Remove the wheel. Put on spring compressor to take the load off the lower shock mount bolt.
remove bolt 10.
Then remove bolts 14 and remove the plates 11.
Re manufacture the plates with the top hole 3/4 in higher.
Refit .job done
I knew you would not like it .

 

OK, simple enough, how does it ride and handle?
Can you tell the difference?
Are you going to get the plates cut out and sell them, might be a money maker.

 

Well the weather is supposed to be good monday so I was going to change the springs which I have in stock BUT I looked at the diagram and thought thats a good idea.
Only problem I forsee is if bolts 14 will not come out or break off . True I can put the air hammer on them but if it pulls the head off then I have to remove rear wishbone 8 to repair.
I dont see how it can affect the handling as there has been no re alignment just a return to original dimensions.
As for making them ..use the original for a template with adjusted drilling and hack them out on the bandsaw or the plasma cutter. Looks like 3 mm plate to me.

 

It's certainly a plan with a fairly simple solution. My recent dismantling of all those components do raise a couple of issues though. Those no14 bolts are torx and really tight so damage is fairly likely on any car with any crusty bits. The plates are quite elaborate in that they have subtle bends in them to close the tops to accept the lower shock bolt. If they were flat plates, they would be well within the scope of a home mechanic, but they would be beyond some as they are. Good luck with your springs.

 

If as you say they bend in at the top then a simple washer each side should sort it ???
I have yet to look its too cold !!

 

This feels like putting a band-aid on a wound that requires sutures. It gets the job done poorly. The loss of ride height in the front is most likely your shock mounts are bad. Change those and you get back your ride height and handling. Change the springs for the possibility that they may be sagging if you'd like.

As it stands, you're not really solving the problem by doing this modification.

 

Well not true ..if its only the springs that are sagging then replacing the plates restores the suspension at a very low cost

 

only to a degree, you now have less suspension travel available.

 

If you want cheap, do not buy or drive Jaguar!

 

If you want cheap in UK drive a jaguar only £2999 thats $3500 thats cheap.
It only gets expensive if you take it to an indy for all the work,
As for the lift if the spring has sagged then you have reduced travel anyway.
Should be into it today so will take photos and write it up . What I am interested to see is if I can get the spring out without taking the top wishbone off ......??

 

There seems to be plenty of references to it being possible and I've seen the videos. I have not been able to do it myself, the control arm will not swing low enough to clear even with all poly bushes. I believe it is due to top ball joint lacking sufficient articulation.

 

Well I changed plan once I started to put the spring compressors on ...not happy could not grab enough coils.
So I undid the lower shock mount bolt moved the unit down and put my red 1/2 in spacer over the 3 mounting bolts. There ratio is 1.75 and I now gone up to 15.5 in which is fine with me ...Springs for sale .....

 

Excuse my ignorance, what is the reason for this modification?

Thought I was looking at one of my miata/mx-5 groups with all the suspension fabrication talk lol.

 

Why?

 

front suspension down to 14.5in due to sagging springs only.
Bought new springs and have all the kit to fit them but was not happy with the spring compressor bridging only 3 coils and having to take out the top link.
Had the cutting board 1/2 spacer to hand so fitted that .
Once you lower the shock you can wind it in from the top !!
Now at 15.5in due to the ratio of the lower arm.
You dont waste money on a $3500 car. if you spend $4000 on it you still got a $3500 car
Happy days.