Feeling a little self-conscious about whoring this old thread, but it's all current and on-topic content. Anyway, here's the new plan: there's not enough poly material at the inner edge of the 3/8" bushing to support beveling the edge like the OP did with the 5/8" bushing. Therefore, instead of grinding the bushing to a 45* angle to match the upper seat, grind the upper seat to a 90* angle to match the bushing.



I feel like I deserve a freaking medal, LOL.

So I just ordered a second upper-seat, and will customize that when it arrives. Then make an appointment with the mechanic to swap parts again. Hopefully, the thinner bushing will have more give, and the reduced thickness will be satisfactory. We'll see. I'm also considering taking that ledge down another 1/8" to the where you see that molding line in the rubber. It's actually pretty easy to do, with a table-top mounted grinder with a stone wheel on one end.

 

Great work doing all that DIY. This is why I got coilovers though, haha.

 

The 5/8" bushings have been removed, and the 3/8" bushings are installed over the rear springs. Right away I can tell this is an improvement. Just by eyeballing the poke in the rear from the side-view mirror while driving, I can tell there's a little extra neg camber bringing the top-of-wheel back in. And the gap looks much more uniform front to back.

Still need a few days and miles for things to settle, and I'll take another series of measurements. And truth is, however that turns out... I'm done. At least until the day that I take all this out and start again with coilovers.

Pics and final details coming up in a few days.

 

New measurements are in, showing a rear height that is basely 1/16" to 1/8" higher than the front, on average:



And new pics, gamma-corrected so that you can see the gap between tire and fender:





And a side-by-side picture of front and rear wheels taken from and identical distance, and aligned to the curb seen behind the car:



And a new Droopy Bum thread over on MyG37.com: http://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-seda...ion-2-0-a.html

For those who commented here with assistance, thank you once again.

/done

 

It's been a month since I whored this thread back to life with a recommendation that people try 3/8" bushings, so it only seems fair and appropriate to follow up.

Don't do this mod.

It took 3-4 weeks, but the bushings completely stretched to the diameter of the upper spring, where the 3/8" ledge is now squeezed out of shape and overlapping the coil. Apparently there's not enough material there to maintain its shape over time. Or even for a month.

This is super disappointing.

 

Obviously I tried real hard to tweak ride height with poly spacers, to varying degrees of success, but overall failure. If these efforts were inspirational for someone else to pursue similar attempts... that's cool. Good luck. However, after two strikes, I took a far more expensive and exact solution: coil-overs.

(sigh)

Tein Basis Coil-overs are Tein's newest base model design, fully configurable for ride height, but without damping controls. They can be had for between $600 and $700 set, and offer a ride quality nearly indistinguishable to my Swift Lowering Springs and OEM sport-tuned shocks.



I also purchased a rear Camber & Toe kit from SPC:



The ride height is spot-on at 26 3/4" floor to fender on all four corners. And the rears are gently cambered in at -2.2* and -2.3*. Looks perfect to me.



/done (finally)

 

Car look great! Nice job!!

Also, this is just an observation, but If you've set your car so that the front and rear fenders are level then you've actually set it with a slight raked forward stance. When the car is perfectly level the rear fenders will actually sit slightly lower than the front fenders. Some people prefer the fenders to looks level and others prefer the lower doorsill to look level... its all personal preference.

 

Yep. I've come to recognize that aspect of the G Sedan over the last few months. Establishing an equal ride-height front to rear actually means introducing a 1/2" rake.

Glad to have you over on MyG37.com, You post positive, supportive comments.

Funny, but I didn't make the connection about the same SN until this morning.

 

Thanks for the nice comments. I think I'm actually one of the few here that feel if you don't have either something positive or constructive to say then you're better off keeping it to yourself.

I've actually been on the MyG37 forum since 2008, but just wasn't very active over there until recently. Tony (TonyHTX) kept texting me and telling me that I needed post up more over there and has been bugging me to start a build thread over there as well.... One step at a time I guess. LOL

FYI... I'm assuming your screen-name means you are from Rochester, NY? I was actually born in Troy, NY when my Dad was in school at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. And I grew up in Troy, Albany, Catskill, and Syracuse.. not to mention Boston, Chicago, and Cincinnati amongst others. You ever take your car to Watkins Glen? My Uncle lived in Rochester and we used to go to Watkins Glen and watch the Trans-Am and CART races there back in the '70's (oops, now I'm showing my age ;-) and I've always wanted to drive there since.

 

Yes, Rochester NY. If there's a car scene here, IDK where it is and probably won't seek it out except for the forums. I'm just a harmless suburban Dad with a personal hobby in his car. Nothing like Tony, LOL. But then, what he's done with his car is more the exception than the modding rule.

And no, I've never been to the Glen. Suspect I'll regret that someday.