How to Lower a 1963-1982 Corvette on a Budget. Getting the Stance Right.

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Mid-Year Mitch

Mid-Year Mitch

Күн бұрын

Welcome to my KZbin channel. This channel is the home for all your vintage Mid-Year Corvette content. In today's episode I am lowering the Misfit. The car sat too high with the stock 40+ year old springs. After cutting 1 coil off the coil springs and changing the rear spring bolts, the car sits right! This was a fairly easy and very inexpensive change to transform the look of the car in an afternoon.
I just finished restoring a 1963 Corvette Split Window and I am starting another split window build but this time its a race car build. I will be making videos every Friday. I will be making videos on my 1963 Corvette Split Window, my dad's 1965 Corvette, my race car split window build, my friends 1960 Corvette, and other projects that I find along the way. Let me know what you think about the video. Enjoy!!
If you are interested in an official MYM hat or if you have any questions please send me an email to midyearmitch@gmail.com.
Check out my Instagram for some behind the scenes pics of my builds.
www.instagram....
Sit back and enjoy the show!
#IGotALotOfWorkToDo
#BuiltNotBought
#RatRodCorvetteSplitWindow

Пікірлер: 52
@MrMakemyday3
@MrMakemyday3 8 ай бұрын
the stance was perfect from the factory- i had five with no complaints at all
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 8 ай бұрын
I didn’t have C2 springs in the car so that’s why I cut them down. The car sat way too high.
@budehrmann5902
@budehrmann5902 3 жыл бұрын
Mitch, the spring 'rate' actually goes up as you remove coils. It is a big formula, but in it you are dividing by 3 times the number of coils, so the rate (Pounds of force per inch of compression)goes up fast. Actually, if you would have cut 1/2 a coil, the front probably would have gone up. I have what they called F41 springs in the front of my 69 Small Block and the front bumper is about 2 inches lower than a stock 69. And if I jack it up with the shocks removed, I can wiggle the coils out without disconnecting the upper ball joint. The rear is likewise lowered with a leaf spring I made from a old truck spring with lots of modifications. I live in Florida, so pot holes are no problem here..
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Hey Bud, good explanation. I haven’t seen the spring rate equation equation since college. That’s crazy that you can wiggle the springs right out! The cut springs were still a pain to install lol. Before I cut the springs I researched a lot of the free lengths and looked at the rates to get an idea of how much I could safely cut. Must be nice to not have to worry about pit holes haha. Sounds like you were very resourceful for the springs on your car!
@jimballardband
@jimballardband 3 жыл бұрын
Good information. 👍🏼
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Hey thanks Jim. 👍
@randywatsonii3173
@randywatsonii3173 2 жыл бұрын
this is what I will be doing, thanks for posting. Also, I freakin want a 63 too!
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 2 жыл бұрын
Nice best of luck!
@ssdtrain1
@ssdtrain1 2 жыл бұрын
When lifting from the rear spring, use a vice grip on the spring, place the jack against it, that way the jack won't move on you.. just a tip >:}
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 2 жыл бұрын
Hey I like that! I will totally steal that idea when I put a leaf spring in this week. Thanks for the tip!
@jkeithv65
@jkeithv65 2 жыл бұрын
@@MidYearMitch make sure that's a steel spring. Don't do that with a fiberglass spring!
@steves9905
@steves9905 3 жыл бұрын
looks sooo much better at the new height. as nice as the red one is, i bet the misfit will get more attention, cause car guys will know that it gets driven and that rarely happens with a '63 couple any more
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Thanks Steve. I couldn’t take it to Carlisle sitting like a truck. It drove me crazy sitting that high. I powered through lowering it to make the ugly go away lol. Yeah a lot of guys appreciate that it’s like a 70’s road warrior and it has its scars. Every once and a while I see a split driving around.
@RandBLSWorld
@RandBLSWorld 3 жыл бұрын
Love it. I did the exact same thing on my C3.. I took a coil out of a set of front small block springs. I swapped in an LS1 which takes a 100 lbs of the nose.
