Ride Height Issue

[VFilms]

While rebuilding the front suspension on my '66 Belvedere - disc conversion, upper control arms, tie rods, etc - I noticed my ride height is about 5" higher than is was before I started the restoration on the car.
It went to the body shop the with the engine out and came back like it is now even with the engine back in it.
The car now sits on jack stands under the lower control arms. The spindle height is about 14', where it was with the tires on, but the height from the ground to the lip of the fender is 35".
It looks like the torsion bars and adjusters have not been disturbed - see photos - but the upper control are sit on the bump stop and I can't get the body to reset to the proper ride height. There is no 'spring' in the suspension when I push down on the fender.
What the hell am I missing?

 

[Sam69sat]

I'm not sure about your suspension but when i did the upper and lower bushings on my truck, i had to get the ride height set first with the torsion bars and then tighten the control arms. If you tighten the control arm bolts with the engine out, the bushings will be locked in at that ride height. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Sam69sat]

I would put a jack under the car at the current height, loosen the control arms and then let the car down. Might need to bounce it a little bit to get the car to settle down and get the weight on the torsion bars. Then set the ride height you want with the torsion bars and then tighten the control arms.

Edit: Tighten the contol arms with the car on the ground at the selected ride height.

 

[AR67GTX]

If you put Jack stands under the LCA, it’s not the same as if the car is sitting on the ground under its weight. The distance from the LCA pivot point (bushing) to where a Jack will fit under the LCA is only about half of the lever arm length as compares from the pivot point to the center of the tire. So the LCA is going to unload and rotate down much more compared to if it was sitting on its tires - probably to pretty close to resting on the bump stop.

I maybe misunderstanding your post and question but that’s the only thing that came to my mind concerning it.

 

[MoparLeo]

According to the picture the suspension is too high and the torsion bars need to be loosened.
Here is the proper procedure straight from your factory service Manual.( you do have one don't you ?)

 

[66 Sat]

Have you touched the torsion bar adjusters yourself when you were doing the suspension work? You should have backed them off. If you did, have you cranked them back up too much?

First thing to do is get the car sitting on its tires so you see where you are at.
If it's still too high, unwind the torsion bar adjusters, do them evenly counting the turns. Bounce the front end up and down every few turns to let it settle.

When you're setting the ride height, have the lca and uca bolts cinched up only a little (definitely not torqued up yet), and have a trolley jack under the K frame. When you're winding the torsion bars up (or down, but especially up) have the weight of the car sitting on the jack to avoid damaging the threads on the adjusters.

If the torsion bar clocking hasn't been altered, then you can't be far away from getting it right. Once the ride height is correct then torque everything up, with the weight of the car still on the tires.

 

[VFilms]

Thanks for the thoughts. The uca bolts are in place but not tight. The lca has not been touched. I backed off the torsion bar adjusters 3 revolutions. The spindles are at the same height as they would be if the tires were on but I will install the rotors and mount the tires and take out the jack stands bound the car a little and see what happens. Again, thanks. Frustrating.

 

[PRND21]

My 65 has to be rolled a few feet before it settles to its original ride height after being jacked up in the front. Have you tried that?

 

[VFilms]

Thanks for all your advice. Got it on the tires, took measurements, made adjustments. Problem solved.
A lot of really smarts guys here. Saved my *** many times.

 

[MoparLeo]

Its all in the book...

 

[VFilms]

Its all in the book...

That, and the help from others. Thanks

 

[66 Sat]

Its all in the book...

It might be "all in the book", but sometimes people get overwhelmed reading dot point instructions (I know I do), and prefer the basic principles of what to do laid out in a different way.
The FSM is certainly comprehensive but isn't the be all and end all. With all the thousands of technical questions asked here over the years, obviously others think the same.