Installed lowering springs, have a question

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Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Messages
4,765
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Location
Nashville, Tennessee
My Car
1973 Q code Mach 1
Last weekend I put the car on jack stands and pulled the transmission to replace the clutch and the rear main seal.

Parts are on the way, but haven't arrived, so I decided to do some work on completing projects I hadn't gotten around to doing.

Wednesday and Thursday after work I changed the front coil springs to TCP's lowering spring (small block version)

Old coils were 16" tall free Height and wire diameter was .67

New coils are 13" free height and wire diameter is .77

I used an inside spring compressor and replaced the insulators and spring perches and had to unbolt the upper control arms at the shock tower to get the springs free. No other part of the suspension had to be unbolted.

Since I am not ready to set it on the ground, what are the chances that my alignment settings are good enough to test drive it before I drive it to the alignment shop?

 
If your alignment was good beforehand, it'll be good enough for a test drive. But, you'll still want to get it properly aligned once you get past all of that - just to make sure, since your camber (at the very least) will likely have changed a degree or two.

 
If your alignment was good beforehand, it'll be good enough for a test drive. But, you'll still want to get it properly aligned once you get past all of that - just to make sure, since your camber (at the very least) will likely have changed a degree or two.
+1

 
That is pretty much what I guessed. I doubt loosening the upper control arms allowed any movement, but having not removed them completely, I couldn't see if any alignment issues could come from there. I was already running quite a bit of negative camber and with the shorter stiffer springs, I'll need to get it set to a little different setting.

On the plus side I found that if you lean over the fender of a mustang on jack stands and pull a 3/4 wrench left handed on the driver's side with your ribcage at the crease in the fender that sometimes you can hear the odd sounding pop of a rib separating or breaking. I wouldn't suggest trying to disprove me by personal testing.

 
Alignment is close enough that the car drives nicely. Steering wheel is a teeny bit off center and I could stand to take a little of the negative camber out of it, but my favorite alignment shop has been sold :(. I have a free alignment from Tire Discounters I could use, but I'm not sure I trust them to touch my car.

New stance 1.jpg

 
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I believe it was leonardo Davinci who said that "art is never finished, only abandoned". You clearly take after the master, it's great to watch you constantly evolving your car. Looking forward to seeing your latest iteration.

 
I highly recommend you check around to find a shop that knows EXACTLY how to align a vintage car. Way too many horror stories about 'Discount' shops causing more harm than good by someone not knowing how to properly adjust things. Most common problem is someone stripping the cam bolt because they did not loosen things up.

 
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