'83 Cutlass Cruiser Build Thread

[Blake442]

I did a great job coming up with excuses last weekend, so nothing got done lol
This weekend I changed my approach a little bit...
It was awfully nice out yesterday, so I replaced my missing shims, tightened down my upper control arms better and went for a 50 mile or so cruise.
After 2.5 years, the springs have finally settled and the car drives great.
So rather than jump into another unknown baseline, I'm going to trim these springs to the height I want rather than replacing them again.
The angle of the pic is shitty, but the top of the tire is 24.5" and the top of the fender is 28"...
I will cut 1" of height from the spring, which should drop the car 2", which will level out my lower control arms.
Sometimes dragging your feet a bit pays off...

 

[Longroof79]

Hey Blake,
Trimming your existing springs sounds like a good idea. You could end up buying new springs and have to trim them anyway. Glad you were able to take the car on a nice cruise.

 

[ssn696]

What does 1" drop translate to in terms of partions of the coil...1/4...1/2?

 

[TURNA]

Hey Blake,
Trimming your existing springs sounds like a good idea. You could end up buying new springs and have to trim them anyway. Glad you were able to take the car on a nice cruise.

Only if they are UMI's

What does 1" drop translate to in terms of partions of the coil...1/4...1/2?

I know its a pain in the azz but start with a 1/4 coil

 

[Blake442]

What does 1" drop translate to in terms of partions of the coil...1/4...1/2?

Sorry I missed this...
The proper way to trim your springs is to take 50% of the desired drop out of the springs overall height.
Since I need a 2" drop, I will remove 1" from the spring height.
As far as how that pertains to the sections of the coil viewed from above, it will vary from spring to spring, depending on the spacing of the coils.

I just hope knocking the inch off makes them even a tiny bit easier to install than they were the first time lol.

 

[Blake442]

Finally popped the springs out this weekend...
Luckily I was able to do everything with the garage door down, so it was nice and cool and comfortable.
4-day weekend coming up so I'll get the springs trimmed and reassemble everything then.

 

[1evilregal]

still love that car.... wish the gypsy wagon was in a little better condition to justify the amount of work it'd take.....

 

[Blake442]

Had too much fun goofing around, so I didn't get anything done on the wagon this weekend...
Well, I trimmed 1 spring, and took this picture to illustrate how much needed to be cut to get my 1".
Shitty angle, but the original height is approx. 15.5" and the tape points to my cut mark at 14.5", over a full coil...

 

[Blake442]

So a big part of why I didn't do much last week(end) is that on the evening of the 3rd (last Weds), my previously broken tooth broke even more...
While luckily I wasn't in any pain, it was super sharp and managed to drastically dampen my level of enjoyment/motivation...
It wasn't until Monday afternoon that I was able to get into the dentist, and from there they referred me to the oral surgeon.
Finally this morning was my appointment where they pulled my broken tooth, along with all 4 wisdom teeth (cavities)...
So I'm kinda out of commission for the next few days, so this coming week will be a scramble to put the car back together.
The show formerly known as Car Craft is next weekend, and of course for the first time ever, I pre-registered lol
Realistically, even if I'm out of it all week, it's only an afternoons worth of work to put it back together again...
Fun fun!

 

[Texas82GP]

Hope you feel better soon!