I am assembling a 1969 Z/28 during a frame off restoration and have just installed the passenger fender. The height from the ground to the start of the wheel well is 29". My other Z is 26".
The motor is in since March and I just recently loosened the lower control arms to see if the car moves down. The springs are original factory springs, they had the blue tag on one of them when I removed it.
Will it just take time for the springs to compress now that I have loosened the lower control arm bolts?

My new replacement springs only went down about a 1/4" after 3 years. I just cut 1 full coil off the top and it dropped 2 1/4".... much better now :yes:

I guess spring is in the air?.....................ok, sorry, the beer is on me.

Anyways, this was just discussed in this thread:

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=161314

The best measurement is from the wheel center to the lower lip of the wheel well.

alan

I did see that thread, just didn't see an answer to my question if it will come down in time.

I'm sure many people have different heights to their front ends based on many factors, but mine looks very high and they are factory springs.

The car was apart when I got it so I don't know if it sat that high before.

I am intrigued by the notion of "spring settling". You gotta believe when they left the factory, they couldn't rely on that, they were at ride height when they were put on the car carriers, no?

Again, as there were 3 different springs for the Z based on equipment, it would seem the most logical thing to do is to total up what your car has and make the appropriate choice. As to why the car is sitting so high on old springs, assuming the springs are in the pockets correctly, it is a mystery.

Ride height measured from the wheel center is like 12.5-12.75". If you double that, you are pretty close to the 26" you measured (the tire is never perfectly round, having a flat spot where it rests on the pavement). But you say it is now at 29"? That is a 3" differential!!!!! Quite a substantial difference.

alan

It's a mystery to me too and I don't know if they settle or not. I have had a half dozen '69 Z's and never had one with the front end this high. Granted, I only took two of them apart to this level, but the other one I did was just fine.
This one just doesn't look right.

Somethings not right. A 3" differential? Even if the spring wasn't in the pocket, I don't see how you could get a 3" difference. But Nick solved a similar problem 2 weeks ago.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=161006

The crazy thing is I don't think we have ever seen a spring grow 3" in 40 years.........have we?

alan

When I picked up the car, it was a rolling subframe, so I don't know if the front end grew or was always like that. The springs had the original factory tags on them so they have never been replaced. The car had sat next to a garage from 1976 to 2005 without a motor in it. I then did a frame off after buying it in 2006 and just put the motor back into it this March.
I only have one fender on it so there will be more weight when the rest of the car is assembled. Maybe this will settle down the front end some.
I'll just have to wait until then I guess.

I have seen new springs settle in inch's. I watched my present Z go from too high too to low in 6 months. But thats with new springs. If the springs are original I would let gravity take its course and continuie the build and see what happens when its all together..

Look, when my pass side coil spring sagged like over an inch back then, I got hostile w/ GM's Zone Rep.

He flat told me, +/- a 1/2" was fine and I said BS!!

I got mad looking across the pass side of my dash as it hung low every time I drove it.

I ended up getting new BB A/C h-d coils installed free for me buying the pair at 40 percent off dealers retail for $22/pr.

Gimmie a break here!

And looking back after I installed my clock cut, then 1 coil off the bottoms of my MOOG 5536's, I wish that I would have installed the cheap adjustable, roundy-round car cans and cheap short coils so I could adjust my car to what I wanted! Ain't hind sight great.

pdq67