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Wow 100 off the nose should make a huge difference on the car. It lowered it to the perfect height too.
@juliuspitrowski6054
@juliuspitrowski6054 2 жыл бұрын
Love the build. Do the body into the full look of a grandsport
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 2 жыл бұрын
You’ll see what happens with the body this week lol.
@johnpye7177
@johnpye7177 Жыл бұрын
Sweet
@bobdavis3389
@bobdavis3389 3 жыл бұрын
That's an old hot rodders trick . I bet the ride wasn't affected at all , right Mitch ?Keep the videos coming >
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Oh yeah it’s classic. I was waiting for someone to slam me in the comments so I tried to cover my bases and give advice on how to do it so someone doesn’t cut like 3 coils off lol. Yeah it didn’t hurt the ride at all. I’ll keep them coming! Thanks for watching!
@OutontheRanchwithDrLee-xb4lo
@OutontheRanchwithDrLee-xb4lo 3 жыл бұрын
Looks great, Mitch. Did you get sufficient front fender clearance with "clock to clock" (full excursion each way) steering? If it's close, be careful when turning into inclining driveways.... Don't ask me how I know! lol
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Thanks Dr. Lee. Oh man sounds like you found out the hard way.... I had to trim the parking light panel bonding strip a bit. But it didn’t get close to the fender lip at the 12 position. Hopefully it didn’t hurt your car too much!
@RumRaspberryMocha
@RumRaspberryMocha 2 жыл бұрын
Nice video, thx!
@jkeithv65
@jkeithv65 2 жыл бұрын
I assume you know that cutting a coil spring raises its spring rate. Cutting one coil off of that one that has about eight coils, means your spring rate increased about 12%. That will give you a little firmer ride, but the other negative aspect is it could overwhelm the shocks. So due to changing suspension height and a need for increased damping, you should always consider getting new shocks that match the new spring characteristics.
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 2 жыл бұрын
Good tips thank you. The car had springs in it that were designed for a heavier car. So the car sat too high. Higher than the factory specs. So this brought the car down to close to the factory specs. So the performance stock replacement shock will live happily there haha.
@jkeithv65
@jkeithv65 2 жыл бұрын
@@MidYearMitch It may be, but sounds like the new spring rate is considerably higher than what the factory shock was designed for, so it may not have enough damping, leading to a "bouncy" ride. But if it's feeling OK to you, then 👍🏻
@MrTexasDan
@MrTexasDan 3 жыл бұрын
Hey Mitch, Cool. I think you got the ride height just right. Looks great. How's the hard cornering ... does it stay stuck to the road? Thanks for all the content! Daily vids are great. Take care, and always remember the words of wisdom from ETCG ... Coils springs want to kill you. Dan
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Hey Dan thanks! I’m really happy with the ride height. I didn’t try to put the car in a solemn or anything but it feels to hug the road and corner well. It doesn’t feel much different than my challenger except the challenger doesn’t try to shake me to death lol. The challenger handles really well too. That’s a fun car to take on back roads. The misfit feels very light and responsive. Thanks for tuning in! I figured I would try some daily videos and see how that goes. I like Wednesday and Friday uploads so I wanted to see what a Thursday one would do. Yes coil springs are evil and have a lot of built up energy.
@tommymallory1466
@tommymallory1466 5 ай бұрын
Mitch, I have a 1965 Corvette and the front of the hood is about a quarter inch higher than the front end of the car. Do you have any tips or suggestions on how to lower the front end of the hood to match the front part of the car? Love your videos Keep up the good work . Thanks.
@joeygotts
@joeygotts 3 жыл бұрын
Some of my pals said you aren't up to the challenge of painting the Misfit. I then told them you just liked the cheap, grungy, rat rod appearance, nothing wrong with that.
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
A picture of the Misfit just got posted on roadkillshows Instagram. Like the show roadkill. So the car can’t be painted now!
@jeffalessi
@jeffalessi 3 жыл бұрын
@@MidYearMitch Roadkill is very popular, my Goombadi's enjoy laughing at the beaters the show features. There is a great phrase that goes something like this: "There Is A Lid For Every Garbage Can"
