile 17" wheels, i netted a 1.5" lower height. you can kind of tell in my sig pic.

Jughead

By the way, after you cut the spring, flatten the botton coil a little using a grinder--about 2 inches in length. This will help the spring "seat". Also, cut from the bottom coils---it may be hard to tell, but the bottom of the spring has larger spaces between the coils.

Ybnormal

Yep, been there done that. I had the same problem with the new 460# springs so here is what I did.
www.angelfire.com/al/swhite7/temp.html

Hope this helps
YBNormal...drive a vette