Hopefully a little more info, to follow up on an earlier post from "Team
Sanctuary"-
If your car is intended for limited use, under 5000 miles a year, I
suggest lowering blocks in the rear (Moss & others) that will provide
about 1-1/2" drop. For the front, replace the coil springs with chrome
bumper springs or specially lowered front springs- see BV. I recommend
first installing used chrome bumper springs & driving it for a week or
so. These should be cheap/free. If the height is not what you want, cut
all or part of a coil. Do not use the "blue wrench" for this task. An
abrasive wheel is my suggestion. As you shorten the spring, you will
also increase the spring rate- it gets stiffer, more like a new one. I
had over 1 70,000 miles on a set of used springs, cut, worked fine;
finally swapped for a Moss coil over. Big mistake.
The important thing about this method is bump steer, which was mentioned
earlier. A good friend, & long time E production racer, solved the
problem for me by taking a set of steering levers, welding the tapered
hole solid, & had a machine shop reproduce the tapered hole starting
from the opposite side. The arms were then installed reversed left to
right, & up-side down. This corrected the suspension alignment, cost
about $25.00.
For the daily driver, 10,000 miles a year or more, or anyone with too
much time on his/her hands, swap in the complete chrome bumper front
cross member. Only 4 bolts hold it in place. Be sure to get the 2
shorter bolts used with the early cross member. This swap can be done in
a day if you are familiar with the front suspension. You will need the
early springs & maybe, the sway bar links. Get new mounting pads for the
early cross member.
What is not so simple, is fitting the steering rack. Your late model
rack will not bolt up with the correct angle to the steering column
U-joint, and the shaft from the rack will be 2+" too long. The rack
mounting bosses will have to be trimmed to the correct angle, the shaft
cut & resplined, & the whole thing carefully shimmed, or best case,
steering effort will be high, worst case, you will wear out the rack in
no time. Substituting the early rack is not a bolt in either, since the
late model steering column exits the firewall in a different location, &
used a larger (longer) U-joint. I have not tried the early rack, so do
not know exactly what is involved. Using the early U-joints may make
this a no-brainer. In any case, when the rack is changed, it must be
carefully shimmed - see your shop manual.
In the rear, I have used lowering blocks, de-arched springs, & stock
springs with raised mounting points, no real difference IMO.
My rubber bumper GT has the late rack, early cross member, & is my daily
driver. 95,000 miles as a 4 banger, 17,000 miles as a V8. Ride is
superior to the shortened spring method, and better than the Moss coil
over conversion, at least for street driving. If anyone has any
questions, E-mail me & I'll try to find the answers.
Apologies for the long post.
Jim
2 V8's, no dollars or sense
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