@davidsmith3828
@davidsmith3828 2 жыл бұрын
Please share your source for the 8” bolts. I have a ‘75 that has a previous owner installed fiberglass spring…like the Misfit it sits a little high. Great video…thanks for posting!
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 2 жыл бұрын
I bought them from corvette world. You can adjust the car to make it higher or lower. It’s nice to be able to adjust the ride height. Thanks for watching David!
@MisterQap
@MisterQap Жыл бұрын
Subsribed!
@Rt66runner
@Rt66runner 2 жыл бұрын
looks good MItch. I was wondering how you have black trim around front and rear glass? Is it rubber gasket or did you paint the chrome trim around the windows?
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 2 жыл бұрын
Hey thanks Chuck. That is the windshield and back window rubber gasket. I didn’t have any trim on the inside or outside of the car.
@jimrains8314
@jimrains8314 3 жыл бұрын
I did my rear end about 5 weeks ago and it was super simple. The front is another story, I've never worked with front springs. I'm going to run 255x60s on the back and 235x60s on the front. If it sets as nice as yours I'll be happy. Any idea what the ride height should be and the correct place to measure? I really appreciate the time and energy that you put into the video's. And to get 3 in 3 days, is it Christmas?
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching Jim. Haha I was experimenting to see how daily videos would affect my overall views. Something to challenge myself lol. The rear spring used to scare me more but it’s much less work to change that than it is to change coils. If you have the assembly manual it gives you the specs for how high the car should sit. My red 63 sits right on the money. I believe it’s 25.25” if I remember correctly. You measure from the flat of the wheel lip to the ground. But if you have flares that’s a bit challenging. You could get creative there lol. That sounds like a great combo. I found a wheel and tire size comparison tool online and used that to help me compare different tires.
@johnkelly6942
@johnkelly6942 3 жыл бұрын
Even when they’re done they’re not done.
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Yes it’s never ending! You know the deal.
@z512345
@z512345 3 жыл бұрын
Hi Mitch, I noticed that you did not use a fiberglass spring in the rear, and did you use polyurethane spring bolt bushings.
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Hey Frank. Yes I used the original 45 year old 78 leaf spring. I wasn’t sure if I would like how it drove so I didn’t want to spend the money on the spring. I did use poly bushings throughout the car. The car drives fine as is. If I didn’t like it I was going to try a fiberglass spring or coilovers.
@z512345
@z512345 3 жыл бұрын
@@MidYearMitch O.K. Mitch. I just want to let you know that I have owned, in my 70 years of life, over 35 or so corvettes. Many C2's. Starting from 1960 non fulie , to a 2005 yellow convertible with 50K , which I have owned for 15 years.
@billdryden1268
@billdryden1268 2 жыл бұрын
I actually like the ride height HIGH
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 2 жыл бұрын
I liked it low because it fits the road race vibe. But it was tricky having the side pipes under the chassis. It scraped going on a trailer.
@bugsbunny7205
@bugsbunny7205 3 жыл бұрын
Nice vid but you left the wheel alignment out after the lowering Also does that change pinion angle
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Thanks Ronald. So I actually lowered the car in August before Carlisle and had it aligned in September. I released the videos out of order lol. I wanted to get the ride height set before I got it aligned for that reason. If you look closely you can see the pictures where the car is high it doesn’t have the decals on it. When it has the decals it’s low.
@bugsbunny7205
@bugsbunny7205 3 жыл бұрын
@@MidYearMitch it turned out nice, with the rocker panel molding on it will look "Really good".. I have a 68 roadster The rocker panel moldings not cheap but it makes a huge difference it's worth it
@jeffalessi
@jeffalessi 3 жыл бұрын
I wonder if the aesthetics would improve with a PAINT JOB....
@MidYearMitch
@MidYearMitch 3 жыл бұрын
Nope haha. The car shocks all the senses lol.
@C0rvette454
@C0rvette454 6 ай бұрын
Bro has 2 63s and is doing this on a budget lol
哈哈大家为了进去也是想尽办法!#火影忍者 #佐助 #家庭
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