360 Lowered Expectations

After ample consideration, I decided to lower my 360. Of concern was diminished ride / handling quality and fender rubbing. This 360 rides on rears 305 / 25 /19 and 235 / 35 / 19 fronts.

After attempting to adjust the spring height while the coil overs where installed, it became quite clear that removal was / is the best option.

Prior to lowering the front tire combination rubbed on occasion while turning and going over a dip or driveways with the wheels turned.

I invested in a lip roller from the Eastwood Company, interchanging the rubber roller with an insert fabricated from an aluminum bat. HEating up the fender lip while rolling was quite simple and I was able to roll the lip completely against the inner fender well and no paint damage.

Having solved the " lip " problem, I decided to lower the car by 1" in the front and 1" in the rear, equivalent to 12 turns on the spring perches.

The total job took about 10 hours over two days ..... attached a couple of pictures of the results.

Overall. the ride quality improved dramatically. I'm sure there are a variety of opinions pro / con on such process .... nevertheless, I don't track the car and living in Southern California the land of endless freeways , handling at high speeds and twisty roads becomes a mute point.

The car will be aligned next week, as it seems that negative camber was affected by 2 degrees.

I do think the car looks better, and should it become an issue I can invest another 10 hours in raising the car back to stock.
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I like it! these cars look great when lowered, but I would have been scared to heat up the fenders and roll the wheel well! 10 hours of work it quite a job, looks good.

 

Good to see another owner willing to get his hands dirty. It looks much better, but the rear looks like it should be slightly lower to match the front, no?

 

+1 on the rear. Looks Great!

 

I ws attempting to keep the same ratio of rake and drive it a few days to confirm if all is well. Now that I've dabbled in the process, I might try 1/2 an inch lower in the front and another 1" in the back. The best part of the project, regardless of the lowering has been the rolling of the fender lips. I have now driven over prior known " hit/rub " spots without a single incident. I will post pictures of the finished rolled lip. Attached ..reference of my lowered , that inspired the whole lowering idea.
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