OK, to start off, let me say that I *did* search before posting this (although in all fairness, I restricted the search to this forum). With that said, here's what I'm wondering -

Those of you who have swapped in aluminum engines, what did you choose (if anything) for front coil springs??

I swapped front springs in 2007, primarily because I wanted to bring the front end down a good 1.5". (See this pic to understand why.) Rather than spend all the money for Eibachs* etc, I did a bit of shopping around, & found a set of $60 Moog springs that were rated as '1 step down/softer' than the stock WS-6 springs that I had, so I got those, trimmed 1/2 coil, & installed them.

Well, the car still corners pretty well, but it rides like a freakin' lumber truck. (Part of that could be the Koni yellows that I installed at or near the same time though...) So much for my budding career as a suspension expert...

Now, between the alloy engine & the 'glass hood I'll be adding, I figure that I'll be taking a good 100 lbs off of the front end - which is only going to make the "nose-high" attitude of the car worse. So, does anyone have any proven suggestions for getting a good ride with decent stance? (I'll call Sam Strano if I HAVE to, but I hope that I can find something a bit less pricey...)

Thanks guys.

* (I don't want to offend anyone, but I've not heard especially good things about Eibachs in real performance applications.)

 

I was told V6 springs. I just happened to have kept the ones from Berlinetta #1 when I put V8 springs in it.

 

LOL i didnt do anything about my springs with Aluminum block and glass hood. It deffinitly raised at least an inch. I ride like an old cadillac now. If v6 springs works for cheap, i'll be looking into a pair today! =D

 

I took my eibach lowering springs and chopped half a coil off the fronts to lower it more.

Guess ill see in the coming weeks whether it did anything for me haha.

 

Personally I think the Eibachs get a bad rap I'm very pleased with mine. Keep in mind I also have a Players Challenge GM motorsport car with the factory trick springs and suspension and my LS1 swapped car will run circles around the players car in terms of cornering but I have worked the car over well with full poly, frame connectors and 36/24 sways not to mention far superior rubber. I've run three different sets of springs in this car with the same suspension set up from the stock F4/bilstein combo, to cut variable rates, to now the sportlines and I like the Sportlines best.

As for ride height? I too was initially worried about this with the Ls1 weight drop but after realizing the aftermarket springs are the same whether or not you have a V6 and the ride height is pretty much the same I thought I'd try em. I had these Sportlines in another v8 car that was totaled before I put them in the LS1 swap car and the ride height was the same. Anyways I doubt you'll be disapointed with the Eibachs at all they are not bad.

 

Another vote for the Eibachs. I got mine used off of a member on here for a VERY nice price. I decided to just put my car together and see what happened then go from there. Turned out perfect so I havent messed with it.

Eibach pro-kit all around with Bilstein struts/shocks. The struts are the ones designed for lowered cars. Also running Spohn solid strut mounts that are taller.

As for performance... The car handles and performs WAY better than I can drive it right now. I still havent found its limits yet...mainly because by the time I think Im getting close, Im going WAY too fast for the roads. So I usually take it easy.

Also...I didnt want my tires too far up to the fenders. So this worked out well for me. There is always Sportlines if you want to go lower... Or the hose mod/cutting coils if you want.

J.

 

I've been worried about the same thing. I think I'll probaby installa set of weight jacks when I do the swap so I can adjust it where I want.

Same here. I used to push my car with the mods I have done, and found it hard to find the limits of the car when I was driving well/frequently. I've just about given up on performance driving...althought, my car developed the reputation of 'the one you don't mess with' one backroads, so I'm happy.

 

hahah I had that reputation back when I had my AWD talon. It was sneaky sneaky.

I really don't know what springs are installed on my car, they are factory GM pieces, I would believe them to be V6 springs, if I had to guess. The car sits ungodly low, even with an LS1/6spd in it. It causes my transmission crossmember to scrape more often than not

 

Your STOCK trans crossmember scrapes? Thats LOW... If those are GM springs, they are missing some coils, or are quite possible the most worn out set of springs Ive ever seen.

Even with v6 springs, assuming all else is stockish on the car, you'd be at close to normal ride height. Either someone cut coils, or they are lowering springs.

...Unless you are running an aftermarket crossmember that hangs down of course Whats the rest of your set up?

J.

 

Bringing this "back from the grave"...

OK, the consensus seems to be that the Eibachs are "half-decent" at the very least, so that's at least one alternative. (Since I tend to give a bit of weight to what cam- and ghettocruiser have to say...)

I'm actually giving serious thought to ordering a set within the next few days, so I'd like to find out if you guys are using the ProKit, or the SportLine set...? Is the SportLine kit "too much" for an aluminum-engine car, or is someone doing that already (& if so, how's it working)?

Thanks again guys.

 

Haha...yeah listening to me can, and will be, dangerous at times. haha.

Im running the Pro-kit. I think its listed as 1.6"/1.6"? Or maybe its 1.4"/1.6" or something. At any rate, I would imagine either kit would sit you level. Just the sportlines will be a good bit lower. I went with the pro-kit, because I saw lots of pictures of guys with sportlines, and their cars were really low. I didnt want to have to worry about running over things, even though I still have to watch it even where I am now.

Also, the "in the weeds" look wasnt was I was going for. So I wanted lower than stock, but not so low that the normal person would even know it was lowered.

J.

