Traditional question part 2: lowering the rear

just like as in the beam question I posted, I will be researching this but I want to see what you guys may have to offer.

I guess I am looking to notch the spring plates. Any one Have dimensions on that?

How low will X amount of clicks get? there's no motor in it so its kinda hard to judge.

Is there a DIY on any of this?

I know there is a inner and outer spline but I'm looking for pointers as to what this is in reference to.

You guys were a huge help on my other post hopefully some one else can find that thread and use the info generated.

This is what I followed when I lowered my rear end. This article is actually for raising a rear end, but it gives you the idea of how everything comes apart and works.
http://www.meyersmanx.com/garage/garage_suspend.htm

The rear torsion bars (one on each side of the car) have splines on both ends. Inner splines and outer splines. The inner and outer ends have a different number of splines though, so rotating one outer spline isn't the same as rotating one inner spline. Here is a chart that shows you how much each spline lowers your car.



Before you do anything, go to home depot, find the tool section, and get what is called an inclinometer. This is the best tool to have when re-indexing the rear. Once you drop the spring plate from the stop and it is at a free rest, measure your angle BEFORE you remove the spring plate from the torsion bar. This way if you mess up, you know where you started and can easily get back there.

You can use a combination of inners and outers movements to fine tune. Indexing the arm up one outer spline gives you a drop of 5.5cm (a little over 2 inches)

Ditto on the inclinometer. My 57 was leaning badly when I got it so I had no good starting point. I used the inclinometer to set both sides equal and re-level the car.

X3 on the inclinometer, around like $10 at Home depot.
Also, there is a really good 4 part series on Youtube on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMxBolHOJR4
There are like 10 thousand videos on how to do this, but this guy is easy to understand and puts it into plain english.
It is the same as a beetle, except some, (like mine), have 2 swing plates.

Good luck!
KC

Thanks errbody!

I was watching some of the vids last night. Looks rather simple.
How many "clicks" before I need to notch the spring plates?

http://www.manuelsweb.com/in_cm.htm

There's a cm to inch conversion chart if anyone else would like it.

At one point in time some one told me to be careful when doing this, they sted like the springs may be under pressure. True?

How much can I expect the motor to drop it? Not sure if I want to do 2 or 3 outer splines.

This is what 3 outer spline will look like...

^ this!
Did you have to notch your spring plates?

Yes, I notched about a 1/2" out to keep the plate from hitting the stop.

The spring plates are under load when setting against the bottom stop. There's a number of ways to get them past the stop safely including a special tool.
http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC-C10-7047

for a swing all you need to do is take the axle loose put the jack under the end of the spring plate and lift it off the stop.....put a big screw driver between the plate and housing and pry it out while lowering the jack enough to clear the stop

Is that what we are calling the stop?

That's it!

I am referring to upper stop. When one lowers the rear excessively as on Drew's car, the spring plate has to be notched or have an offset built into it. Something similar to these which are for a bus.

There are drop plates available as well.

Right on, there was 2 conversations regarding stops at the same time. I really like the concept of the drop spring plates.

just notch the plates and set em at 2 clicks you'll be good to go
don't over think it its waaaay easy

2 outers = nice and low may eat tires and rub depending on what size
3 outers = just time before your fulcrums and drums take a dump and its way low

Media blasted, and notched. Already painted one side and they look damn good!

Nice job...

Thank you, I appreciate that!