I was wondering how some of you guys do that.. I have RB springs all the way around w/ a nice set of blues but the rear still rides a tad bit high. Do you cut the RB springs or what...I'm not sure id be in to cutting into my RB springs but if it wouldnt really affect the ride I guess it wouldnt be that big of a deal...

 

i cut a coil off mine...im happy with it.
it rides good to me

 

Do you have new bushings? Because when I put the RB springs in it sagged. This is due to the Bushings not wanting to "give free"

If you want to lower the rear with the springs the only thing you can do is cut lengths of the coil till you get to your desired ride height. A word of caution the more you cut on the spring the stiffer the spring gets.

 

Ok so I guess I will be cutting a coil or two off.. I'm not too sure about the bushings but I will check. Thanks for the help!

 

I don't recommend cutting the coil, i would rather buy new rear springs from mazdatrix that has dead coils on them.

 

Start out with 2" lowered rear springs and get them heated/compressed to get to required height. 3.75" lowered is good (I would recommend cutting 1" off bumpstop also)

 

I'd cut before I ever heated any spring.

But before I cut into any spring,Id just get the deadwound springs that justin recommended......oh wait,I already did.They are the best way to go if your not sure about final ride height,or have plans to change your wheel/tire combination later on......175lb'ers feel just right on a streetcar......

 

If done properly compressing springs is fine. At least compressed springs still seat properly, with cut springs there are no guarantees they will seat right.
The place that made/compressed my springs has been around since 1935 so I'd say they know what they're talking about

 

...so that's what you ozzys mean by having your springs "reset". How do they heat them? Oven? The cheap *** way most of us think about when heating coils is taking a torch to them and letting them sag...then cool them with a wet rag.

 

I'm fairly sure when they reset them at the local spring place is in a press inside a kiln. I think they do it gradually rather than in one compression

 

There was a company, I believe ISC Racing, that made adjustable collars matched with shorter springs for the rear of the 7. I recently installed this setup on my 7, and it works great. Unfortunately, they are no longer making them because they are moving into strictly Miata parts.

The good news is, Respeed is thinking about picking up where they left off. You might want to ask Billy if they are still planning on doing this....

As far as heating springs to resize them, it is possible. I read instructions years back in one of my books which I apparently no longer have (assuming it was "How to hotrod and race your Datsun"). It involved compressing them, placing them into an oven set at X degrees for X amount of time. Then allow them to cool, remove the compressor, and check the size. Repeat as needed to get the desired height. Sorry I no longer have the specifics... The best part about this method is that you do not change the spring rate with this, as you do with cutting springs.

However, if you want to lower, and stiffen, the car then cutting is a viable option. The only potential issue with this is whether or not the spring will still fit the mounts after cutting. Good luck...

 

Yes, we do have the rear spring adjusters in stock. Have not had a chance to update the site yet.

PM if you are interested in them until we update the site.

-billy

 

How do the rear adjusters work?

 

you never want to heat a spring up, as it will loose strength and be prone to cracking/shattering over a bump. Springs are a heat-treated steel, and when you uncontrollably heat steel, you don't know what results it can have on you. It could (if you're lucky) just ruin the internal crystal structure of the material, and leave you with an overly soft material. This isn't dangerous, but it's worthless from a performance standpoint. You could also ruin the internal crystal structure and end up with a very stiff, very brittle steel, which could crack or shatter.

I'd suggest either getting the adjustable spring perches from Billy or buying different springs, for nothing else than a safe car.

 

Pretty slick actually. Comes with a shorter spring, which rides on a threaded collar. To change the height, jack up the car to take the weight off, then turn the collar to raise or lower. No regrets at all, as they will go nicely with my front coilovers when I get them installed.

Glad to hear that Billy is picking this product up, because otherwise there's no way to get adjustable rear height without rigging something up. This is definitely the "right" way to do it.