 

I'm running Sportlines. I love em personally I have no idea why Eibach gets such a bad rap. They are German made and they dont behave odd or sag indifferently and most aftermarket shock manufacturers used Eibachs to design their springs around. At least thats what KONI told my directly when I was inquiring about buy new KONI yellows.

Pro Kit ride height is the same as 10 year old stock springs. In fact I think the back might be taller. Sportlines are low but not exactly what I'd call in the weeds like Kandieds car with the bags.... thats in the weeds

 

Not sure if I totally agree with you there cam... Both my 87 and my 86 were 10+ year old springs. One was a WS6 car, the other not. On both cars, the Pro-kit dropped it the perfect amount for me. Alittle more than advertised Ide say. Its not a HUGE amount, but it def brings things down. Im sure alittle bit of it is deception by the 17's vs. the 15's and 16's that were on there. Also, my pro-kit was used. So it was already broken in. I think guys that report little to no drop are reporting that on new springs. They should settle and drop a bit after driving.

I agree with you on eibach's being well made. Ive never had any issues with them...and my friends that run them all have great luck as well.

86 with stock wheels and with my 87 WS6 wheels.





After



Funky angle...



I dont have a good stock side pic of the 87 before...cardomain screwed all those old scanned pictures up for me. But its the same result. In fact, this might be a better shot than the 86 pictures. Its sitting more level than on my driveway...which tilts downhill.



The 87 sat a bit lower than the 86 in stock form. Im guessing due to the performance tire size, and WS6 suspension. but the kit still dropped her a good amount.

J.

 

Just finished up everything I can do to mine this weekend (prior to exhaust, tune, and start). For reference - this is an 87 GTA with stock WS6 springs and front suspension. I have an Eibach Pro-Kit and Bilstein HDs waiting to go into her... check out that wheel gap!

 

I just kept my stock v8 springs.
Maybe it sits a tiny bit higher.
Maybe after 18 years they are worn out enough they don't.

Either way the ride height never bothered me after the swap.

 

I'm getting the weight jacks for my car some point around my swap. That way, if it's not where I want it, I can lower it more.
This is how mine looks with the ProKit, KONIs, and no isolators:

 

OK, thanks for the feedback guys.

'3.1EyeCandy', that's a GREAT looking car you have there (no, I'm not biased at all!) I checked out your gallery, & it looks like you're going to have a lot of fun with it...

'91_5.7_TPI' - That's cool, & I'm thinking that it's probably good as a "reference point", but unless I'm wrong, you're still running an iron engine, right?? I'm basically wondering how my car will look with the new (lighter) engine, & the other weight-reduction stuff I've done... In my eyes, it's already a bit too high in the front...

 

Its more the fronts that drop than the rears when going from stock to the pro kit. I have noticed a big variance from car to car in terms of stock ride height over the years too. Iirc it was the FE2 package that was lowest and again iirc my 87 with the LS1 swa came with FE2 so maybe thats why? Dunno but regardless Justin your car looks schweeeet dude.

So enough gabba gabba outta me... I... am going for a cruise right now its sooooo nice out I might even take the roofs off

 

Yeah, that's the stock 305. I'm going to try to move the battery, get tubular front end, etc. I know taking that much weight off the front will bring the front up enough for me to not like it- that's why I mentioned the Weight Jacks. Probably the easiest way you ensure you get the ride height you want.

 

You suck... Its been raining and crappy for the past two days. And cold too. Just plain old nasty. However...this weekend is supposed to get up into the high 60's maybe even low 70's.....OH yeah. I hope the GF brings a hair tie because my tops will be out for sure!

J.

 

Thanks! I'm hoping it'll be as fun to drive as it has been to work on. Yours looks pretty mean as well (not that I'm biased...)

 

I currently run a set from Canuck with a 2" drop with adjustable Illumina's. I told them about the weight difference of the LS1 and they offered to crank up a set of springs that would make my car level but provide decent handling as well. Personally the back might sit 1/4 to 3/8 lower but it will have to do until next winter's round of mods.




I still want to try some Vogtland springs in this car as I had em in another GTA and loved em......

 

Every time you post a pic Razor - it gives me motivation to work on my car. Wow.

 

Thanks, I really miss it. Hopefully this weekend it comes out of storage and then it gets to be ripped apart and will be down again for a few more weeks until the AFR's/Fast90 and new cam go in.

I hope you enjoy your swap. I have been following it now for a bit and things look like they are coming along pretty good

 

Canuck Motorsports V6 springs here. LS1/T56 swap

Looks like this

 

whats your paint code? btw your fog lights are a little foggy there :] always love seeing your car.

 

OK, are these Canuck-brand springs, or what? And are they available here as well, or just in "Canuckia"??

Thanks for the reminder about those, I've heard good things about 'em. Unfortunately, when I checked out their site, the springs for our application were shown as 'Special Order' - and since they're based in Germany, from reading their site, it looks like it could be a 60-day wait to get 'em. And there's no way in hell that I'm going to wait that long...

 

I think these dudes have em in stock. This is where I bought em before.....

http://ls3performanceparts.com/inc/sdetail/7822



As for the Canuck springs those guys ship anywhere. IIRC they are out of BC Canada. I had to supply them with some measurements for rear springs for fbodies so they gave me a good deal but besides that they were very good to talk to and punctual with the emails and shipping. I can't say they are the best spring but they do work for daily driving, just not so sure about auto-x

http://www.canuckmotorsports.com/

EDIT: Ebay listing 50 bucks cheaper ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CM-Lo...Q5fAccessories