Lowered the bird....a little too much....

[yody]

I got some fenders (temporarily) on the front of the car, and instantly realized I must of shed a ton of weight off the front of the car. Moved the battery to the trunk, got a lightweight fiberglass hood, aluminum radiator, aluminum, heads, and got rid of AC box. I have hothckis springs on it and I cut a little less than 1 coil, it dropped it about 3 1/2"s!!!! It look REALLY good now, but is really low, not to mention I still have to put the nose and inner fenders on. Plus if I am riding with a passenger it will be even lower! IT rides really good for 19" wheels and 650ilb springs. I was suprised, however the headers are now scraping on the driveway, especially the #7 passenger side header tube, which HOoker decided to make lower than all the other tubes? I will eventually take that header out and cut out that bend and raise it up some and reweld it/recoat it. The headers are up as high as they go, and can't even fit my pinky between the floor board and the top of the header, Check it out






don't mind the wires hanging down

[MuscleRodz]

I like the stance but the clearance issue has got to suck.

Mike

[yody]

well if i had a small block it wouldnt' be a problem, I have 2" primary header tubes so its pretty crammed down there, plus the desing of the second gen doesnt' make for any clearance

[MuscleRodz]

What about running mid-length headers?

Mike

[MrQuick]

Don't worry after a couple trips around the neighborhood it won't rub as bad. Does look good tho....didn't you read page 17 of my PT bible... Scraperige 2:18 " do not for any compultion cut springs before driving chariots with full weight at least a new moon". dork.

BTW Its nice to have you back...I guess those timeouts realy work! you going to need a bumpsteer kit.

[B Cichocki]

Man, that looks all too familiar. I had Hooker Super Comps on my Mustang, which sits about as low as possible while still being functional (It will hit the subframe on big speed bumps, even when crawling over them.) Anyway, the same tube as yours on the passenger side was about 0.75" off the ground. Without a passenger, it wouldn't rub, but the second there was any weight on that side of the car, sparks were flyin'. And forget about speed bumps. Thank god Jeg's was willing to take back the smashed-up headers for a full refund. Ended up putting shorties on it, and tucking the pipes up as close as possible. No problems since.

To avoid that problem with my Chevelle, we had custom headers made. Note that no part of the headers are even close to the bottom of the bellhousing. :icon996:



Aside from that, Yody, the car is looking fantastic. I've been looking forward to seeing it put back together. I'm putting 19" wheels on my Chevelle as well, so I'll be a fellow POSEUR .

-Brian

[beyonda68]

It looks great the way it stands now. You have the skills to make your own headers, problem solved. The wheels look awsome! Nice pics too.

[69boo307]

Looks sweet, but you won't even be able to clear so much as a dead squirrel in the road!

[Travis B]

That looks killer The stance is right on as far as I am concerned!

I have truck that I drive everyday that 2.5in" off the ground is isn't so bad once you get use to it!

[camcojb]

Cody,

Is that the hood you're going to run and is there a reason it wasn't shot with the rest of the car?

Jody

[kmcanally]

So the only clearance problem is the headers? When I started to read this thread I thought it was leading to wheel/tire clearance problems but in the pics it looks like there is alot of room there. IMO I would not sacrifice the stance/visual appeal/handling of the car just to keep the headers from dragging on the ground. I say you redo the exhaust as necessary now while you are still building the car. It sucks because the exhause is already fabbed and coated...but it is after all just an exhaust system.

My problem is going to be tire issues because I cut my front coils (1 full coil) and dearched the rear springs before finishing my car just because I was tired of looking at the 4x4 project in the garage! So now after I get the car running and driving (and letting the springs settle) I will be replacing the front coils and adding some arch back into the reaf leafs.

Because my long tubes dragged the ground on the previous unlowered "version" of my car I went with shorties on the new build and have about 4" clearance to the ground at the current ride height.

[steemin]

Yody,
Very nice.
IMHO.
The occassional scrape will be well worth the look you have with that stance. Besides I think it looks cool when I see a nice lowered car carefully negotiating speed bumps etc..
I can't wait to see the finished product.
Scott

[kmcanally]

Cody,

Is that the hood you're going to run and is there a reason it wasn't shot with the rest of the car?

Jody

I don't think he's painted the car yet during this build...

[ALLFAITH]

IMHO it sits perfect. Never can be low enough for my tastes.

I have heard better things about Doug's for Pontiacs for clearance issues.

Brad

[camcojb]

I don't think he's painted the car yet during this build...

That makes sense. The pics look like a new paint job to me, and since it's going together I assumed he had painted it already rather than trying to protect that engine and all the other work when painting it at the end.

You know what happens when you assume.

Jody

[mdprovee]

The stance is great looking, but scrapeing sucks.

Mike

[beyonda68]

Yodi, what external trany cooler are you running?

[yody]

question, questions, Jody, the car isnt' painted yet, the backhalf of the car has the old paint on it, its just going to recieve some spot work, and then the whole car will be painted, those fenders are epoxy primed right now, and that is the hood I am using, the flat formula hoods give you absolutely no clearance, especially for a BBC with a victor jr. The problem with the headers is that they are as high up as they can go, the upper tubes are about 3/16" away from the floor boards, so if i want to stick with 2" primary headers that is the only way to go, unless i wanted to cut the entire floor out and redo it, but that is something I should of done way back. I drove it around and it scraped pretty good on my driveway but on the street it didn't seem to scrape on anything but high speed dips, or speedbumps will probably be a killer. Also the nose and inner fenders/lower valance are the only things left to put on, the all weigh probably about 80-100 ilbs at the very most and won't make it sit very much lower, but put me and a passenger in and ouch, I think down the road, i will put in some new tubular lowers and some coilovers.

[CAMAROBOY69]

Your car looks great and welcome to my world. My headers are even closer than that to the ground but I dont have any problems unless I go into very angled driveways. Even with potholes and horrible Michigan roads. Good luck with your decision but I would leave the stance just the way it is.

[Roger Poirier]

The problem with the headers is that they are as high up as they can go, the upper tubes are about 3/16" away from the floor boards, so if i want to stick with 2" primary headers that is the only way to go, unless i wanted to cut the entire floor out and redo it, but that is something I should of done way back.

Yody, check out the history page of my own GTO Judge header problem. I had the same issue. Look at the pictures. Problem solved using the same headers.

Stance looks good! You might as well do right, easier to make changes now then after everything is done.

R.P.