If you want to adjust it from under the car without jacking it up:

 

I have a spring seat similar to this I made for mine, but I am using a little different design.

Only the spring cup sits on top of the factory mount, the bracket gets welded from the bottom side.

 

Cut the factory upper shock mount today and moved the metal in about 3/4" and back about 1/2" to make room for the top of the shock since I cut my tubs to 17".

I moved the shock in 1" so I had to make some cuts in the metal around the shock mount to reshape the metal for clearance with the angle grinder and hammered in the metal, then I am going to weld in a shaped piece of 1/8" plate on top of where the shock mounts to reinforce the mount and give something to weld the factory metal to, when it is done it will look pretty close to the stock shape.

Cut the panhard rod bracket on the frame, looking down from the top of the frame it is flush, so I will have 17" clearance, minus the thickness of the wheel tub.

Am going to use some 1/8th" plate and remake mounts for the panhard bar and weld it to the factory bracket and then shape a piece to fit on the back of the bracket since it all gets cut off, then weld the factory bracket a little more since it is just spot welded on.

Running a 17" tub and cutting the panhard bracket for clearance to give you an idea of the added space, it gets cut back all the way just past the panhard brace hole I didn't measure it but from memory I would guess a little over 2" of clearance.

Pics coming soon of the work in progress, have to get a disposable camera =/

BTW if you're wondering how much room you have in the back, I cut to use 17" from tub to fender lip, there is 39.5" of metal in between the tubs, my fender lip to fender lip was 73.5, this is on a 98 camaro.

 

I like those adjustable bottom mount spring perches.

I noticed you're trying to cram a 15 x 12 under there. You're doing it a lot different than I want to, but how much did you end up narrowing your rear and what backspacing are you using? I will be trying to do the same soon although I want to retain all stock suspension mounting points.

 

Why would anyone narrow their rearend? It's not necessary at all yet some think it HAS to be done. It only changes the rim offset and that's just for looks, like a fatter lip. Am I missing something?

 

not only does it look sweet with a deeper rim but you have to narrow the rear if you want to tuck the tire in further. if you wanted to tuck the tire in more with a stock width rear with lets just say a 10" wide rim you would need atleast an 8.5" backspacing and i dont know of many if any rims offer that. plus i think it wouldnt look all that great anyway. would look too flat. just my $.02

 

also for those who want to run a 12" wide rim, i havent seen any with the correct backspacing for a stock rear. would be 9.5"

 

Ah, so it is a rim size problem?
I just figured on custom widened rims so I haven't looked into production sizes. What is a ballpark cost to have a rear narrowed?

I'll be replacing my rear with a 12 bolt (or something) so I'll keep this narrowing in mind.

 

I think if you buy an aftermarket rear new from the manufacturer, they'll build it to the length you want.

 

The rear end places will narrow the rear end for you, best way to do it is to buy the rims and tires you want with the offset you want. Mock up the tires then measure from rim to rim, then you can just subtract the rotor thickness for each side and tell them the axle flange to axle flange, as long as they cut it correctly you'll have it within an 1/8".

 

The main thing a lot of people don't know is when you put in tubs, like the wolfe kit that give you 16" from the fender lip to the tub you don't get 16" of clearance because the lower control arm will hit the tire about 14 1/4 - 14 1/2" in with offset LCA's, then after that you'll rub on the panhard bracket.

I went 17" from fender lip to tub for a few reasons.

First it is the most you can go without going to coil overs.

With some modification to the rear seat (cutting off the brackets and some of the plastic) you can slip the cover over it and it looks stock and the stock rear seat will go back in and looks 100% stock.

It is 39.5" between tubs measures from the back seat.

You have to move the stock shock in 1" at the top, which will require you to rework the curve around the stock shock mount.

You have to shorten the panhard rod and make new mounts which you can just weld to the stock bracket and then box in the rear of the panhard bracket.

You have to relocate the LCA in between the frame an factory bracket easiest way is to order your rear end without the LCA or shock mount welded on and you swap left to right and right to left so the shock is on the outside, without relocating the top of the shock mount you can get about 16" of full clearance that way.

It seems like a lot of work, but besides the cutting of the tubs it only took me about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to relocate the LCA's and top shock mount.

