spring replacement

[rallyrat427]

im gonna be replacing my springs tomorrow ... swithching to hotchkis 2 inch drop for bbc(i know its not amazing and prolly wont improve handling that much but itll do me til i can afford the afx spindles and a decent set of bilstien coilovers) ... anyways my car is a 72 nova ... so itll be pretty much the same as a first gen camaro ... and i was wondering what would be the best way to replace them ... should i disconnect the lower a amr at the ball joint or where it connects to the subframe ... and do i wanna put something under it so it doesnt shoot something across the garage? ... any help would be awesome .. as i am an 18 year old kid and this is my first time tackling suspension work that wasnt on one of my friends hondas.



thanks,
D-rock

[MrQuick]

Ahhhh you might want to do a search, theres a couple horror stories out there. I had my first set of spring attack doing my nova. Green as hell. It shot out and flew 45ft before hitting a wall. Won't do that again...right.
My second attack was from a professional spring compessor...that one went straight up and bounced twice. USE EXTREME CAUTION!

The safest way is to use a spring compressor and always stay out of line of fire.
Heres what i've done with out a compessor:
Just jack it up high enough to remove shocks, put on stands,remove shocks,loosen sway bars,use a 3ft 3/8" chain and thread it through the two lower spring loops and lower a arm, loosen upper bj but do not remove,loosen upper balljoint but do not remove,use a hammer and wack spindle where the ball joints attach till spindle pops free, do upper then lower,now use a jack, place under lower a arm and raise a arm till the pressure is off of the spindle, you will see the space between spindle and a arm close.

Now remove upper balljoint nut and then lower the jack. lift up on upper a arm and place a 2x4 between it and the frame.Now tilt the spindle out wards and clear.The spindle will act as a guard incase the spring lets go. If you remove the lower ball joint first, it gives the spring a clear exit also it sometimes gets in the way for spring removal.Its easier to control when gravity is on your side.

While standing in front of the fender lower the jack slowly till a arm is all the way down. Most of the pessure is now off. The pressure that remains can still hurt you so be cautious. While standing infront of fender use a long bar and push the a arm down till spring pops out. You might need to pry the spring out.
Most of the time its safe enough to grab and pull out, as long as you have the pressure off and the chain attached.

The reason why I don't recommend the full removal of the a arm method is because it makes the spring very unpredictable.

[rallyrat427]

ok well theres no motor or tranny in the car right now as i just pulled the small block and the big block is still at the machine shop .... so basically there is no weight to compress the springs at all ..... so should i get a spring compressor instead ... or wait til the motor is done?

[rallyrat427]

ok so i tried a spring compressor and it didnt fit ... is there a special type i should be using?

[MrQuick]

Sorry I thought I posted a link....


This type is available everywhere, just remove the shock and it feeds through the lower a arm hole. Beware of cheap ones, they are beefier and might not fit through the hole. Also they are cheap, please use the chain just in case.
My Snap on one was close, I had to disassemble it, feed the top hook in then feed the lower hook, and thread it all together in the spring.

[zbugger]

What type did you use?

[CAMAROBOY69]

1. Get car off the ground and allow a lot of room under the front A-arms so they can drop and allow you to remove the spring.
2. Remove shocks and take nuts off of anti-sway bar that hold them to the A-arm. Also remove your calipers.
3. Install spring compressor. You might have to notch the bottom of your A-arm. I had to because the hole is very small.
4. Compress spring with impact or 1/2" drive ratchet. Just to be safe I attached a couple tie down brackets in case they wanted to launch.
5. Remove ball joint and be ready for A-arm to drop like a brick!
At this point you should be ready to completely remove spring and reverse this procedure.
Here are a couple random pics of when I did it last year. Yes very ugly I know. But look at the stance I have now.

[rallyrat427]

just got my springs on this morning ... thanks for the help guys

D-rock