Please shed some light on 64 rear Coil Springs

[NMVair]

as I can be wordy I will put it straight up front. I bought some springs from Clarks Corvair for my 1964 Monza Coup. They are longer than the ones that came out. I spoke to an old Corvair aficionado that had the same issue in 1995 if you can believe it. He says its wrong......what's the deal? Anyone help?
here is the longer story that has been told on here a time or two: I hit a curb in the median a couple of years ago. It popped the front tire, bent the front rim and threw the side of the car up on one side. It has never been right since. You can see that it rides a hair lower on the side that was hit but the real problem is the way it handles. It feels much lower on the side that was hit than it looks but it also makes the opposing front tire ride real light. Its a real mess to drive but it doesn't look that bad. Amazingly no one i take it to can see anything wrong with it except for the slight sag.
So I assumed-probably correctly that the rear coil spring had been bent. So i bought some new coil springs from Clarks and some Monroe Gas Shocks from O'Rielly's Auto Parts hoping that this would fix the whole thing.....
There seems to be some confusion if the shocks i bought same for back and front will work but I am going to put that in another post (Basically I bought the Monroe Matic Plus 32132 even though they called for KYB Ecel G 343127 but cross referenced them to the Monroes which were on hand).
The thing is the springs I bought from Clark's are much taller a couple of inches (and if I knew how to put pictures on here I would show you). Of the new ones i bought from Clarks the drivers side spring is even taller yet.....What is up with that.
In talking to a mechanic who knows about it he says he went through the same thing with Clark's back in 1995 and says he doesn't care what they say the springs are wrong.
Now in looking at another post on here where a guy got the same one's he said he briefly described the springs and said he installed them; to which no one responded in saying it was either wrong (basically the spring height was ignored).
Also of interest is that the springs from Clarks are of a lighter gauge than the ones that have come out of the car. Can the Clark's coil springs still be right.
The Corvair aficionado who I spoke with says that it makes the car's wheel exaggeratedly pressed down.
We can put these new springs in but I am having doubts as to whether they are correct or not. Actually the longer drivers side actually would appear to help my situation but we have not put them in yet, waiting, hoping we can get some intel on this whole thing......Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long winded question. Thanks in advance.
Dave

[cad-kid]

Worth giving Clarks a call on this one. But I understand there will be a difference between a new springs uncompressed length and a old springs uncompressed length.

[NMVair]

Yeah, that was the part of the story I didn't mention. I called them and it was closing time for them so we didn't get a chance to work it out. but my feeling is that they have seen this all before, they have had to considering how old and obscure the car is (I know I know they made millions of them) and considering how many newbies there are out there they had to have seen this before. If this is the case, then why can't they just say that and that they work........In any event I am going to speak to their technician first thing in the morning.

[terribleted]

If the springs are "lighter gauge" but also a bit longer they may work out OK for ride height. I have used many sets of Clark's springs and have never had an issue.

[NMVair]

But you are not aware of this specific issue. Thanks for your response, I am starting to think these springs are going to work out....Dave

[64powerglide]

I would say any car spring that's 51 years old is going to be shorter than a new one.

[NMVair]

64; Lighter gauge? Two inches? No that's definately not the situation......

[bbodie52]

Considering the volume of sales, their business reputation, and the length of time that Clark's has been in business, I seriously doubt that there is a mismatch in the reproduced springs that Clark's is selling and the factory specifications. If there was a big discrepancy, it would certainly be heard loud and clear on this and other Corvair websites! The only certain way to get an answer is to pursue this question with Clark's Customer Service.

There is an alternative source for classic car springs...



http://www.coilsprings.com/default.aspx

Call: (785) 437-2025

Contacting Coil Spring Specialties

Shipping Address:
632 W. Bertrand St.
St. Mary's KS 66536

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box G
St. Mary's KS 66536

[NMVair]

Right, that is what I thought. But I don't care what anyone says the springs are different. I spoke to Clark's today and the springs are right. I am going to go with them. Also it appears the original springs had been replaced. I know this because 64's don't have the little bumper on top of the springs and when we took the springs out there they were. Mark at Clark's said the 64's were metal to metal and perhaps the person who put the springs i have in needed to compensate for something. I will post more after the springs are in the car......Dave

[64powerglide]

Did you count the number of coils in the springs of the old & new? From looking at Clark's catalog spring photo they are 8 coil.

[NMVair]

I did count the number of coils. There are eight on both. Forgive me i don't get your point.

P.S. I tried accessing this sight on my phone to post some pictures but it wouldn't let me....

[Rons64]

I installed a set of Clark's springs a few years ago because I thought mine were tired and the rear was sitting lower than I liked it and lower than the book said it should. The new ones were different, which I attributed to the age of the old springs. I got what I wanted from the new springs - a little higher stance in the rear - maybe 1/2". I've been happy with them. The weird thing is that I did the same with my '69 Chevelle, but the new springs were shorter than the un-sprung old ones. I called the vendor and was assured that the rear would sit higher with the new springs because the old ones being tired would be longer with no weight on them. Although that didn't make sense to me, I put the new ones in. The vendor was correct - the car sat a little higher in the rear and the stance looked more like it should.

[64powerglide]

I did count the number of coils. There are eight on both. Forgive me i don't get your point.

The point is, if the new springs had more coils then I would have said there was something wrong but with both having 8 coils the old ones have taken a set over the years & no longer hold the car up like they should. That's only 1/4 inch per coil, not much but it adds up to 2 inches. Nothing to worry about.
If you want to post a photo click the "upload attachment" at the bottom of the page & click "choose a file" then "add the file" then "submit".

[NMVair]

The photos are on my phone. I can not access Corvair Forum on my phone....

[NMVair]

Oh and i definately see your point about the number of coils. I kind of thought that's where you were going with it but the gauge of the steel is lighter and i kind of thought that would negate the similarities like the number of coils.