The Camaro Club (UK)

I've now fitted new Torque Thrust wheels and euro tyres to the Camaro. Despite the rear wheel diameter being 2" less in height than the old 15" Centrelines the car sits way too high.......... its 28" from the ground to the wheel arch lip . Standard dimension across various sources would suggest it should be 25" - that would easily look better but I want to go lower than that............ it currently has a monoleaf spring which I know is wrong for a 69 Camaro 350. I know I can fit lowered leaf springs (plus a fitting kit maybe?) ............. SO, just looking to find out what anyone else has fitted and how low you have gone please?

First pic is with the old centrelines - although it was high it didn't look to out of place IMO !



AND with the Torque Thrusts it really needs to come down a MILE.........

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Its only a hobby that keeps us off the street !!

Fitted some dse 2" leafs last year and they sit aprox 2" lower than what you got but could go another 35mm so will get some blocks at some point.. fitted bmr 2" coils up front and they sit about 25 mm higher than yours sit

Ideally lower springs as it's the 'proper' solution...

Other options are lowering blocks, not too ideal as they shift the point of rotation, and put stress on the springs.... or, have your existing mono leaf springs re-arched by a specialist.... or
I've been told.... never tried tho.. lots of weight (bags of sand, concrete blocks, etc) in the boot for a week or a few days is a DIY re-arch solution that will work.

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Do you have a vice at home? I re-arched my springs in the garage (thanks sportsroof for the inspiration), i think i have some pics if you need. Basically take 3 long bolts, put 2 (vertically) on one side , close to the left edge and the right edge, hold in place with duct tape. on the other side of the vice, put a bolt in the middle, vertically, hold in place with duct tape. This way when you pass something through and compress, it will bend the middle. Sorry for the bad description, looking top down it should look like this:

The vertical lines are the bolt positions, the horizontal dash lines is the leaf spring (ignore the dots, i had to put them in to keep the spacing correct) :

. | .
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Then you just pass through about an inch at a time, squeeze vice so there's a bit of pressure where you can see the leaf straighten a bit (will need an extension on the vice handle to help with leverage). and just move along about an inch at a time - compress, release, move, compress, release move. It's best to go over it 2 or 3 times , so that you apply a gentle curve rather than trying to get the shape in 1 go. It will also help as you're reshaping on many points after each pass i.e. say you mark 1" increments and have that mark line up with the bolt on the first pass, on the second pass have the bolt between the 2 marks, so that you're applying as much even shaping as possible. It took me an evening to do each side, but i have 5 leafs per side, so you should be able to do both in an evening. Keep the other side nearby so that you have a reference point to know how far to go. I think the ratio is 2:1... i made it 1.5" lower compared to the reference one, matched the second to the first to make sure they were even, put on the car and it was about 3 to 3.5" lower. I was aiming for a drop of 2 to 2.5" as you could almost put a coffee mug between the tyre and the arch, but i'm not too happy that it's this low as the top of the tyre sits exactly inline with the arch, would have liked a little gap. Anyway, that parts up to you but the main point is that if you're looking to drop by about 2", change the arch to be about 1" lower.

Hope that helps!

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I forgot you'd lowered you'd own springs. .. good jobby.

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

WHAT SHOCKS HAVE YOU GOT?

air shocks often end up way too high

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Kind Regards
TopCat
Secretary
Classic Camaro Club
Member of The Association of American Car Clubs UK
Email :tboles@strathnoon.co.uk Websites: http://www.classiccamaroclubuk.com and:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdhLJtR_ZY4

martin thomas swears by those Bedford van CF rear mono leafs- and you can bend them lower

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Kind Regards
TopCat
Secretary
Classic Camaro Club
Member of The Association of American Car Clubs UK
Email :tboles@strathnoon.co.uk Websites: http://www.classiccamaroclubuk.com and:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdhLJtR_ZY4

No air shocks on the car - standard shocks at the moment.
I was wondering if the previous owner(s) had fitted an incorrect mono-leaf off something else but no way of knowing really...
Guess I'll have to take one off and measure it.............

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See the sort of stuff we get up to here https://www.facebook.com/colin.fox.359# ... tos_albums
Its only a hobby that keeps us off the street !!

I run those wonderful carbon fibre monoleafs on the back of Camilla - from VB brakes and products

http://www.vbandp.com/auto-parts.html?p ... gory_id=89


they have transformed her

Friend had them on a racer- but they flexed sideways too much for racing- but they have transformed the ride and handling of Camilla

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Kind Regards
TopCat
Secretary
Classic Camaro Club
Member of The Association of American Car Clubs UK
Email :tboles@strathnoon.co.uk Websites: http://www.classiccamaroclubuk.com and:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdhLJtR_ZY4