springs

[viperrt450]

one of the guys i know at a shop says that you can take off your old springs and heat them up and squeeze them together for a lower ride. Has anyone done this. How is the ride and the handeling.

One other thing what is up with the group by for the springs, my friends were wondering, was it cancelled or something?

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95 ATX Green K&N Panel Air Filter, silencer removed, Blazer fog lamps, SHO lettering filled In, Tinted windows all around, Remote Start, Super Turbo DynoMax Mufflers, Home made front & rear strut tower braces and SFC's, 60K done by Performance+, Pionner CD Deck, Clarion 4x400 amp, Rockford Fosgate 800 watt Amp, 1 12In subs, SHOCAGO license plates.

 

[94shoboy]

the intrax group buy was cancelled.

 

[ab4774]

I have heated and modified springs for my autocrosser, an 84 VW Rabbit GTi. I took front springs out of a Saab 900 (much, much, much heavier car), cut two coils out of them, and modified the spring perches to work with the VW struts. For the rear of the Vee Dub, I hacked up rear springs out of a Tempo.

I have been autocrossing heavily with the car for two years and have not seen any cracks or signs of fatigue in the modified springs. I ended up dropping the car 2 inches, and I (165 lbs) can jump up and down on the front bumper and the car will only move .5 - .75 inches! I am not stretching the truth either.

I have not studied the spring perches on my SHO, but you could possibly remove a few inches along the length of the spring wire. Then heat the wire and reform the spring so it conforms to the original geometry of the spring before cutting, and fits snugly into the perches. I would recommend removing material rather than squishing coils together. The “squishing” can cause the spring rate to suddenly jump to a high level, giving a very harsh ride.

If you opt to do this I would get a set of junkyard springs, and modify them. You will need a fairly good size oxy-acetylene torch, a hefty vice, and large channel locks. DO NOT modify the springs while they are in the car, or in the strut assembly. If your interested I could give you a formula that will approximately calculate the spring rate of the modified springs, and give ya some more details.

Later,

Adam
[email protected]

 

[jedhead]

In my younger days, my brother and I heated up the front coils on his '65 Impala then jumped on the hood to lower the front. I did work well to lower the front but the car rode like ****.

Bob

 

[sdpatt]

When you cut and heat sprngs, how do you ensure that you have the same spring height and rate for the front and rear pairs? If they are not matched, you could do more harm than good to the car's handling.



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Scott

1991, 254K miles, glass hood, police grill, SVO shifter, Catz fogs,
K&N, 73mm MAF, Superchip, PP Y-pipe, Borla cat-back, 190 lph pump
Eibach/Tokico/polyurethane, Alum SFB, SS front/rear strut braces,
16x7.5" Moda R1, 225/55ZR16 Bridgestone RE730, -1 deg camber x 4,
6 disc CD, Class II hitch, Silver award at SHOklahoma Car Show

 

[RI-SHO]

Originally posted by sdpatt:
When you cut and heat sprngs, how do you ensure that you have the same spring height and rate for the front and rear pairs? If they are not matched, you could do more harm than good to the car's handling.

I have about 1.25" difference between my front&rear springs and it handles like its on rails now, would that mean it could've handled better if the f/r springs were equal?

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Click To See My Modified 1993 MTX SHO