Unless you are racing in a class that requires stock bracket location, it is the way to go IMO.

Another thing people don't realize is when you go and get your 315 60 15 and put it under the car you can't lower the car because you're so close to the inner fender and fender lip you'll have a car that looks lifted in the rear.

A 315 60 15 is about 14.25" on a 12" rim, so you take 16" - 14.25, minus the thickness of the wheel tub and your 16" tub only gives you about 7/8" on each side of the tire, now the fender lip also tucks inside the wheel well about 3/4", so you pretty much have no clearance to go inside or lower the car.

 

I won't know the rear end width until I get the rims and tires, I have to see how far tucked in looks good and how much I can lower the car down, once I get it where I want it I'll measure and get the rim I want.

I am most likely going with a 15x12 with 5" back space.

 

One disadvantage of narrowing the rear is finding street wheels that will fit once you have the rear narrowed. You can find them, but they are going to be expensive.

I was planning narrowing the rear 5-5.5 inches / side depending on measurements. Then running a 15x12 with a 4 inch backspacing.

I've been doing a lot of research on this lately. I posted some replies in a thread in the forced induction section. Steve Turley was talking about a car they were working on. They narrowed the rear 5 inches / side and are running a 15x12 with a 4 inch bs. He said they had to narrow the lca mounts and run a thinner LCA.

I'll be running the 325/50/15s so I'll have a little more room than you do to lower the rear. Do you think I'd still have to relocate the top shock mount?

 

I don't think I saw it mentioned but narrowing the rear end also saves weight and your axles will be somewhat stronger since they are shorter. Finding a street rim isn't hard at all if you don't go with a huge amount off each side. With 5.5" per side it may be difficult but with 3" per side you can find alot of street rims. I guess it really depends on the style of wheel your looking for.

 

If you are running a 16" tub there is no reason to move in the shock because the shock is set in 16" from the factory stock anyways.

About more room, I have a 17" tub with the arms relocated, so I'll have 2.75" of clearance =)

The biggest clearance issue you'll hit trying to put that tire on if you try to tuck it in a lot will be hitting the lower control arm.

That's why I moved mine in between the frame and stock bracket so you don't have to mess with all that.

Once I measured and had 14 1/4" of clearance from the outside fender to the LCA and I said screw that and relocated it.

It's not hard to relocate the LCA and since you are getting your rear end narrowed just order it without the shock mount and LCA mounts welded on, they will send you the mounts, then you use the left side on the right and right on the left, then the shock stays in the same place and the LCA sits inside of the shock, plus you'll have 16 1/4 - 16 1/2" of clearance before you hit the LCA with it relocated like this.

All you have to do is drill through the factory frame and make a hole that runs to the stock bracket and you put the LCA in there and slide a bolt through the frame them tighten it on the stock bracket side.

You have to trim some of the factory frame lip under the rear seat and some of the metal by the seat.

I will take photos asap I still have the car apart and will take photos of how I relocated the shock and control arm and panhard mount.

 

I would like to see some pics of how you guys are doing the inside panels to make it look nice. That's about the only thing holding me up from doing it because the one I've seen look butchered up

 

The hard part is I want to retain the stock mounting points. CAMN HAWK said the hardest part he had to deal with running the 15x12 was the panhard rod mounts. Pictures would help a lot because I haven't seen under my car in about 5 months now since it blew up.

 

The panhard mount is easy to redo, you just cut off part of the bracket then weld a plate on each side and make a new hole, shorten the panhard rod and you're done.

On the rear end you move the panhard bracket in more, thats why I am getting my rear end with just the housing ends and torque arm mounts welded on, the rest I am going to position and weld on myself.

If you use the stock LCA brackets you can move the LCA all the way inside and run a 1" bar, which should give you about 14 3/4" clearance.

 

Worked on the bucket today, decided to mount the shock on top of the LCA bracket. Looks like bracket I am making will be about 1 1/2" wide.

Measured from the fender lip to LCA and it is 16 3/4" clearance =) I am running a 1 1/4" c-moly tube.

Waiting on my friend to get the welder so I can get this pile back on the tires, done will all of my fabbing minus making the new panhard pieces.

Hopefully will have some photos soon.

 

I need pics, here, man