1963 Riveria lowered springs

[Guest Grapeman]

I know that there has been a lot of discussion on this topic and I have read most of what I could find.  Just some feedback and a few questions.  I just spoke to Perry at Coil Springs Specialties in  KS.  Very helpful and very knowledgeable  I have a stock 63, no AC, stock Rally rims, and I am going to get 225/70/15 or 225/75/15 tires.  I ordered the heavy duty 3" dropped springs.  Perry suggested the HD springs, because the have a 10-15% stiffer spring rate than the stock springs.  He said that with the 3" drop, the stiffer spring rate would prevent the car from scraping the road in a lot of conditions over the stock spring rate. Regarding the "donuts" or washers that go between the springs and the mounts, he suggesting using them because with the shorter spring, there would be less  travel and it could tend to make a metal to metal scraping sound.  He said if not available, just cut a piece of heater hose and put on each side of the lower and upper coil and it will do the same thing.  When they squish down, it will not affect the spring height.  However, they are available and   can be purchased from OPG.  Regarding shocks, Perry said that the rear shocks should be fine, however he is unsure if the fronts will require new shocks...shorter.  Does anyone have any experience with this and if so, what kind of shocks are recommended?  Also, would like some feedback on any experience anyone has had in getting the car aligned after the shortened springs have been installed. I am going to  have the castor set at positive 2-3 degrees and the chamber set at 1/4 positive per the suggestions of Russ the Buick guy in Grass Valley, Ca to improve the handling with the radial tires.  Has the alignment presented any problems to anyone who has dropped the  car 3"?  Any feedback would be appreciated.  Also, regarding Coil Spring Specialities, they were very helpful.  Turn around time on the springs is 2-3 weeks.  They will custom make them, but said that they do a lot of Riviera's so it is not a problem.  Cost is $205 for fronts, $192 for rears and $70 shipping to Calif. I will take some before and after pics and post them when the car is done.

 

Ken Nerlove  ROA# 15041

[RivNut]

Great info.  Keep us informed as to further developments and be sure to post pictures.

 

Ed

[Seafoam65]

                Wow, I don't see how you drive an early Riviera with a 3 inch drop.......the factory height is so low that they barely clear

dips  and speed bumps. If you want to drop it that much I'd put air suspension on it....sounds like a driving nightmare to me.

[smithbrother]

As far as front shocks go, when I did my 41 Limited, I lowered the car to the ground, ROLLED it back and forth a couple time to assure the car was at ride height, then measured from lower to upper mounting points.  Shock people were given this measurement, and a shock was selected.  As it turned out, the original shocks were fine.  Mounted I had plenty of BOUNCE, and RETURN room, no chance of reaching the end of the shock shock on the up motion, or bottoming out.

 

Another trick I did was to take some plastic garbage bags, folded them a few times, laid then under the front tires, then when I lowered the wheels, they slid on the plastic to the ride position.

 

YOU already know this, hehe.

 

Dale in Indy

 

 

Edited May 19, 2016 by smithbrother (see edit history)

[jframe]

2 hours ago, Seafoam65 said:

                Wow, I don't see how you drive an early Riviera with a 3 inch drop.......the factory height is so low that they barely clear

dips  and speed bumps. If you want to drop it that much I'd put air suspension on it....sounds like a driving nightmare to me.

Had a local policeman that was admiring my 65 the other day ask me if I had lowered it. Told him nope; it was factory height, but they DO have a low roofline for a Sixties car!

Edited May 20, 2016 by jframe (see edit history)

[Guest Grapeman]

Quote

OK, here is an update ( 1 year later) on above post on May 19, 2016.  The above pics reflect the  car when I  purchased it with the 20" rims.  Those went and I put some wildcat rally rims on it. And then I lowered it 3" all around. The car rides extremely nice for a lowered car.  It is a little bouncy, but the suspension handles it nicely.  I ended up putting on 215/75/15 tires.  No rubbing problems at all.  I had the front end aligned as in my original post.  Handles and steers perfect. I did replace the rubber bushings on  the rear panard bar and it made a substantial improvement in handling and steering.  A big improvement!  I used the stock Monroe shocks.  No need to get different shocks, even with the 3 in drop.  The front shocks, in my opinion, could be improved upon by being a bit stiffer.  I think it  would improve it degree of bounciness a bit.  It's not bad at all, and it  is what you get with a lowered car.  I like the ride.  I used the stock spring insulators that were on the car.  Work fine.  No metal to metal noise.  The car height is about 6.75 inch to the bottom of the rocker panel all the way around...front and back...as measured from behind the front wheel and in front of the rear wheel.  The front crossmember , which is the lowest part of the frame, is 4" off the ground.  And no, I do not scrape. I drive the car a lot and I don't baby it. Regarding the exhaust,   I tucked in up along the  frame rails, removed the 2 mufflers and put an 1800 series Flowmaster mounted crossways in front of the rear end.  2 in and 2 out, with a nice set of chrome tips barley showing below the rear bumper.  It sounds super cool....sort of a Harley rumble and Chris Craft mixed.  No drone on the road either.  The Riv puts a smile on my face.  I enjoy the 401 and dynaflow combo.  I have a few more tweaks to do, but for me, working on the car is a much fun as driving it!

Edited April 6, 2017 by Grapeman (see edit history)

[arnulfo de l.a.]

HUGE improvement looks wise. That's about how low my 65 sits but not because I lowered it. It has " settled " to that height over the years and it's a gs which from what I have read on this forum came from the factory lower than non gs rivis. I also run the same size tires as yours has. Your car looks good