HotRod47
09-12-2015, 09:48 AM
So I have this 66 Chevelle that I recently acquired, it has QA1 coil overs front and rear. The front is real good, sits and rides nice. On the rear however I am noticing a banging when I hit a certain bump or dip in the road.
I love the stance the car has all together, but something isn't right in the rear. Here is what I have found out after looking around. The shocks don't appear to have much travel, and at first glance I thought it was the shocks bottoming out that I was hearing. I also noticed that there was two small marks on the bottom of the floor pan just above the rear end center section. I put a piece of fresh masking tape over the marks in the floor and drove the car. It bottomed out again.
When I jacked the car up sure enough there was a mark on the tape I had just installed. I noticed it only has 150# rear springs, and while looking around with the suspension hanging I saw that the springs were completely unsprung with about 1" of space between it and the top hat of the shock. So I slid the spring up and adjusted the base up to where it was just holding the spring in place, but with no tension on it. I did this on both sides. I installed fresh tape on the marks and drove it again. No bottoming out this time! It did however raise the rear of the car about 3/4" on both sides.
So my thought are that 200# springs would most likely help me out so I can have someone ride in the back seat if needed. Does that makes sense? Also, the spring with no tension on it is 12" long, would staying the same length but upping the pound rating be enough?
What are some of you guys with A bodies doing to the floor to not have it hit? I have seen some that sit much lower than mine. Is everyone notching the floor?
Would love some advice on what you have all seen and done.
Below is the car as it sat when I got it, and the bottom one is with it up about an inch. You can clearly see it has more rake to it now.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (http://s266.photobucket.com/user/hotrod-1947/media/CWMhOChC4a05cbj1Gncj2cyFBpJSwQB9f03oHFF8uXkf7BgTqu OAHnayWOIbC5FhtwC3uyRPY_eC5597go52dA_zpsksmw3qtm.j pg.html)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (http://s266.photobucket.com/user/hotrod-1947/media/IMG_0793_zpsqdcuuv8y.jpg.html)
I love the stance the car has all together, but something isn't right in the rear. Here is what I have found out after looking around. The shocks don't appear to have much travel, and at first glance I thought it was the shocks bottoming out that I was hearing. I also noticed that there was two small marks on the bottom of the floor pan just above the rear end center section. I put a piece of fresh masking tape over the marks in the floor and drove the car. It bottomed out again.
When I jacked the car up sure enough there was a mark on the tape I had just installed. I noticed it only has 150# rear springs, and while looking around with the suspension hanging I saw that the springs were completely unsprung with about 1" of space between it and the top hat of the shock. So I slid the spring up and adjusted the base up to where it was just holding the spring in place, but with no tension on it. I did this on both sides. I installed fresh tape on the marks and drove it again. No bottoming out this time! It did however raise the rear of the car about 3/4" on both sides.
So my thought are that 200# springs would most likely help me out so I can have someone ride in the back seat if needed. Does that makes sense? Also, the spring with no tension on it is 12" long, would staying the same length but upping the pound rating be enough?
What are some of you guys with A bodies doing to the floor to not have it hit? I have seen some that sit much lower than mine. Is everyone notching the floor?
Would love some advice on what you have all seen and done.
Below is the car as it sat when I got it, and the bottom one is with it up about an inch. You can clearly see it has more rake to it now.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (http://s266.photobucket.com/user/hotrod-1947/media/CWMhOChC4a05cbj1Gncj2cyFBpJSwQB9f03oHFF8uXkf7BgTqu OAHnayWOIbC5FhtwC3uyRPY_eC5597go52dA_zpsksmw3qtm.j pg.html)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (http://s266.photobucket.com/user/hotrod-1947/media/IMG_0793_zpsqdcuuv8y.jpg.html)