Should I drop the front end down a little?

[Healey_Z]

and if so what is the best way?

 

[Jeepster]

Let some air out of the front tyres!

 

[Superwrench]

Looks good to me ! Beautiful car !

 

[red57]

Wow, beautiful bodywork. It is so hard to make black look good, and this really does look good!

If it was me I would lower the front 1/2 inch or so - there are kits available from Denis Welch and others. Basically shims/spacers you place between the spring pans and the a-arms to lower the spring pans & therefore the ride height. If you do lower the spring pans you should raise the rubber bump stops the same ammount. Since the spring pans are about 1/2 way out the length of the a-arms, however much you lower the pans, the ride height will go down about twice as much - 1/4" spacers = approx 1/2" drop in ride height. Good part is no modifications to the car and it's totally reversable.

Just remember there are some negatives. Ground clearance is already marginal and will be worse. Also, lowering the front will make it even harder to see over the top when using the rear view mirror with the top down.

Dave

 

[Keoke]

Should I drop the front end down a little?




NO!!!---Keoke

 

[John Turney]

I dropped mine ~3/4" using the Denis Welch spacers. It looks great, but the driving light mount/front sway bar guards will scrape exiting the driveway unless I back out slowly at an angle.

 

[nevets]

Looks great!

 

[HEALEYJAG]

NO...repeat NO


Pete

 

[longbridgehealey]

no no no NO NO NO nope

 

[Johnny]

No I wouldn't drop it at all. I'm going to assume you replaced front springs, and rebuilt shocks, so; most likely over time the front will lower a bit.

 

[TimK]

It is your car, do what you want. What does it matter what others think. You live with the consequences of your decision!
I think your car is beautiful.

 

[Brinkerhoff]

It looks "right" like it is.

 

[Legal Bill]

The car is supposed to look lower in the back and higher in the front. It really is part of the cars look, like it is always under acceleration. I'd leave it be.

 

[Healey_Z]

It is your car, do what you want. What does it matter what others think.

It matters to me because I value the opinions of the people on this forum, who are far more knowledgeable on the marque than I am.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

It is your car, do what you want. What does it matter what others think.

It matters to me because I value the opinions of the people on this forum, who are far more knowledgeable on the marque than I am.

Good point! My two cents. As long as it isn't jacked up in the back like some BJ8's, <span style="text-decoration: underline">it looks good</span>.
I'm going to put earlier 3000 big bore pipes on mine so as not to drag the rear resonators that stock BJ8's have. My leaf springs are new from Jule-Enterprises and are sprung so that car sits level. Hopefully, I shouldn't have much problems and have the "Healey sound" back.

 

[ModifiedBJ7]

I like the stance! What size/brand of driving lights? Really sets the car off.

 

[HealeyPassion]

Clearly this is a matter of personal taste. If you like it it's right. Now as for opinion.... I'd lower it 3/4". See, everyone has an opinion.

Cheers,
Steve
https://stevesaustinhealey.com

 

[glemon]

I don't know what is in the Dennis Welch lowering kit, but I got some longer grade 8 bolts and extra nuts as spacers to lower the front suspension on my 100, no issues in a decade of use.

 

[bob hughes]

Personally, I would leave it alone, that sort of thing is for the track IMO. but, what ever you do to it can be altered back if you do not like it.
It is then just a matter of cash being wasted.



Bob

 

[HealeyRick]

I don't know what is in the Dennis Welch lowering kit, but I got some longer grade 8 bolts and extra nuts as spacers to lower the front suspension on my 100, no issues in a decade of use.

Ken,

Standard height from the ground to the center of the front wheel opening is about 27". Your front end probably is a little higher as a result of the lighter Nissan motor. I think it looks just fine the way it is, but if you want to drop it, follow Greg's advice above. Get a couple of lengths of allthread about 10" long and two washers and nuts for each length. Take out two diagonally opposing bolts from the spring pan, insert the allthread in those holes with the nuts on top and bottom. You can then remove the remaining two bolts, unwind the nuts on the allthread until the spring relaxes and remove the spring and spring pan. Reassemble with the longer bolts, using a couple of nuts between the A arm and seat pan to lower it. It takes almost as long to write it as to do it, so it's not to time consuming to do it and see how you like it.