C2 Car Height

[Doug L.]

My '64 body was reunited with its chassis 2 days ago. It is sitting very high off the garage floor, 29-1/4" to the center of the front fender arch for example, and that point is ~2" above the top of the tire. Other than hood, decklid, upholstry and bumpers, everything is now on rubber.

The springs are restored originals. All the bushings and other suspension components are new. I have a feeling that the car has to be driven and bounced around a bit before it will "settle" to its final ride height. Is this correct or should I be looking for some problem(s) before I get further along with the re-assembly?

Thanks and a special thanks to all vets who served our country. Hand salute.

[Bill H.]

Re: C2 Car Height

If you just dropped the car off of jackstands, the camber angle of the tires is fighting the suspension. Roll it back and forth 6 feet.

[John H.]

Re: C2 Car Height

My '64 body was reunited with its chassis 2 days ago. It is sitting very high off the garage floor, 29-1/4" to the center of the front fender arch for example, and that point is ~2" above the top of the tire. Other than hood, decklid, upholstry and bumpers, everything is now on rubber.

The springs are restored originals. All the bushings and other suspension components are new. I have a feeling that the car has to be driven and bounced around a bit before it will "settle" to its final ride height. Is this correct or should I be looking for some problem(s) before I get further along with the re-assembly?

Doug -

Did you wait until it was on wheels and settled at design ride height before torquing all of the front and rear suspension bushing through-bolts and front stabilizer bar frame bushings? If not, all of the bushings will be "wound up" in torsion and the car will sit well above correct ride height.

[Michael H.]

Re: C2 Car Height

My '64 body was reunited with its chassis 2 days ago. It is sitting very high off the garage floor, 29-1/4" to the center of the front fender arch for example, and that point is ~2" above the top of the tire. Other than hood, decklid, upholstry and bumpers, everything is now on rubber.

The springs are restored originals. All the bushings and other suspension components are new. I have a feeling that the car has to be driven and bounced around a bit before it will "settle" to its final ride height. Is this correct or should I be looking for some problem(s) before I get further along with the re-assembly?

Thanks and a special thanks to all vets who served our country. Hand salute.

Doug,

It sounds like you have a lot of items to add before the car is complete. You may be surprised how much difference the last few hundred pounds will make. That will bring the weight into the design range of the springs.

Add up some of the weights that are still missing, such as bumpers, seats, 25 lbs of coolant, oil etc etc.

[Joseph M.]

Re: C2 Car Height

Don't worry about the current height. When we put the body back on my 70 last year it looked like it was ready to go off road 4 wheeling. As items were added and the car driven a bit, it settled to factory specs. I know it's hard to believe it will settle several inches and when I was told it would I was skeptable, but it did settle. Just remember, as posted above, don't tighten everything until it's on the ground and rolled a few feet back and forth.

[Doug L.]

Re: C2 Car Height

Just to clarify, the chassis was "rolling" for several months before the body was placed on it. None of the suspension bolts were torqued and still arent. It's hard to imagine 2 squares of fiberglass (hood, deck lid) , carpet and seats will add enough weight to lower the car approximately 2 to 3 inches. Guess I'll go underneath and double-check all the suspension bolts to make sure none are tight.

[Joseph M.]

Re: C2 Car Height

Please see my previous post for reassurance. Seriously, the same situation drove me crazy. I posted here, like you, seeking advice and was essentially told it will settle. IT DID. Continue to assemble your car, fill it with gas, drive it and watch it settle.