C3 Fr. coil sp. location

[acmsal]

Just installed F-41 front coil springs in my 78 vette S.A. Before I torque
everything down I justed wanted to be sure of the correct location of the
spring in the lower control arm. I'm leaving the drain hole closest to the
the outside of the car, exposed. The end of the lower coil is about 1" from
the small indent in the LCA, leaving the drain hole completely exposed. The
inside drain hole is completely cover by the coil. Is this the correct
positioning? Any info appreciated!
Thanks,
A. Sclafani

 

[Ludigdrums]

I'm pretty sure that the shop manual says to align it with the top hole and doesn't say anything about the bottom. It's the position at the top that matters. I just recently put in VBP 550lb springs this way and it worked out great!

Good luck!

- Jeremy

 

[acmsal]

I've got every shop manual going and none of them mention anything about the top except to be sure that the coil is actually sitting flush within the tower. It's the lower drain holes that concern me.

 

[JohnZ]

Forget the bottom - what matters is that the top end of the spring is 3/8" from the stop in the frame tower. Shows you that in the Assembly Manual.

 

[acmsal]

how can you forget the bottom when you also have an indent there! The end of the coil in the bottom also has to sit flush within the grove and not sitting on top of the indent!! que no?

 

[Ludigdrums]

Right, you don't want it on the top of the indent...and it won't, so long as the spring wasn't cut like 1/2 a coil or something like that.

I know how you feel, cause it seemed weird to me too...mine ended up about an inch away from the bottom indent/hole.

Hope that helps some.

- Jeremy

 

[Paranoid]

Forget the bottom - what matters is that the top end of the spring is 3/8" from the stop in the frame tower. Shows you that in the Assembly Manual.

AND don't torque down the control arm bushing bolts until you have weight on the front end.

 

[JohnZ]

how can you forget the bottom when you also have an indent there! The end of the coil in the bottom also has to sit flush within the grove and not sitting on top of the indent!! que no?

Quite true - however, if the spring is correctly located relative to the stop in the frame tower and doesn't fit properly in the indentation in the lower control arm, the spring isn't made correctly and should be returned/replaced. There's a lot of aftermarket junk out there, and "one size fits all" coil springs are near the top of the list.