Guest Posted August 4, 2002 Share Posted August 4, 2002 Got Em On, Now the car looks jacked up. SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO LOWER PLEASE!!!<P>Here are some pics:<P><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/itsguild/rims.html" TARGET=_blank>Rims</A> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsteviejoe Posted August 4, 2002 Share Posted August 4, 2002 Woah. They look nice. Good choice. I can finally see what people mean when they say that there is a gap between the fender and the tire. Mine doesn't as noticeable cuz its black. Also my tires have the taller sidewall which also might help it look like a better fit. Maybe mine is lowered and i don't know it. The top of the rim lines up with the chrome trim.<P>What do the new rims weigh?<P>Is it big bucks to buy custom springs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted August 4, 2002 Share Posted August 4, 2002 <a href="http://www2.gdi.net/~padgett/enk2.jpg">Mine</a> looks about the similar though the top of the rim (16x7) looks to be a touch higher and the hub centerline looks about two inches above the top of the black rocker molding on mine and even with it on yours. That does indicate that your whole car is sitting higher. As far as I know, mine is stock/original.<P>Look in the archives, there have been considerable discussions on lowering. I would be concened about ground clearance if lowered much.<P>Keep in mind that GM expected these cars to be operational with tire chains fitted. Consequently they do have considerably more clearance than necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcams76 Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 <A HREF="http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html</A> <BR>Lowering is the only way to get rid of fender gap. See chart on the link, you lost tire sidewall even thought the overall diameter changed a lttle.<BR>I'm in the process of maybe lowering my car, it's a major undertaking. I rec'd the extra parts from James Finn and my mechanic will try to modify the parts to get about a 1.5" drop.<BR>Thanks to Mr Finn he only charged me $80 for all the parts including the leaf spring plus the front coil springs.<BR>I will keep the board posted to my progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Please do, Im going to a suspension shop to get their take on the thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 If anyone wants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 If anyone wants what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard S Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Search Robert's [Easily Distracted] post of a couple of months ago. He actually got under the car and started taking things down to see what effect might be had. AFAIK he got farther with this than anyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcams76 Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 In the rear you only have a choice of modifing the suspension support insulators two on each side or changing out the leaf spring. The insulators are a strange combo of rubber and metal, machine shop action.<BR>The front is easy since we are only talking about coil springs.<BR>Too bad the 'trim height adjustment' never worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 It seems like the strut in the rear is all the support to the frame, maybe its spring loaded or there is a way to adjust it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 You might take a look at Riviera parts of the same era. The rear trim height for the Riv' is lower than the Reatta. If you look at the manual for the angle of the lower suspension arm you will see what I mean. I'm not as sure about the front. If you can get it lower, I would imagine it will have to be stiffer to keep from bottoming the suspension. It doesn't take a lot now to get it to bottom when running at elevated speeds. I would bet it is already stiffer with less sidewall to cushion the ride, but steering response should be more crisp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcams76 Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 Sorry I've been down the strut road before and it's a dead-end.<BR>The strut doesn't hold the body up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcams76 Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 90RedReatta I finally could open the website and see your wheels. Your car don't look any more jacked-up than most Reatta's. I think my '89 looks the same with stock wheels. I changed the struts and it still looks like a duck out of water. Padgett car is the only photo I have seem that I thought was okay, every other car has the same look as your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest C.F.Massie Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 What's with this lowering? The car was designed to handle at that specific height and the suspension calibrated for the optimum ride. Go messing with it and you change handling characteristics, not to mention the comfortable ride. I guess its just me but I don't like to change the looks or specifications of the Reatta, I try to keep mine as stock as possible. It's a classic to me and you don't change classics, then they are not considered classics anymore. Man, I must be in the car collecting hobby far too long and loosing touch with the concept I guess. Well, just my opinion and to each his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 Well if I were planning on keeping it stock I would, but I have an engine being rebuilt and waiting to be dropped in. 3800 SC Series 1 