Another spring and spring rate Q

[Jasons72]

After selling my front 2"drop hotchkis springs off the front of my nova because i wanted to go coilover and lower the car more by raising the upper mount for the coilover i've come to a very bad realization, i can't go any lower than i was or i will be riding on the bumpstops. The only way around that would be drop spindles which i refuse to use or the ats spindles which i can't afford.

So the question comes now, should i just go back to a spring and shock combo? I did like the hotchkis springs but i never got a good set of shocks and i guess could never truely got to see them for what they could be.

I do plan on autocrossing the car frequently and i will be driving it on the street, however i am more performance oriented than comfort oriented which leads me toward something like a 650lb spring. I hear that bilstein makes a good shock but i don't know what would work well in my situation. Would an adjustable shock work out better and what spring/shock combo would you recommend? Keep in mind i am on a very strict budget.

Car Info.
1972 Nova, sbc still iron heads but hopefully going aluminum at some point, stock uca's and lca's but will hopefully be getting SCC adjustable uca's, i want to switch my poly lca bushings to solid or delrin, solid body mount bushings, subframe connectors, Hellwig 1 1/4" fsb, stock subframe, rear will be getting a custom triangulated 4-link and most likely 250lb coilovers, i was looking at the competition engineering 3 way adjustable coilovers. I know the front bar is probably too big but i was going to look into an adjustable rear bar to help tune it.

I feel like I screwed up royally by getting rid of my old front springs but maybe i can go a different route and get the same ride height and maybe have better performance?

[Jasons72]

The car in question.

[dhutton]

If you are trying to get this done for low cost I recommend you call Mark at SC&C.

[monteboy84]

+1 for calling Mark.

If you're close to the bumpstops, I'm guessing your LCA angle is pretty poor, so he's probably going to point you toward taller LBJ's, to get the same effect as drop spindles, but without the likelihood of steering arm interference. The price is much better than new spindles as well, so it will be friendlier to your wallet.

[Jasons72]

Ok, i will have to get in touch with him, i was thinking about the tall lower ball joint as well, just wasn't sure if it would help or hurt bumpsteer. So with the tall lower ball joint i will not need as short of a spring and i can achieve the same ride height with a slightly taller spring, allowing for a bit more travel, albeit only about a half inch. I'm thinking for a shock i may have to go with the varishocks in order to get a set in the proper height range, i know they are great shocks just a lot of money

[Jasons72]

Do you guys think something like an AFCO 5 inch by 9 1/2 inch tall coil spring would work? i'm assuming i would need adjustable spring pocket spacers to get the ride height back up and something like a 650 or 700lb spring?

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/AFCO-5...ngs,23682.html

Or is it a 5 1/2" spring? I sold my hotchkis springs and forgot to measure their width.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/AFCO-5...ngs,23704.html

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Adjust...hims,3389.html

I also saw that global west has aluminum spacers for the springs, something like 5/8" or something like that.

[Jasons72]

Then i was thinking something like vari shocks but they are kind of pricey, what do you guys think of bilsteins? will they be too soft for that high of a spring rate?

[Mkelcy]

Do you guys think something like an AFCO 5 inch by 9 1/2 inch tall coil spring would work? i'm assuming i would need adjustable spring pocket spacers to get the ride height back up and something like a 650 or 700lb spring?

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/AFCO-5...ngs,23682.html

Or is it a 5 1/2" spring? I sold my hotchkis springs and forgot to measure their width.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/AFCO-5...ngs,23704.html

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Adjust...hims,3389.html

I also saw that global west has aluminum spacers for the springs, something like 5/8" or something like that.

I'm using the AFCO 5" spring adjusters with their 650 lb./in. 9.5" by 5" springs in my '68 Camaro with an aluminum headed SBC and Koni adjustable shocks set to thier softest setting. The car doesn't feel harsh as all. You'll want to cut a helix on the adjusters so they fit nicely against the subframe, and welding on a small 1/4" stud to hold them up to the subframe while you install the spring is handy too. I'm reasonably certain that if you do a search on "helix," relevant threads will appear.

I'd also recommend you call Marcus at SC&C; he's very knowledgable and helpful.

[Hotchkis]

There's a bunch of choices out there, but you can run very competitively with a simple and fairly low cost package.

The Hotchkis Front springs and the Bilstein shocks work great together.

NOVA on the Track



That car performs very well, is successful autocrosser, and didn’t break the bank for the build.

Our leaf springs and sway bars will perform just as well as a triangulated 4 link for a fraction of the price. I'm sure you've seen posts about Mary Pozzi. That is a leaf sprung car, running the same spring rates as the Nova springs.

[Jasons72]

I can say from the experience of owning your front and rear springs that they are fantastic and they rode very comfortably, unfortunately i never put up the money to get the bilsteins and really see them for their potential. I already sold them to a buddy of mine but i promote you guys as much as possible because i was very impressed . I'm going with the triangulated 4 link for the performance but also for the fabrication of it as well, kind of the i want to "show off that i built my own suspension" thought, not trying to be cocky or anything there but its more for me than anything kind of having that satisfaction for myself. I was hellbent on doing coilovers for the front as well but i think i should stick with true coils and shocks. I may still go with your bilstein shocks though, haven't figured that one out yet.