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69 AMX coil spring dilemma

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uncljohn View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote uncljohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/30/2013 at 4:41pm
Who in their right mind is going to cut a spring with an air chisel? You might as well lay it on the ground and beat it with an sledge hammer. I said cut off tool, not air chisel. I use'm all the time. Dang. Easier faster than a torch no matter how good you are at them and something most people are going to have in their garage tools. I don't even own a torch and never did. And don't really intend to.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote uncljohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/30/2013 at 4:52pm
Originally posted by amc67rogue amc67rogue wrote:

The factory springs in those yrs. had a p/n for the pass. side & one for the drivers side . The springs for the pass. side were longer than the driver side . That was because most of the roads were sloaped toward the pass. side, that was  what was refered to as the crown of the road . The longer spring on the pass side made the car sit level .
=====================
Of the couple dozen front suspension I have rebuilt I have yet to see this. If I did after 40 something years of questionable maintenance on what quickly turned into a beater or a throw away car  I would have just figured some fool put what ever they could find in the car and called it good to go and then gone out and found some new ones or bought some.
With absolutely no paper trail to verify what I took out of the car actually belonged in there in the first place I would verify that the springs I removed were identical to each other and if not, gone and found some that were.
As I too neither like the nose in the sky attitude that seems to haunt AMC cars, when I  take them apart I take about a half to three quarters a turn off the top of the spring and then put spring back in when  I am done.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hurst390 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/30/2013 at 7:01pm
I have cut coils on the front of my Spirit...I have slammed the front end down from 3 ft in the air HUNDREDS of times and they keep coming back for more...Big smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote amxdreamer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/30/2013 at 8:01pm
A friend of mine was an AMC parts guy in the 70's and 80's. He checked his parts books and confirmed that they DO NOT list left and right springs for a '69 AMX. All '68 to '72 Javelins and AMX V8 cars list 2 per car, no left and right per application. A few early 6 cyl. Javelins list left and right depending on A/C as did early Rebels, Matadors and Ambos.
This is coming from a guy that should know his stuff first hand.
Tony
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billd View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/31/2013 at 7:29am
Originally posted by uncljohn uncljohn wrote:

Who in their right mind is going to cut a spring with an air chisel? You might as well lay it on the ground and beat it with an sledge hammer. I said cut off tool, not air chisel. I use'm all the time. Dang. Easier faster than a torch no matter how good you are at them and something most people are going to have in their garage tools. I don't even own a torch and never did. And don't really intend to.



I was referring to chisel for exhaust pipes when stating that anyone good with a torch could cut something without getting it hot much beyond the cut.
I've owned and used a torch for 40 years - a lot of practice. Cut off saws were not available and when they were, they were not common, I find a torch more useful, portable, and flexible. Can do more with it from welding to brazing, soldering, bending, cutting, etc. A saw does one thing............ ya might be amazed at how fast, clean and good a person who is well-versed with a torch can cut something like that.  Wink
I was saying I used a torch to cut pipe off when replacing exhaust parts as it's cleaner and faster and quieter than an air chisel............ never said cut a spring with a chisel!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/31/2013 at 7:33am
Originally posted by uncljohn uncljohn wrote:

Originally posted by amc67rogue amc67rogue wrote:

The factory springs in those yrs. had a p/n for the pass. side & one for the drivers side . The springs for the pass. side were longer than the driver side . That was because most of the roads were sloaped toward the pass. side, that was  what was refered to as the crown of the road . The longer spring on the pass side made the car sit level .
=====================
Of the couple dozen front suspension I have rebuilt I have yet to see this. If I did after 40 something years of questionable maintenance on what quickly turned into a beater or a throw away car  I would have just figured some fool put what ever they could find in the car and called it good to go and then gone out and found some new ones or bought some.
With absolutely no paper trail to verify what I took out of the car actually belonged in there in the first place I would verify that the springs I removed were identical to each other and if not, gone and found some that were.
As I too neither like the nose in the sky attitude that seems to haunt AMC cars, when I  take them apart I take about a half to three quarters a turn off the top of the spring and then put spring back in when  I am done.



I've rebuilt a few hundred over roughly 40 years time.................. From very early Ramblers (well, it we call late 50s to early 60s range "early" Ramblers) to the latest AMCs.  I used the original dealer tools (and still own many of them) and a few home-made tools.
There's no urban legend to the 2 part numbers. Maybe the cars done weren't included in that.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote purple72Gremlin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/31/2013 at 8:56am
Originally posted by billd billd wrote:

Originally posted by uncljohn uncljohn wrote:

Who in their right mind is going to cut a spring with an air chisel? You might as well lay it on the ground and beat it with an sledge hammer. I said cut off tool, not air chisel. I use'm all the time. Dang. Easier faster than a torch no matter how good you are at them and something most people are going to have in their garage tools. I don't even own a torch and never did. And don't really intend to.



I was referring to chisel for exhaust pipes when stating that anyone good with a torch could cut something without getting it hot much beyond the cut.
I've owned and used a torch for 40 years - a lot of practice. Cut off saws were not available and when they were, they were not common, I find a torch more useful, portable, and flexible. Can do more with it from welding to brazing, soldering, bending, cutting, etc. A saw does one thing............ ya might be amazed at how fast, clean and good a person who is well-versed with a torch can cut something like that.  Wink
I was saying I used a torch to cut pipe off when replacing exhaust parts as it's cleaner and faster and quieter than an air chisel............ never said cut a spring with a chisel!

And you can cut one pipe and not touch the other.................and the torch doesnt waste time heating up exhaust manifold nuts so you can get them off without breaking the studs...........done that many a time.........
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote uncljohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/31/2013 at 11:52am
Out here where you get to live the code of the West and they don't use road salt, exhaust systems last almost forever and torches are not required to get things apart. An electric screw works for most pick a part runs and I use a saws-all to take cut out exhaust pipes.
The skilful artistic capability of yielding a Red Hammer is not mandatory knowledge. But like you say when you have that knowledge it is a pretty handy tool to have around.
I have a cheap wire feed electric welder and an Craftsman Stick Welder and between the two I have enough to set the car I am working on, on fire. So that works for me and goodly set of metal cutting tools and a 2 1/2 in disc cutting tool works quite well. I can trim and worry metal up to about 1/4 in thick with that.  That tool is how I cut all the ugly out of the mounting brackets i used to install the accessories on the Mercury Marine engine I am using in my Hornet.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hurst390 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/31/2013 at 7:41pm
I would agree that a torch could cut a coil spring and be ok..your not heating the entire spring just an end...Bill maybe you can bring your torch to GAD and we can have a torch off...I'll bring a piece of 5" thick steel and lets see who can cut through it clean and square...and maybe even have a circle cutting contestBig smile
That would show who is well versed in torch use and who is not...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JavmanBBG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan/31/2013 at 11:49pm
if you want an idea of what 45 yer old 6cyl springs will look like with VW front tires here are pics of my car with its original 6cyl springs and all of that long spring is shoved up in there. the newer MT street tires for skinnys I would use now are taller and would gain a little more GC and should sit above the wheel opening.   Also if you have headers they will bottom well before the springs will but the polly strut bar bushings and 90/10 shocks helped that issue out a bit and a deep pan may not work.

 I still sit about where my friends drag car with newer v8 springs and cut his springs a good bit, but higher than a tube chassis car




here is a good comparison


I also used -1" caltracs springs in the rear and 275 50 15s

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