cut springs have nasty pointy teeth and are more trouble than they are worth. lowered king springs are only about AU$150. 3 inches is abit excessive don't ya think

dont do it, first of all proper lower coil springs are easily coe by now days and also cheap.
secondly it is dangerous as to have cutties in a car.

just my opinon but I would NEVER cut coils on any car especially my farm hack (The Defect) as ground clearance is of the utmost importance!

later,

Mawler1

can anyone tell me how a spring can jump out of a front strut when the strut/shock absorber runs up the middle?
I have cut several sets of springs down and all they do is rattle a bit.
on my circut car I did it another way I cut the guts out of a strut top ( the bit with the 3 bolts ) and mounted it under the tower like normal then I got another strut top , knocked the bolts out and bolted it on top instead of under the tower.
Its probably not very legal for a road car but it lowers the car a couple of inches without the need to cut springs. Works good
by

ok my 2 bobs worth.. cut springs are bad evil things when there 2 short if that slop in the struts there too short... as for droping it 3 inches i thing 2.5 would be more excepable.. all i did to my stanza struts was cut the springs till thay were just "snug" so with no load on the spring ya can just twist the spring a little but shouldent be lose up and down... i once had a vl commodore come in to a work shop i was working in for a new fuel pump put it on the 2 post hoist and all the springs fell out was not happy and on a test drive the front left spring disloged in the strut.. so cutting is fine just not too short

Quote:

I don't want to sound like an irresponsible, kid hating, cheapskate but I think you are going a bit overboard here. Yes, it would absolutely suck beyond belief to kill someone with your car. And yes, if it were a loss of control due to the cut springs that led to the death, it would suck all the more. But if, as you originally posed the situation, it were an accident, I think it would be hard for them to say the springs were at fault. And if they could "prove" that, when the springs weren't at fault, you need a better lawyer.

I'm going to agree with about half of the answers. I think you will run out of suspension tavel unless swapping over to Z-car struts. 280ZX fronts, I believe are the tric setup for a PL-510 (1600) so they would probably work for you too. Tensandtwenties may be able to answer this one better. John?
As for the safety issue of cut springs, that is where I'm going to disagree. I have run cut springs in almost all of my Datsuns and have NEVER had a problem. I have used everything from zip ties to stainless steel safety wire (and once or twice nothing but gravity and pig ignorance) to hold the springs in place. If it does worry you, after you cut the spring to half a coil higher than your final ride height, heat the coil and bend it flat instead of cutting the last time. That will approximate the "locating coil" of the stock setup. Again, I have never done that and have had no problems.

Mr Spring Cutter,

Ask the question at www.ozdat.com.

They know more about L-Series struts and springs. Maybe a 260Z,280ZX,510,810,910 or 240K spring is shorter.

I wouldn't recommend cutting springs either. I bought shorter springs to suit 240Z sports inserts and shortened the strut to suit. The 510 boys wire their rear springs in when they lower them.. I've heard of cars running off the road after getting airborne over speed humps and crests, and losing their rear springs. I agree though that "normal people" don't get airborne on the street...

Chris

When i lowered my 1200, i found some springs from a 210 from the junkyard and cut those. The wire size of the spring was a little bigger/ stiffer. I started by measuring the car height, cutting off a half coil ,reinstalling the struts and taking another measurment. You should have a pretty good idea of how much each half coil taken off will lower the car.
It's doen't take too long to partially reassemble the car to measure since you don't have to assemble the brake lines, swaybar and strut rods.
I think you'll have to do more than just cut/replace springs to lower your car 3". I think you'll run out of suspension travel, even with the bumpstops removed.

Hey "mates", here in US it is not easy to find shorter springs for the 610, and a set of coil overs , if available, will be like more money,and I will get them, but it will have to wait a little more, so I thought, just to check the car out lowered, lets see. I wondered 3 inches because there is a lot of space between the top of tire and the fender lip.I know this is a primitive way of estimating, but if anybody knows about shorter springs for a 180B ,let me know. Any coil over adjustables in mind, let me know. Ground control has a set, 200 dollars without struts,eventually I'l make it. I 'm also saving some bucks for my set of 235 tires from NZ, the shipping is expensive, but that will be the intended look, 235/50/13 , lowered, 5 speed L20B engine 180B Datsun.

Jaime