A while back someone mentioned that he cut off one coil to lower his front end. I didn't copy it, so I don't know who it was. Does this work? How much will cutting one coil off a Nova sub lower the car? Thanks.
phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

First, I dont recommend cutting coils. It adversly affects alignment, tire wear, and ride. It was a price you had to pay in the old days to get "The Look." Today, vendors like Fatman Fabrications have lowering spindles for most popular applications. You should be able to find Nova spindles that will give you some drop and upgrade your brakes at the same time.

You can estimate the amount of drop by measuring the height of one coil with the spring in the car and under load. If it is 2" then that is what cutting one coil will give you in drop (+/-). The more you cut the harder it will be for your alignment shop to stand up your wheels. Some folks use lowering spndles and take a half coil too.
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An Old California Rodder
Hiding Out in the Ozarks

THE BEST ADVISE IS, DONT CUT EM. GET LOWERED SPINDLES SO YOU DONT LOSE YOUR SUSPENSION GEOMETRY. DEPENDING HOW MUCH YOU CUT, IT GETS DANGEROUS. DONT DO IT.

I was wondering what it would do to alignment, etc. I think I'll just stick with stock, as I'm also sticking with the drum brakes. Thanks for the information.
phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

Two things. Go to a quality alignment shop or car builder and ask if there is sufficient adjustment range in that clip for say a 2" drop.
If yes then go to any spring shop and have a new set of coils built; that way it will not affect ride quality enough to notice. New coils are cheap.
I went with a 2" drop with new coils plus F78-14 (original 670-15) on my 53 Vicky and everything aligned perfectly, 30K plus on the tires and no abnormal wear.

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Carl
Automotive gold is everywhere; you just have to learn how to dig for it

for some reason I seem to be at odds with others this week, but. I have 1 coil cut on my Nova sub, didn't cause problems for the alignment shop. Rides fine, no problems, I'd do it again. Don't remember how much it dropped it as that was in 96 before the car was done, think it was around an inch or possibly a little more

you say that cutting coils out of front springs will alter the front geomerety and I`m sure it will.......But what if you buy new coil springs that were designed to lowwer your car?.....would`nt that also change the front geomerety?...I am working on a 38 desoto coupe with stock IFS and had thought about cutting/or buying 3" lowwer springs from Butch`s rod shop. so lets hear it, will buying this type of spring be a bad thing to do?

Cutting a stock coil will affect ride quality along with altering the geometry. I never could understand how those who claim otherwise do their A:B comparison but a lot has to do with the original and the new sprung weight so there may very well be an occassional win-win situation when working with clips. The big problems arise when either using a light weight clip under a heavier nose or trying to lower a real boat by cutting.

Getting a new coil built requires the spring shop know exactly what you are trying to do so you get the drop without sacrificing ride. Ive never bought anything from Butch's so cant compare their springs against a local shop that probably has been around for 50+ years. And yes, the geometry has changed which is why I suggested having a front end guy look at what you are trying to do first. Ive lowered several pre-war Buicks with new springs and they all made great high speed cruisers, stock or rodded.
Your DeSoto is no lightweight either! But I dont know how much adjustment wiggle room you have.

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Carl
Automotive gold is everywhere; you just have to learn how to dig for it

AMEN!

I bought the 9-1/2" stock car springs and installed them with 2-1/2" spacers to get the front clip to sit right. Stock car springs got me down to 575#/" springs which let the lower A arm sit level with the pavement and 5" of frame clearance. Biggest problem with clips is the engine originally sat over the front wheels so you need lighter or shorter springs to get it to sit as designed. Lowering it beyond this point with springs is a bad idea because the upper A arm must be shimmed out to keep the tires upright and clips are on the verge of being too wide to start with. We are talking street rods here so looks are a major part of the considerations. PS I took 1-1/2 coils out of the rear springs.

Hey Rusty...let me know, either here or thru email how your spring change worked..I've got a 53 Desoto Sedan, probably weighs 4800 or more. I want to drop the front at least two inches and I've heard all the pro's and con's regarding which way to go. I am pretty sure no one makes after market spindles so that just leaves a couple of options. I'm told also, that removing my coils and replacing them with 72 cheverolet pickup coils will give me the desired stance and front end alignment is no problem. I'm also told that cutting 1 & 1/2 coils will accomplish the same thing, but with the rarity of of Desoto parts, I'll just keep the old coils and try the chevy's...let me know how you do.
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Duane Williams

