put new front springs on my 70 chevelle about two months ago regular stock springs actually one and a half to two coils shorter than my stock ones i took out. i put in federal monguel now i just drop the motor in and it looks like the front is way too high . i have about 5 and a half inches from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender . i dont have the hood or bumper on or tranny in yet.i didnt touch the rear yet so im sure it drop a little over the years. i really dread taking out the springs . what do you guys have for clearence?? oh yea its a small block. storm

Sounds like maybe they gave you big block station wagon springs or the wrong ones anyway.

any one have a picture they can send me so i can see the height?

If the rear springs are weak the car will set nose high in the front. My 64 sits like that 'cause I havn't crawled out there to change the rear springs. Keep forgetting to get the new rear shocks.

i remember when i installed springs i checked two diffrent sources to make sure they were the correct ones and they said yes but after i drop in this motor and saw the height it was frightful all that work was going to need to be redone. how many inches between tire and fender should i have??

Don't worry about the ride height until you get the car all together and drive it for a 100 miles or so.....the springs tend to settle in after they get driven on :cool:
Ken
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/SS396Convert/side4.JPG
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/SS396Convert/nova.jpg

i m going to post a picture tomorrow and let me know if i should put in for a couple of vacation days to redo it . as i push down on the fender with my son it doesnt budge i m hoping once i install the tranny that will bring it down a little. i hope , i hope , i hope.

For sure you need to put at least a few miles on it first. My '65 has been apart for awhile, and it still sits high in the front even though I put the engine in already. Nothing has been changed suspension wise, but I know that once I put a couple of miles on it that it will settle back down.

Thomas

whats a little high?? i have 5 to 6 inches high when i stand back and look at it it looks way out of wack . just hoping they are the correct springs.

If your using stock control arm bushings,you need to torque the bolts with all the weight on and the car sitting on the tires.Might want to try retorqueing them it may help and is a whole lot easier than replacing the springs.

just found out they are heavy duty the guy who sold them to me screwed up

Just a few things to add here...

Don't worry about the ride height until you get the car all togetherDefinitely! Don't attempt to set the height until everything is back installed... I lowered my convertible, but I had yet to install the back seat, the entire top frame was out, etc, etc... Needless to say, as I added parts/pieces, the car dropped further and became too low... I had to buy another set of new springs and start over...


As for what's "too high" in stock form, what wheels/tires do you have, and how do they compare to "stock"? Remember, most of these cars sat pretty high, and came on 70 or 75-series tires...

i got 15 inch tires on it got the standard springs today and you can see the d iffrence in the springs i will install then tomorrow with the heavy duty springs in i lean down on the fender and it doesnt budge a bit you can feel the solid stiffness in them. storm

If you had your lower control arms out, did you maybe tighten them with the car in the air???

If you did, then you preloaded the bushings and the car will sit way high!!! if thats the case, loosen the lower control arm bolts, than set the car on the ground, bounce the car's front up and down several times, then re-torque the lower control arm bolts. This is a common mistake that people make when working on the front suspension.


Rocky

i will try that tomorrow first thing but what about the heavy duty springs ?? if it does lower it should i still x the springs and install the standard ones??

If that does indeed fix the problem, than I wouldn't worry about changing the springs!
But I would recheck to see what spring number your car calls for, and what you got. also with spring size you can not compare to the old ones, When I replaced my springs/front end, I was positive that the springs were correct for my car, I called Federal Moogal and talked to a tech guy and he confirmed I had the right ones, they also were shorter than the originals.


Rocky


Rocky

well took the day off swap the springs for the standard ones but first i loosen up the lower control arms nothing so when i put the motor back in it was the same height i guess i have to wait to get the hood bumper and one fender and transmission on to see if that drops it.

Storm, do you mean to say that the whole time you were anxious about the height that the car was minus the trans hood fender and bumper? That weight would make a big difference. Now I understand why you seemed reluctant to drive the car to see if the suspension would settle in. Just a note: as I work on my '65 and have it variously lifted in the air or down on the ground for a week or so, it will settle down ~ 2 - 3 inches just sitting for a week after being hoisted, and I know that it will settle some more with just a couple of miles on the odo.

Thomas

bomber yes really worried lots of space between tire and fender i figure the hood and bumper couldnt weigh more than me so i stood on the frame it didnt budge so i figure the transmission will help but then thats also supported some by the trans mount now besides the ac compressor and power steering pump there isnt a hole lot of weight left to go on so i hope she settles some because it took 8 hours of spring swapping by myself. storm