springs or shocks

[7tonemonte]

John, I always thought mine sat up a bit in the front, but I can honestly say Ive never scraped a header on anything

 

[Sam (Bones)]

put a jack under the rear crossmember and raise the rear of the car until you see the ride height you like...remember....take before and after measurements!

[jad]

Sam measurements from the ground to the wheel well correct?

[Sam (Bones)]

just to see how far you want to raise it to get the look you want

 

you could lower the front but that takes some work and unless you have some experience with the front springs it can be dangerous!

 

[Dans '70 Z20]

Remember that any height wanted in the back you add a spacer equal to desired height difference. Will increase same height as spacer. Stationary top mount.

 

Contrary, in the front every increase in height desired must be cut in half. Height increases in front will be double the size of spacer. No stationary mount - both floating.

 

BTW. Air bags inside the rear coils is likely least expensive option

Dan

[MCfan]

Fellas Please look at this link from tony please and let me know what you think. Thanks. Post with Johns pics

 

John, you've already received some good feedback and suggestions but since you asked for opinions, here's mine. The "stance" of your first gen Monte should be whatever pleases you, the owner/driver. As others have said, there are various ways to change the stance.

 

In the photos Tony shared, it looks to me like your Monte's rocker panels are currently about parallel with the ground surface. I believe the primary reason the front may "look" high is merely an optical illusion created by the 2.5" difference in the height between the front and rear wheel well cutouts. Because your eye "sees" more of the front tire exposed than the rear tire, it looks like the front of the car body is elevated when, if fact, it is not.

 

I installed an Air Lift 1000 kit a couple years ago on my first '70 and have been very pleased with it. Initially, I ran 25 psi (35 is max) to lift the rear end, trying to get "equal" tire exposure. Unfortunately, that resulted in a stance that had more "rake" than I wanted. When I installed larger tires and rebuilt the front suspension, I added 1" rubber ring spacers in the front coils (primarily to get additional clearance for the 255/60-15 front tires) and reduced the Air Lift pressure to 15 psi on each side. That reduced the front-to-back "rake" to only 3/4" which is an acceptable stance for now.

 

Fixed spacers in the rear will get you some lift there (pretty economically, too) if that's what you want, but the Air Lift kit is a better way to get some height adjustability and also variable ride control based on different conditions like towing, back seat passengers and/or trunk contents. The Air Lift 1000 kit is less than $100 and very easy to install. Not trying to spend your money, but you may appreciate the ability to adjust your stance and control your ride with air pressure rather than spacers.

[Dans '70 Z20]

If you or a friend have the ability, it is likely your front springs are due for replacement anyhow, purchase a set of one inch drop springs from Hotchkis, Global West or SCandC.com. It will give you the right stance and better handling at the same time. Then while your in their replace your control arm bushings and ball joints. Will make a big difference and you won't have to tackle this job twice.

 

Dan