You can find lowering blocks and aftermarket, universal a arm bumpers at Summit.


Lawrenceville, GA

Back at work on the Tbird disc brake swap. Have everything in place; Granada front spindles and rotors/calipers, Aerostar springs, dual manual master cylinder, Wilwood prop valve, battery relocated, etc. Just have to bleed the brakes and see if it all works tomorrow morning. Does anyone have a source for rear axle lowering blocks/U Bolts?. Also I trimmed the front lower A arm frame bumpers but would like to find an aftermarket set that could do a better looking job.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

I did some front suspension work on my Firebird over the past few weeks. Mine is a WS6 which is the RPO for performance suspension which includes performance springs, bigger sway bars, bigger wheels and wider tires, and a faster ratio steering box, oh, and a cool emblem on the dash. What that boils down to is that my springs will be different than most other Firebirds and Camaros made between 1982 and 1992 so I don't know if this will help much. The only significant difference may be the height and rate. Maybe they could be another option.

The free height of the spring is about 14". The height installed and just sitting on relatively level ground is difficult to measure, but it should be in the neighborhood of 10" based on measurements I took before re-installing the springs. This is in a car that weighs about 3450lbs without the driver. The OD is about 5.5".

Does that sound like it could work?


Lawrenceville, GA

You're right it's cold here at the beach too. Turned on my garden hose this morning and these clear cylinder shaped things came out. Danged if it didn't get cold enough to freeze the water in the hose last night.

Checked my radiator after that. I only have distilled water in the '55. Guess it didn't get cold enough in the garage. Wrenches are dang cold tho.

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

The tie rods I am using are the ones bought years ago from a Tbird parts house. I am still dealing with plumbing the brake lines, etc. Once I finish and set the car down, I will try to get a compressed spring height. Pretty damn cold here for us West Coast folks. Have to do my laundry and run the dryer in the garage to keep warm today.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Mark, if you get a chance measure the compressed height of the spring, with the weight on it





thanks, Mark

Mark, what are your tie rod ends off of. I didn't have to ream the spindles for my tie rod ends, just the ball joint. Also, being that low check to lower rubber A arm bumper. I had to trim mine to prevent riding on the bumper all the time. You may not have to trim it because mine has the spring cup spacers also. Easy check.



Please take into account that the above is referring to my RanchWagon, altho I believe the Bird to be the same.

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

I test fitted the Granada spindles and Aerostar front springs to get an idea of the ride height. It sits at 24 1/8 inches at the fender lip though the hub to the floor. Steering clearance seems good but will have to be careful on turning into driveways, etc. too fast. The tie rod holes in the spindles will need reaming to accept the tie rod end studs. I put the reamer into the hole to see where it wants to start cutting and it starts at the top of the hole.





57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Yes, I just did mine and I can confirm thte difference in height I've got a pic almost like yours just to prove it. Mine dropped about 2.

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

Sorry, Mark, I slipped a cog on that. My very old conversion uses Granda rotors, but with a (I think) different bearing stack to fit the original spindles. And mounts a mustang caliper. I sometimes forget there's more to it than just the rotors when "Granada" comes up. Still, the relative height measurements should let you make a pretty educated guess. A lot of the roads I drive are pretty rough, especially at a bridge or overpasses. I've got a car that's lower, and it bottoms, that's why I didn't change the spindles. Good luck. Let us know how it measures out.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