Lazy Man's Spring Cut!

fxbill · #1 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 09:42 PM

OK....Finally did it today...After living with the front end too high for a week or so I couldn't take it anymore and went and bought a good pickle fork..( just in case).

When I got home I jacked the car up and started looking at everything and comparing with all the posts and great ideas I'd gotten in the past few days from you guys.....and then the old IBM phrase "work smarter, not harder" popped into my mind. Why go through all the work and trouble of removing the spring when you're only going to take off a little at a time?...in my case I didn't want to cut more than 1/4 - 1/3 of a coil at a time. Sooo...I got out my handy die grinder and put a cutoff wheel on it. The bottom of the spring has not been flattened out..it maintains the original spiral of the spring. If you remove material from the bottom and rotate the spring to where the newly cut end is in the perch at the stop you're done. 10 minutes later I had both springs cut...maybe 3 lineal inches off each one....about 1/3 of a coil. I slid a piece of hose over the newly cut end to cusion the spring and stop any squeeks that it might have. I then sprayed WD40 on the bottom and top of the spring so that it would rotate a little easier, loosened up the top nut on the shock to lower the bottom control arm a bit and went to work. By clamping a pair of vise grips towards the top of the spring and trying to rotate the spring and tapping on the spring with a hammer at the same time to vibrate it the spring rotated around very easily. I dropped the car, bounced the front end a couple of times till I heard it go " sproing!" and took a look..... Not enough yet. Did the operation one more time and this time it looked right. I took the car out and drove it down a bumpy road for a few miles to settle the springs and brought it home. This is what I have now.
Total time for 4 cuts start to finish...less than an hour!

fxbill · #2 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 09:43 PM

2nd photo

fxbill · #3 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 09:58 PM

Before...

Excaliber · #4 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 10:10 PM

Well NOW you tell me!!! After I went to all the trouble to take mine out, measure twice, cut once, and put them back in again!!!

Ernie

fxbill · #5 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 10:24 PM

To be honest Ernie I only did it this way because I had nightmares the day before about not being able to get them back in and having a new boat anchor sitting in the driveway for weeks!lol

Double Venom · #6 (**permalink**) 08-05-2003, 05:54 AM

Nicely done !
DV..I think a 1/4 more of the bottom would be just about right

petek · #7 (**permalink**) 08-05-2003, 08:39 AM

And to think that I went through all of the time and trouble to remove the springs when I cut my springs!

Looks great.

EarlsflyinCobra · #8 (**permalink**) 08-05-2003, 09:17 AM

WHAT SPRINGS DID YOU START WITH BEFORE THE CUT????

WERE THEY MUSTANG, MUSTANG II, OR OTHERS, AND APPROX. HEIGHT AND YEAR, PLEASE??

fxbill · #9 (**permalink**) 08-05-2003, 01:30 PM

Thank you guys....I appreciate it.....I'm off to the alignment shop....By the way..It must be close..I'm scraping the front frame when I go into my driveway!
Earl....I bought my car already built from a friend of a friend and since I didn't take the springs off I have no way of knowing what they were to begin with or whether or not they had already been cut. I'm assuming they were Mustang II, but that's just a guess......Sorry..
Bill

Excaliber · #10 (**permalink**) 08-05-2003, 03:48 PM

I replaced the coil springs on my Excalibur with:

Springs spec'd for a Mustand II, V-6, A/C and P.S. I bought them as "stock" from NAPA. I was thinking, well the weight of the Mustang II (with the options I mentioned) would be "close" to what I THINK I would like to try on the Excal. How's that for "scientific"! LOL

Of course the springs were WAY to tall so I measured the "old" springs (which made the car sit to high), subtracted some, allowed for compression and settling over time and started cutting! I THINK I cut them to 10.5 inches height? As measured with a ruler and a marker from my garage floor.

The Excal is LOW in the front! On the track, it's PERFECT, around town (speed bumps etc.) I hate it! I also had to go with a smaller tire up front due to "rubbing" under extreme cornering conditions. From 255X55X16 (I think) to 245X45X16, just a little smaller!

Bear in mind the Excal is a virtual carbon copy of the Classic Roadster!

Ernie

EDIT:
If I did it again I would cut them to 11" or better and then cut/trim with them IN THE CAR as described above to get what I wanted. As it turns out for me, I wouldn't change a thing from what I got, but I got "lucky".

dscott · #11 (**permalink**) 08-06-2003, 07:57 AM

Hey Ernie, I do have your headers and sidepipes here. I need to find a box big enough to ship them. Sorry about the delay, it's been nuts here since the buyout of Classic. I was in Fargo yesterday and the phone rang every 30 seconds according to Chris (my engine guru). 25 messages on the machine (that's all it holds). I think I need to hire someone!!.

What is the best way to ship?
Don

Excaliber · #12 (**permalink**) 08-06-2003, 10:47 AM

Dang that IS a problem! It will take longer by US Mail, but it COULD save a lot of money on freight. JC Whitney uses US Mail, and it takes a LONG time to get here (but I love the freight charges over Fed Ex).

If you have to Fed Ex or UPS you gotta do what you gotta do! I'll pay it no matter which way it gets here.

I'm going to paint or coat them so "scratches" won't be a big issue. Dents could be a problem, but I'll get over it.

Ernie

fxbill · #13 (**permalink**) 08-06-2003, 02:33 PM

Ernie...Expect to see a lot of dents if you use USPS....no offense to anyone here working for the post office, but it's a fact. Almost every package I ever get sent through the US mail has "received in poor condition" stamped all over the package. I'd go with economy UPS if it's available to you.