69 camaro new front and rear springs - stance

[abiddle]

This is just an informational post for whoever may be curious. SS350 with original powertrain and non-AC, a spacesaver tire in the trunk. I replaced the original front and rear 5-leaf springs and installed new Koni shocks. I was worried about the replacement springs because they are a generalized version of what was available as original equipment. Here is what I purchased, and a picture of the resulting stance.

1967-1969 Front Coil Springs SB w/o AC Premium Quality
1968 - 1969 Leaf Springs Set, Multi Leaf, Rear, 5 Leaf, Pair, USA
2 of : 1967 - 1969 Camaro Koni Red Front Shock, Each
1967 - 1969 Camaro Koni Red Multi Leaf Rear Shock, Each

I don't know if its appropriate on this forum to mention the vendor, so I will leave that out until told otherwise.

[68Zproject]

This is how my car used to sit when almost new.


And how it sits now.  My rear springs need to be re-arched which I'm going to do this winter.

[abiddle]

This is how my car used to sit when almost new.

Yeah I'm a little surprised and a bit disappointed how low this rear looks with new leaf springs. The front was what I expected to see, no surprise there.

Very nice car, I like it!

[abiddle]

Picked it up today. Its always sat lower on the driver rear than the passenger rear, which I assumed were due to aging leaf springs - looks like I was wrong...

[KevinW]

For me, your pass rear is right on the money.  For the drivers rear, there is a procedure and evaluating if the rear spring is at fault or the opposite front coil is the issue. Jack up the front in the center on a pivot and see if rear settles out.  If it is the rear spring, you can try loading it more.  Loosen bolts, jack up drivers rear, tighten bolts, then bring car down.

For the fronts, even though the factory was higher, I like it lower.  Here is my car after I rearched the monos 1.5" over stock and installed 6320 Moog coils. The front wheel arch is below the top of the tire, but the rears are above the tire, making for a subtle rake.

[KevinW]

Oh yea, if you had original 5-leaf springs, hope you saved them!  You can have them rebuilt and re-arched!

[abiddle]

Thanks Kevin - I'll try that, great info. And yes, I keep everything.

[68Zproject]

Very nice car, I like it!

Thanks.  I too think your passenger side sits perfect.  It is level. It kind of looks to me like your driver's side front is a little lower than the passenger side and like Kevin says, that can cause the rear to be off.  Can you see your front springs and make sure it is in the pocket on the bottom?  I had this happen on another car and the spring wasn't fully seated properly on the bottom pocket.  The end of the spring goes into a little indentation so it can't rotate.  If it is past this point it can raise the spring up close to an inch.

Mine sags in the rear, but this winter I'm going to get the rears re-arched.  With the sag and the cowl hood (which is coming off) it gets a little tough to see right in front of the car.

[BULLITT65]

I look forward to seeing the new (original) stance and your car with the flat hood. 
(keeping the spoilers?)

[68Zproject]

If you mean me, I actually took off the spoiler today to kind of see how it looked.  The "professional" installer of the spoiler made huge holes that will have to be filled.  Absolutely unbelievable that someone could be that bad.  I have a flat hood as well.  Maybe late summer I will tackle painting both and doing some touch up.  The car has been off and on the road so many times I just want to drive it.  If you want to see a picture of my car, it's on the back of Jerry's book for 67-68 Z28.  Not my actual car but it's twin.

[BULLITT65]

Yes I meant you, but coincidently I think Andy may be switching his back to stock, and removing his spoilers as well.

[abiddle]

Yes I'm still waiting for the paint guy to finish the deck lid. In the beginning of the paint process (almost 2 years ago) I wanted to remove the spoiler, but I let them and my wife talk me out of it. He did say the filling the spoiler holes would be impossible to make nice on the inside, so I bought a used deck lid sans holes.

[Mikes69_Coupe]

abiddle: Yours looks to be about how mine sits as well. Although mine is a plain jane, mono leaf, with a 327 and AC. I was thinking that mine were sagging as well, but after seeing yours, not so sure the springs need replacing after all??

[KurtS]

Don't guess, use a tape measure. The measurements are in the front of the AIM.

[Mikes69_Coupe]

Absolutely! Thanks Kurt, was gonna do that.