Front coilovers the easy (and fast) way

[Helirich]

My car seemed to be higher in the front than the back. I figured if I got some adjustable coilovers, I could even it out. There's several companies that make adjustable rear coilovers, but I only found two companies that make them for the front. Delorean Industries and KW. I called them both for pricing and KW never got back to me. I didn't really like the "clown colors" on the KWs anyways, so I ordered a set from DI.

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Nice looking stuff, but that's not really the subject of this thread. This trick will work no matter who you choose. I watched several videos on changing to the coilovers and they all were pretty much the same. Jack the car up, pull the wheel, remove the swaybar and shock. Then they proceed to install a spring compressor. Of course, it doesn't fit very good and you must grab six coils for it to work. You can't get a ratchet on the one side because something's in the way. Basically, it's a PITA.

Well I went from this.

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To this.

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In 25 minutes, and a good bit of that time was cutting off the lower spring cup that I found out later I didn't need to remove. Note, in the pic, the swaybar is off the front. This is not required to complete this job.

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How did I do it? Cut off wheel. I wasn't trying save the spring and I knew I didn't need a spring compressor to install the coilover, so I figured "why not cut it"?

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I know what your thinking. We've all heard stories of people killing them selves removing springs without spring compressors. Well, you be the judge. I left the shock in place, so the spring (or parts of it) can't get off the car untill you remove it. After you cut four coils, the spring is loose. You remove the shock and the spring just falls off in pieces.

Of course, ware safety glasses and don't put your hands around the springs till they are obviously loose. There is one other trick or hint I will give you. You need to angle the cut off wheel slightly from vertical. You need to think about how the spring will "jump" when the final 1/8" of steel gets cut. You want the spring to seperate from the cut off wheel. If you angle it the wrong way, the two pieces of spring will pinch the wheel. If you were to do this, your wheel will be destroyed in one cut. I was able to cut all eight coils with one wheel. (Nearly wore out at the end)

EDIT:
I guess my "how to" wasn't very good on the steps. It should be more like this.

1. Jack up front of car and place jack stands.
2. Remove wheels.
3. Unlock steering so you can easily get at what you want.
4. Back off the upper and lower control arm bolts at the frame. (Just one turn will do)
5. Cut four coils on each spring with a 4" cutoff wheel. (I started with the lowest coil I could get at) Cut them so the coil releases the cutoff wheel, not pinch.

Note. The first three coils give a hard snap when they release. The forth not so much. In any case, the spring should not be under any tension when finished cutting.

6. Remove the top and bottom shock mount bolts and take the shock out the bottom.
7. Remove the spring pieces.
8. Remove or modify the lower spring cup.

Note. The coilovers allow you to lower their car by 4". If you are planing to lower it that much, you need to remove the spring cup. If you are only going to lower the car an inch or two, you can get away with out removing it. At a minimum, I would grind the inner edge of the cup down. It makes the coilover assembly easier.

9. Disassemble the coilover and hold the two nuts and spring in between the control arms.
10. Slide the shock up through the lower arm, nuts and spring. Thread the nuts on as far as they will go.
11. Install the top D-cup on the coilover. This is a little "fiddlily" to get in there.
12. Install the nut and lock nut on the top of the coilover.
13. Start threading the spring nuts on by hand till you line up the lower mount holes.
14. Install the lower mount bolt with the spacers supplied.

Note. At this point, you need a starting point for your height adjustment. I threaded the spring nut untill I had 2" of threads on the bottom. At that height, I couldn't get the jack out from under the car when I lowered it. So I lowered it on ramps.

15. Set your height to your desire with the car jacked up and checking it by lowering it on the ramps. (Multiple times)
16. When you think you have it right back the car off the ramps and take final measurements.
17. If you like it, pull it back on the ramp and tighten the control arm and shock bolts. Also, tighten the lock nut on your coilover with the supplied spanner wrenches.

I couldn't edit this into my original post. Maybe admin could move it up there.