'WHEELS'

iTrader: (1)

Before anybody gets pissed off and starts flaming me... this is NOT an F body or any other car of value!!!


so this is my 1988 toyota tercel hatchback. i bought this car for $350, it has 95k original miles and drives like a dream. My buddies and I gave it this paint job the first day, and I use it as my DD/experiment car. This thing has been through 3ft deep rain lakes, mud, reverse donuts, burnouts, and we even took the doors off once and cruised around town. NOW we want to see if we can make this bitch HANDLE. it probably weighs about 2k lbs, FWD and makes about 90hp I'd guess. We're wanting to do this with as little cost as possible, hopefully damn near free.

I have found out through research that the bolt pattern is the same as many other toyota's out there, like MR2's, celica's, corolla's and even the 1g Prius. I plan on finding some factory wheels, hopefully 14's or 15's (stock are 13x4.5 )

we also need to get it closer to the ground. instead of buying lowering springs or a coilover setup (yes, they have them), we plan on either cutting or heating up the factory springs.

I need to know exactly what the correct way to do this is, and any other info/tips you guys have to share. We decided after it's lowered and how we want it, we will take it up a local mountain road with some nice smooth corners and see how she handles. Feel free to add any input, or just follow along and get a good laugh

excuse the mullet, it was halloween

therealcreeper

iTrader: (37)

if i had to choose i would cut them rather than heat them. you do realize handling involves a lot more than just a lower center of gravity though right? you'll gain a little rate by cutting but it won't do a whole lot

j_dover

iTrader: (18)

u gotta do a tail light smoke mod and a huge exaust lol

'WHEELS'

iTrader: (1)

i do realize that... but this is not a car that i plan on putting any money into to actually make it a competitor lol. This is mainly just for entertainment purposes.

I'd like to find out how much lower the car would sit by cutting off 1 single coil, or 2 coils etc. is there a way to measure that? also, is the spring rate affected at all with the heating process?

'WHEELS'

iTrader: (1)

tail light VHT is a great idea! that would look pretty badass.

as for the exhaust, we unbolted the muffler when i got it, but i had to put it back on, for as slow as this car is it was just embarrassing to be making that much noise hahaha

ThoR294

iTrader: (6)

heating the springs = ricer noob idiot mod. you compromise the integrity of the spring when you heat it. and they will be crooked as hell. DO NOT HEAT THEM UP

Jeep_junkie

Cutting the springs is a fairly simple and straightforward job. You can use a hacksaw (or a bandsaw if you want it done faster) and plenty of WD40 for lubrication. Neither method heats up the steel enough to damage its structural properties. I would stay away from torches and high speed cutoff wheels since they naturally generate a lot of heat. Cutting the springs increases the spring rate by the same percentage as the number of coils removed as a proportion of the total number of coils, i.e. the spring has 10 coils and you removed 2, the spring rate increased by 20%. Generally, you'll want to cut off one coil first and half a coil subsequently if you want addtional lowering. Although the increase in springrate is moderate and noticeable, it's usually not enough for performance applications. It will still ride pretty much like stock as long as you arent bouncing off the bumpstops.

'WHEELS'

iTrader: (1)

^^ the exact info i was looking for... thanks man!!

i'm thinking about finding a second set of stock springs somewhere and cutting those ones, that way if i mess it up or it's unbearable i'll just swap them out.

I'm hoping to take out that vette parked in front of it through some twisties when this setup is complete.

just kidding.

Jeep_junkie

No problem man! Do a search for cutting springs too - there's a lot of additional information on the forums that you'll find helpful. A lot of people including myself drive on cut factory springs with no adverse effects.

therealcreeper

iTrader: (37)

i must say it looks like a pretty fun project. if you wanna put a little money into it get some poly swaybar endlinks, they're cheap enough. could also use those super cheap rubber "spring helpers" they sell at autozone (supposed to be to help sagging springs) in order to try to reduce body roll maybe.

don't know how much i'd trust those teeny little tires though haha. throw some 315's on. see if they'll squeeze onto the stock wheels, we all know it's safe to run really wide tires on thin wheels.