Coil Spring strange bolt

[myred63]

I have a strange bolt on my front driver coil spring. I was doing a brake job and found this. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jon

[azdave]

It's an old school way to fix sagging springs or run bigger tires.

[myred63]

Thanks. Possibly time for some new front springs. I hear it is not easy to install. May as well get new shocks at the same time. Mo money$. I'll have to think about this one.
Jon

[66vairguy]

Thanks. Possibly time for some new front springs. I hear it is not easy to install. May as well get new shocks at the same time. Mo money$. I'll have to think about this one.
Jon

Sometimes folks put a spacer up front to level the car, but the problem is with the rear spring. Don't assume it's the front spring.

[64powerglide]

Back in the mid 60's everbody used that type of spring spacers to jack up the front end. Then the drag racers found out it was better to keep the front end lower & those went out of style. I have some in the garage now that twist in to raise the car.

[myred63]

Very interesting. I still want to replace my front springs. Looked at why the front is higher, it was so the car would be level with a load in the frunck and 4 people in the car. I will not have much of that so Clark's sells front springs with an inch or something shorter so unloaded it is level. I want that look. How hard is it to replace the springs. I'll also look in the DYI section.
Jon

[bbodie52]

The coil spring removal and replacement procedures are covered in the attached Corvair Shop Manual section. You should review the procedure that is shown beginning on page 3-9. (Page 3-8 in the attached 1961 Shop Manual).

Of course — when it comes to working on Corvair suspensions — things never go as smoothly as described in the shop manual. Dirt, rust, and age all contribute to the degree of difficulty. Jack stands and a floor jack are essential tools for such a procedure. Some eye protection might also be wise, because dirt and other materials often get sprayed in the direction of your face! (I managed to get a metal splinter embedded in my cornea during one such procedure when I was younger. I ended up spending several hours with an eye doctor having the metal splinter and surrounding rust ring carefully removed from my eye).

[tiger13]

I pulled my complete front suspension out of my low mileage 63 Monza as I am making a rat rod out of it and I have a pair of front springs that I could let go cheap, but shipping them out to California may not be economical.

[66vairguy]

Very interesting. I still want to replace my front springs. Looked at why the front is higher, it was so the car would be level with a load in the frunck and 4 people in the car. I will not have much of that so Clark's sells front springs with an inch or something shorter so unloaded it is level. I want that look. How hard is it to replace the springs. I'll also look in the DYI section.
Jon

The Corvair always have been a little high in the front. This is compounded by the fact that as the cars age the rear springs tend to sag while the fronts DO NOT. The most common correction is to simply cut ONE coil off each front spring.

BEFORE you go replacing springs determine if the front or rear springs are an issue and why the spring spacer was added. Jack up the front of the car with a floor jack centered under the cross member until both front tires are just off the ground. If the car is level side to side the front spring spacer was added to compensate for a weak front spring. If the car leans to one side, then it's the rear springs that have a problem.

BTW - NEVER jack up the back of the car via the engine or transaxle - it ruins the drivetrain rubber mounts. So no you can't do a center test raising the back.

[myred63]

That is an easy test by jacking up the middle of the front and checking on any leaning. I'll do that and report back. I rearly don't want to change the springs that bad.