Engine. Im gonna need the suspension mods to keep the 250+ hp to the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 Well the engine comes out of a wrecked 1992 Park Avenue Ultra. The whole drivetrain came with it and all the comps are there. I havent done anything to the engine yet. Gonna tear it down and clean it up first, then bore the block out and go from there. Padgette, from what I here you are the comp man for buicks. I can lend you the stuff, but keep in mind the engine isnt gonna be stock and IM gonna get the chip reworked to fit fuel maps and timing for the engine. But its gotta be able to communicate first. Lemme know what I need to do, or what you need to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 What I meant was that the 92 ECM will have certain outputs not present on the Reatta also it was used with an "E" transmission. (Hopefully you are getting the whole drivetrain).<P>So you want to use the ECM designed for the SC engine as a starting point since it is going to have boost-related fuel and avance maps. It also may have outputs that are different from the Reatta as well (what does the EGR look like ?).<P>However, in order for your dislays to work properly it needs to have a serial data stream output (ALDL) that looks the same as your Reatta and I garentee you it is not now. (See archives for what happens when you mix different year PROMS even if all are for Reattas).<P>So what we want to do (best case) is to take the '92 ECM and reprogram it so that the data stream is the same as your '90. That way the speedo won't read 255 mph. May need some other modifications as we go along but would suggest starting as close to stock maps as possible.<P>To do that I need a dump of the '92 PROM (have one for a '90 Reatta) and the pinout of the '92 ECM (think I have one coming). Have the equipment at home to dump the PROM or if you have a friend into reprogramming cars they may have it also and do it for you.<P>The only question is whether it is a 27C256 or a 27C512 PROM. I am <I>pretty sure</I> it is a 256 but only one way to tell for certain.<P>ps over the years I have learned two things - do not bore an engine unless it needs it and never turn a crank (the nitriding is only .003-.005 deep so turning .010 removes all of it and no shop can balance as well as the factory - both primary and secondary. Polish to .001-.002 under is fine, you can get undersize bearings to match but do not turn.<P>If you must bore, make certain you get pistons & rings as well as bearings specific for supercharged use, they are different from those used for NA.<P>Since you seem to feel there is a problem with the engine that requires more than a water pump and timing chain, pull the heads and take a good look at the cylinder walls. If they look good, don't bore. <P>Next pull a main and rod cap or two - ones closest to the tranny are furthest from oil - if they mike good, I'd button it up and confine myself to a really good cleaning and major tuneup (chain, gears, and water pump plus brass freeze plugs) these engines are really strong.<p>[ 08-06-2002: Message edited by: padgett ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 7, 2002 Share Posted August 7, 2002 Well, the reason we are doing this is because we arent keeping THAT engine stock either. Gonna beef up the cam and things like that and get more HP from it, so the heads are being redone and news rods and pistons and all that. I can try to get the PROM to you asap but the engine is in florence right now and Im in columbia (a good distance away) Yes I am getting the whole drivetrain. But I will defenately keep you updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted August 7, 2002 Share Posted August 7, 2002 Hey guys, its his car. Personally have done horrible things to some much rarer ones (have flown both a 63 FI split window and a '61 E-type). Do have all the original parts for my Judge but there is no way I would want to venture on city streets with 400 hp on 14x6s.<P>For every concours car out there, I would expect there to be ten $2k-$4k cars that would take $10k (if you could find the parts) to completely restify.<P>So if he has a 3800SC to drop in, lets help, the project is interesting.<P>Two biggest problems are the computer interface to the stock BCM and the transmission longetivity.<P>The first may be an annoyance but we can handle (if you have the original SC ECM, and chance of borrowing the PROM for long enough to do a dump ?).<P>The transmission problem is more serious. Our stock 4T60 is two strength levels under what is packaged with a modern SC car (now HO version of 4T65(E)). <P>In a Fiero (RWD) this is not so much of a problem as with a FWD since weight transfer will unload rather than load the tire. This means with a stock suspension you get grab, unload, spin, reload, grab.... aka tramp and this puts shock loads on the tranny many times what you get with pure wheelspin.<P>I suspect the automatic traction control on new cars is as much for warrently purposes as to promote traction - had a Buick try to slide under accelleration in the rain yesterday and the ATS did nothing to help.<P>So be careful about smoking the tires, they may start bouncing on you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted August 7, 2002 Share Posted August 7, 2002 Will be home (where equipment is, last time I bought my programmer with me the airport x-ray zapped it) next week but next probable time will be labor day.<P>Anyone else here with a stable address who can dump a PROM ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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