putting in new control bushings and ball joints .I wanted to cut 1/3 off my frt coil .I see the bottom has some rust. can I cut off of the bottom of the spring and then turn it upside down. Flip it over.does it make a difference??

 

I wouldn't want to flip or cut the bottom, but in theory those springs aren't any different from top to bottom in the fronts. 1/3 coil is a very mild drop.

How bad is the rust? Surface rust on something like that is almost unavoidable, but if there's a lot of pitting and so forth you may be able to salvage the spring but trimming it. If the spring is unsafe to drive on as is, I'm not sure I'd want to use it, though.

Also, before the cutting coils will destroy the earth crowd chimes in, the coil cutting stigma comes a lot from the coil over import crowd. Cutting enough out of those springs to get a noticable drop can be a pretty big percentage of the overall length of the spring. They're also smaller. The springs have to be cut from a rod anyway from the factory. There's nothing special about the process. Our springs have 8 coils. I wouldnt suggest cutting more than half of one coil off. Cutting a whole coil is going to be murder on your back and your shocks. Half a coil is usually about a 1 inch drop, and beyond that you're better off going with lowering springs, the spring rates just increase too fast from there. Furthermore, the rear spring rates need to be balanced. They are progressive, so you cant cut off the same amount. General rule of thumb for this range is you cut off half as much on the rear as you do on the front. This doesnt lower the rear enough to match the front, but the rates will be more or less balanced, so the car will still have the same handling balance as factory, at least similar.

To get the rear lowered enough to match the front you will likely need to remove the rear spring isolator and replace it with rubber heater hose.

Make sure the springs dont get too hot, I like to cut one a little, then cut the other, and go back and forth giving them some time to cool. Take your time. As long as they dont overheat you wont damage the structural integrity of the spring.

 

thanks for your reply, I get my LCA back 2moro and Ill make my decsion then. but ill get back to you with what I do. Again..Thanks for you input..

 

I pulled a set of eibachs out of a car that I bought that about that much of the end of the springs rusted and broke off, if it's that amount of rust then you don't have anything to loose by cutting them off.

Which end is up and which is down shouldn't matter as long as they're the same on both sides and indexed correctly. I'd be tempted to heat the last 1/2 coil of the spring and bend it flat just to lower it a little more (I'm assuming you're starting with a set of performance springs (Z28, Iroc, TA, WS6...)). Cutting 2/3-1 coil will give you more of a ride like a set of Eibach Pro springs, cutting 1/3-1/2 coil and flattening the end will give you a softer ride like a set of Sportlines. Be aware that cutting a full coil ends up with a _really_ low car, it's still down in the weeds with 1 coil and a thick, rear spring style spring isolator in there (again, all this is assuming you have some of the stiffer performance springs in it, softer springs will not lower as much and the spring rate will not go up as much)

 

you can place the spring half way in a bucket of water to keep it cool while cutting, food for though to keep the spring cool!