or if u want to go silly.
my coupe has cut kings in front
flipped leaf and 2inch blocks in rear

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i went 1.5 coils on my sedan and it was stock, springs were still captive

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FRom what I can tell, you could probably cut a good couple of full coils and still be captive (at least with the struts I have in the 1200 coupe, and the spares I have) Obviously nobody would want to go that far.

I think 1/2 a coil is a darn good place to start, and at most go 1/4 of a coil at a time past there for the time being till it's where you want it.

The springs will still be captive when lowering 1.5 inches...surely?

Just cut 1/2 coil. Remember you can always cut more, but you can't undo cutting too much. Unless you have a second set of springs.

Measure your 1200's height first. With 21.9" tall tires:
•Headlight Centers from ground, sedan: 660 mm
•Headlight Centers from ground, coupe: 665 mm
If you have taller tires, take that into account.

your car looks lower than stock already,id say they have sagged a bit over time already,id only cut 4 off to be safe,i mean 1.5...cut springs are safe if you drive safe,and respect the fact they are not secure with no load on em,like lifting a wheel entering driveways etc.$8aftermarket strutsavers best money u will ever spend..

Lets just say I wanted to lower the front 1 1/2 inches by cutting the stock spring since I barely drive the car untill I find a stronger option, how much gets cut?

FWIW - I've run cut springs (cold cut, basically quick 1-2mm cut with a grinder, then drop into a bucket of water to cool, then cut through another 2mm and repeat. Don't cut for more than a couple of mm as it will start to heat the spring up, which is bad.)


OK - here's the deal - if you take a standard spring, and take it out and put it on a set of scales (let's say hypothetically you can affix them easily and they won't slip, unlike real life!!) and push down. Let's say you have to push down to the point that it registers 90lb on the scale, you'd also find the spring has compressed along it's length by 1 inch (for arguments sake). To compress it another inch, you'd need, what, 180lbs (since the rate would be 90 lbs per inch). If you imagine cutting the spring in half, or just 'looking' at it as if it were two springs mounted on top of one another) then for that 90 lbs downforce, that 'half' of the spring would only compress 1/2 an inch. If you pushed with 180lbs, that 'half' of the spring would compress 1 inch.

So if you picture those two springs now fully separate, and mounted one on the scale again, that half spring would require 180lbs downforce to compress 1 inch.

So if you cut a spring in half, the spring rate would double. The problem is that the spring would now also be half the lenght, so the car would be dropped to the ground practically. To push it one inch would need that 180lbs, but it's so close to bottoming out that even the higher spring rate (in this case) won't save if,

What all this means is that if the car is currently bottoming out with stock springs (and mine does on speed humps if I go at a high enough speed (still well within the speed limit mind you, I'm not advocating unsafe public roads driving!) - well if you cut those stock springs 1-2 coils, it'd sit lower, and have a slightly higher spring rate, but that couple of inches less travel, and a starting point lower than std means the suspension will actually be more lkely to bottom out.

The solution is simple enough. You basically have to search/find a set of springs the right 'size' to fit the strut, but ones that use thicker steel for the coils and a similar free length to the factory springs. You could then cut them down (as required) to lower 1-2 inches, but due to the thicker coils, the much higher spring rate (let's say 150lbs per inch) will win out over the slightly shorter travel, and then it won't bottom out. Which makes it 'the winner' as far as these options go.

For us in Aus, holden gemini front springs fit the bill. Not sure what cars overseas might have the right springs for the job.

On the king springs, I've had a couple of sets (first were the hd lowered for 1200 coupe ones, and they weren't captive, and going by the thickness of the spring coils and the number of coils, their rate wasn't likely heavier enough to be advantageous. I then had king springs that were apparently for the rear of a mid 1990s hyundai excel - a little better but far from 'great' - hell barely accepatble. I wish I had heard about the gemini springs earlier!!. All I can say is they might be ok for more popular/common/numerous cars where they have a large enough demand for them to 'get it right' but for smaller volume limited production ones - best of luck!

Another hypothetical option (and I am typing this after coming off nightshift, so if the physics is 'wrong' put it down to fatigue and I'll happily stand corrected) - you could cut factory springs, but then alter the strut spring cup (raising it higher - so if you cut down the spring free length by 2 coils (3 inches for arguments sake) and then you raised the spring perch/cup by about 2 inches, it'd sit 1 inch lower, but the spring would be reaching a higher load as it pushed past the 3 inch below std ride heigh region and it might just win out - stopping the suspension from bottoming out.

Having said all that, I would be very surprised if you couldn't get them through a reputable spring maker - the right free length, rate etc to give you everything you want in one go. The fact that the king springs don't 'fit' or 'work' is due to issues above. Tehre is absolutely enough room/travel/spring cup dimensions that a brand new spring could be wound to suit - would be captive, etc etc. The gemini option is discusser here as a direct result of the kings having issues.

You can get lowering springs for Datsun 1200 from Quickor, Eibach, etc. They are custom-order springs, not catalog items.

Or you can fit coil-overs to the original 1200 struts.

Yeah King springs still stock them, but they are painted yellow! Yuck.

I've had cars with cuts springs damn near all my life and never I never killed anyone or even heard of that lol Where do you get King springs? it wasnt being cheap I just didnt know they sold any for the stock 1200, Again its just for looks I barely drive the car and definitelt dont race it..