nitrojunkie1029

Hey guys. As the title states im trying to lower my 1990 wagon. I dont want to cut the springs i want to do it the right way. Does anyone know of any way to do it without cutting springs? I know many people won't care or with think this project is stupid, but a true hot rod is taking what you have and making the best out of it isnt it? I dont have enough money for a custom airride setup either so thats out of the question. Coilovers would be perferred but i cant find any. I might give qa1 a call and see if they can put something together for me. Anyways any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

steve walker

air bags?

nitrojunkie1029

Dont have enough money for a custom air suspension setup

70cutty

In all honesty I wouldn't waste money on that. Since they don't make any lowering kits for it, any suspension upgrades to it will end up costing more than the car is worth. JMO

nitrojunkie1029

I can respect your opinion, but not every project is built with off the shelf parts. And it may not be worth it to a lot of people, but it is to me.

70cutty

Definetly not, but on a small budget it makes things rather difficult. What I was trying to say anything custom will cost you money and air bags are probably your best option. Basic kits are around $1k if you can install them your self.

For example for my 67 Impala custom Eaton 2" drop springs and shocks were $900, for my 57 chevy pickup coil overs with all the brackets $800 if I remember correctly.

you can also call Eaton springs and see if they can make springs for your car.

nitrojunkie1029

What kinf of kits have you found for 1k? I can do it by myself but all the kits I've seen are 3k+

70cutty

I just got one for my Impala, 2 5g tanks, 2 compressors with all the valves, silencers, tubing and 2 switches (front and back) with a dual gauge $1300, all VIAIR.
Mine is a little more fancier since I went with dual chrome tanks and couple of more options. You get get a basic single tank setup for about a grand.

check out http://coolcars.org or email Erika@coolcars.org

What you are looking at for $3k is the fancy ones with level sensors, air ride sensors and whatnot.

joe_padavano

You don't want to cut the springs, you don't want to pay for air bags, and no one makes a lowering kit for this car. You're kinda stuck. You might want to re-evaluate your constraints.

You might also want to find out more about your car first. The FWD A-body cars use front struts, so unless there are aftermarket struts that lower the car, you have no options without a full custom front suspension. Also, your car is the same as a Chevy Celebrity Eurosport, so you might want to see if there are any suspension kits for those cars. I don't know if the Eurosport suspension was any lower than that of other A-body cars.

dc2x4drvr

I would research SS Impala springs, the 90's chassiss' are all pretty similar.

joe_padavano

You DO realize that the O.P. is talking about the FWD Cutlass Cruiser, right? Please read my post above. This is a unibody car with a transverse engine and front strut suspension. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from the RWD SS Impala will interchange.

dc2x4drvr

I thought he had the big wagon, my error.

nitrojunkie1029

I wish i had the big rwd wagon lol

I guess that solves that one. Thanks for your help guys i guess ill try to save up for something else to hot rod

joe_padavano

If you want to do some custom work, you can lower the car. Apparently the GM U-vans (think the "dustbuster" minivans like the original Olds Silhouette) use the same rear springs, but stiffer. You can cut one-two full coils and lower the rear pretty easily. I've cut front coils on several Cutlii with no problems.

In front, you either need to cut the front springs or raise the upper strut mount in the strut tower. This has the effect of lowering the whole car over the struts. How far you can go depends on how much clearance you have between the top of the strut tower on the inner fender and the underside of the hood. The good news is that this won't change the suspension travel. The bad news is that the steering rack moves down with the body relative to the steering arms on the spindles, so you may introduce some bump-steer (though without a gauge, you don't know how bad it was from the factory, either).

As for the engine, I've always been partial to a Northstar/Aurora swap into these cars. 300 HP stock from an N* (the most you'll get from a 3800SC is 260 HP stock). Of course, the N* is longer so fitment may be a problem. There's also the "Shortstar" V6 as used in the Intrigue.

J-(Chicago)

I could use that wagon, if you end up selling it.

The Stickman

Ok my second try at a response to this thread. The first one was all wrong as I read it as a Custom Cruiser not the fwd Cutlass Cruiser. Now there are some creative ways to lower any car. One thing is to do some research on springs and order some Moog ones. You need to first find out the current springs sizes and weight ratings. Things like static height and compressed height. That is one way. The other is to make your own custom coilovers. This can be mild or extreme. I did this with a Volvo 740 wagon and a Fiero. The simplest way is to remove the strut from the car. The take the spring out of the strut being very careful and using spring compressors properly. Then you take your strut(if you need new ones this is the time to do it) and CAREFULLY grind the weld off the spring bucket in order to get the spring bucket off the strut. You can also take it to a machine shop and have them take it off with a lathe. You will need a pair of Coilover collars. First you would need to know the outside diameter of the strut and then order collars with a close inside diameter to match your strut. The tighter the better. You will also need a set of front springs with a spring rating that matches how firm you want the suspension to be. Knowing the stock rating first is best and go from there. after the spring bucket os off slide the coilover collar on all the way to the bottom. Then put the new cpoilover spring one then the coilover hat and then reassemble the strut. Now the other thing to consider is how to lower the rear. I don't know how your rear suspension is and whether the rear springs have pigtails at either end.