79 Crown question.

[Danger]

Hi all, I am new to this forum and am also new to owning a toyota.
Ive been lucky enough to always own later model cars so older rides are a new challenge for me.So my latest project will involve me asking a bunch of maybe obvious and dumb questions to you guys but im here to learn so if you guys could be good enough to help someone new to owning an early model toyota it would be muchly appreciated!
As the tittle says i have just bought a 79 crown super saloon. I was looking at buying an 88 a little while ago but this 79 fell in my lap so to speak for a crazy $350 dollars and its in incredible condition so im thinkin i would get some info on it so i can start some pimping on it. My question is, what would be the way to go on lowering this badboy ive always owned cars i could just jam some coilovers in and bang shes done but this one has me a bit baffled. Mind you i only got it 3 days ago and havnt had much time to figure it out yet so some suggestions on lowering and getting good camber would help a heap!

[hybrid_turbo]

welcome mate

why are you baffeled about the lowering? does it have leaf springs on the back or something?

[gianttomato]

It is unlikely Pedders or Kings will have a listing for your MS85.

1) Measure installed height of springs whilst car is positioned on a flat surface.
2) Remove springs from car.
3) Take them to your local springworks and ask them to be made at a 30% stiffer rate and a reduction in installed height. Tell them the motion ratio is 2:1 for the front and 1:1 for the rear. Tell them how much you want to lower the car by.
4) Pay money and pick up springs when ready.
5) Install.
6) ????
7) Profit.

You might want to check the condition of the shock absorbers - if stuffed replace the rear ones with some shorter ones to ensure the rear springs remain captive. You might want to wire them in place.

It's not hard to get 5* out of them but it's totally pointless. Take it to a wheel alignment place, ask them for that sort of camber, pay money and after you've scrubbed out your first set of tyres, you'll want to put it back to stock.

[Danger]

Cheers guys,
yes leaf springs dude.
What ya sayin giant? ya sayin i wont get decent camber to stop the inside wear to a point or that the weight of the car will kill tyres really quick at a low ride height?

[gianttomato]

Cheers guys,
yes leaf springs dude.
What ya sayin giant? ya sayin i wont get decent camber to stop the inside wear to a point or that the weight of the car will kill tyres really quick at a low ride height?

Leaf spring rear - is it a pov spec diesel or 4 cylinder wagon? All MS85 sedans had coil springs front AND rear.

I'm saying aiming for the drift spec camber you seem to be looking for is a waste of time and will serve only to scrub out your tires for little to no appreciable handling gain.

[STR8 2.8]

pedders do have listings for old crowns actually. quite suprising!
don't know if they do low springs for ms85's, i think they have standard height

[hybrid_turbo]

buy some lowering blocks for the rear, not sure where to buy them from though as i have
never bought them. but probably get them from most places that specialise in suspension..

or you could turn them upside down (but dont do this)

[wilbo666]

It is unlikely Pedders or Kings will have a listing for your MS85.

Blake (aka robbos_toyotas) lowered his MS85 when he had it with Kings stuff...they wern't specified for MS85 from memory tho....

I suspect you could call kings and ask them....

Buy hey, the spring works option is better anyway

Cheers
Wilbo

[gianttomato]

buy some lowering blocks for the rear, not sure where to buy them from though as i have
never bought them. but probably get them from most places that specialise in suspension..

or you could turn them upside down (but dont do this)

Just a hint - if he has a Super Saloon sedan, he doesn't have leaf springs. Also legality of lowering blocks is questionable. Better to just get the leaves retempered and change the spring shackles.

[hybrid_turbo]

just going buy what he has said, i allways thought it would be illegal to use lowering blocks
but never knew 100% because i have never had to use them. was just a suggestion...

[MS-75]

Idustrial Springs on Port Road=custom springs.

They'll do 4 new springs at your requested specs for about $500 and re-adjust them as required. Pedders have springs for the MS-65 which will fit straight in but are only an inch or so lower than stock. Custom ones will cost no different but will be exactly what you want. (measure all the stuff Dave said to then give Industrial Springs a buzz)

As Dave said-if it's a sedan it's coils all round. Monroe do GT Gas shocks for the front and Red Ryder for the rear.

It's got the same stud pattern as a ford/nissan/chrysler.

First stop on your journey should be to have the radiator cleaned out ($120 or so) as it is important to keep the cooling system in top shape with these cars.

I know a fair bit about the MS-65 and 85 so feel free to PM me anytime.

It'll be an excellent cruiser dude.

I expect pictures.

Sean

[Danger]

Wow, first of i want to pay respect to all you toyota guys you really have a good group going on here and your all being so helpful so just wanted to say thanx muchly for the response! ok its been raining its ass off here in adelaide but had a quick duck out to check under the crown. i stand corrected its coils sorry about that. Its is a MS85 6 cyl 2600 its been convereted to straight gas by the last owner, its a one owner with books and has been fairly maintained well with exceptions of some rust that is only minor. it seems to have some cooling problems and the temp gage is not working so that is def my first priority. Now im not looking for drift spec camber im looking to keep my tyres - my aim is to have a nice low cruiser this thing is no speeding bullet thats for sure! so im looking for close to stock camber with a low ass stance if possible. I was hoping to not just use springs to lower it i was looking for something with some height adjustment so i can set it nicely low but not dragging along or end up with a sagggy ass etc. My brother suggested some lowering blocks over the phone yesterday but as i said im use too more newschool cars - i aint even heard of lowering blocks (blush) Hey (MS-75) thanks for your info...yes i was thinking about going down to Industrial springs and seeing what they could make up for me and yeah i cant wait to have it all done, my plans are to basicly pimp it out for a cruiser so ill be respraying it in a nice gloss black and lowering it (hopefully!) on some dishy 18s. I need to source a new rear bumper mine has been lightly backed into something. besides that all the crome strips around all windows etc are all 100% no little dents no rusting just need a little polishing and it will look awesome on the black paint. I will def be on here often reading up and as i progress i would love to share photos with you all and hopefully get out and about with some of you guys if we can get a cruise happening here in adelaide! Cheers all for your time and info!

[gianttomato]

Get your 18" rims, then work out how much you need to lower it by otherwise you'll be repeating the exercise.

Depending on how much you decide to lower it, you may need to trim the suspension bumpstops or fit something less tall otherwise you will be riding the bumpstops - crap ride but more importantly, wildly unpredictable handling as the rate changes from that of the spring to that of the bumpstop.

Lowering blocks are for leaf springs - forget about them - you have coils.

[Danger]

Yeah i plan to get the rims first i just wana get this temp gage sorted first. gonna throw the crown over the pit tommorow and get a good look at the coils.

[gianttomato]

Start with the sender - it's hidden under the intake manifold. Pull it out, drop it in a pot of water, heat it up and check that the resistance goes down as the temp goes up. Next check that the wire has continuity from the sender to the gauge - sometimes the connection in the dash is dodgy.. Then check the gauge - apply power and see if the needle moves.