Cutting coil springs is something that has to be done most times on a finished cars(i build them for a living) First you build the car with NO springs,the lower a frames have to be level to the ground same as the tie rod (no bump steer,i weld straps on the a- frames to the frame,clip or crossmember to hold it up while building) Now put the fenders and bumper on it and thats you ride height no if ands or buts.The last thing you put in the car/truck is the springs.If its too high you need to cut a 1/2 coil at a time.Now here is the other catch,as you cut a spring shorter the rate of the spring goes up(stiffer) so it will ride stiffer as you cut more coils off(smaller diam coils will help soften the ride).Another little tip after you cut it ,try to end up 1/2-1 inch higher than you want it as it will drop more in the coming weeks. Allways cut with a chopsaw or disc,NEVER a hot wrench. This has to be done if you bought a Fat Man ,Hedits,or installed a donor clip.Unless you got tricky and put coil overs in than its just turn the spanner wrench .but the lower a-frames allways need to be level.
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If you have to trailer it leave it home!

Phil: How much drop you get will depend upon what springs you cut. Typically stiffer springs are made from heavier thicker spring material. Cutting them will result in less drop than say cutting a smaller guage spring. I think you said it was Nova, so depending upon whether it came with a V8 or 6, the springs would be different. Also the amount of drop you get may not be the same as I would get if riding on the same cut springs because the suspended weight may be different. I will bet that you are committed to trying this because the risk is low...right, you can put replacement springs back in it for $50 or so. So start of with taking off 3/4 of a coil. Cut them with a chop saw or body grider with a thin blade, do not cut them with acetylene. That may drop it 1 1/2 inch or maybe 2. That is better than taking off 1 full coil and getting an inch more than you wanted. You are only out a little sweat and a few cuss words...its a crummy job.

Thanks for the info, Tom. The sub is from a V8 Nova, and I'm installing all new suspension parts except for the springs. I may try your idea and cut off part of a coil, and see what happens. Later, if I have to install new coils, all the nuts and bolts will still be new. In the total time it takes me to do a car, what is a couple more hours. There is a rod shop near here that has cut the coils on his '60 Chev, but I haven't talked with him directly.

Thanks to everybody for their input.

phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

Well...I solved that problem. I installed the springs today without cutting them. I'll see what happens after getting the car together. Thanks to everyone for their input.

phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

Havent been reading this thread cause it really didnt intrest me until actually reading what other people have said.
First of all, Im not saying anything here that someone else hasnt already posted above me. Im just going ot clarify some thing for you.
If your wanting to cut coils out of springs, sometimes it IS necessary. Almost always, it is better to get a new spring though. BASSICALLY, YOU SHOULD TRY TO GET THE LOWER CONTROL ARM PARALLEL TO THE DRIVING SURFACE! This is effected by many things.
1. What the original spring is. V8 and V6 springs are much stiffer and longer than 4cy springs.
2. Engine placement. If you place it further back, youll need less spring.
3. Vehicle and engine weight. A huge 460 Ford engine (all iron) weighs considerably more than a little vortec Chev 305 with aluminum parts. Also, a big fat Studebaker will weigh considerably more than a fiberglass 32 roadster with no fenders, hood, or so on.

For you, (you said yours were V8) you should start by getting the car totally to running condition and then look under it to see if your control arms are parallel. If the ball joint ends point downward, cut a spring. If they are already parallel, get lowered spindles.
Then you have to consider ride comfort. If you have cut some off of the springs and it rides like a Hay Wagon, you have to go get squishier ones. If it bounces like a superball, you need stiffer springs.
Now you have to marry all these together. Realize that of course, if you get squishier springs, it will lower it a little just due to vehicle weight. If you get stiffer springs,it could make it not sit as low.
Basically, its a trial and error method as there is absolutly no formula to go by as you switch different engines with different subframes with different vehicles.

But with a little knowledge, as long as the lower control arms are parallel to the ground when you finally achieve the ride height you are looking for(however you might do it: cutting coils, dropped spindles, stiffer or less stiff springs), youll retain the proper suspension geometry that the car manafacture worked so hard to research and create.
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Damn, I wish I had more time.
35 Ford Pick-Up

I have had several 50 and 51 chev's. Cut the coils on every one the front-end man never had problem with the alignment I always cut 1 or 1 1/2 never anymore just liked the look. The last 51 I did we cut the spring 3 times before we got the look. I was nervous about the amount of heat cutting 3 times so I bought two new springs and cut them off the cost was only $45 dollars and some time. a lot cheaper than spindles.
Dr.Pepper

This a little different response to your question:IF I were you,i'd take both springs to a machine shop and have them tested in a spring rate tester,then go to a RACE shop,preferrably a DIRT track racing shop,and tell them what your springs rated at,then get about a 2-3 hundred pound less rated spring.That way ,you keep your geometry,you put er' in da weedz and all for about 100 bucks.Thatz EXACTLY what I did with my 68 Biscayne. IT WERKZ.............. TUK