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Is there going to be enough room to go as low as you like with 12" springs? I went with 10" springs due to GP guys being limited to the 12"ers they were using as far as drop goes. Your front assembly looks like it has even less room to work with. They were also saying the length of the 12" spring was allowing flex and strut rubbing duting turns.

Dampening is what the shocks/struts do to slow down spring movement. Without them, your car will feel like a pogo stick. Lowering the car requires a stiffer spring for less movement so you don't bottom out. Dampening is affected by two things, weight and spring stiffness. Stiffer springs need more dampening and more weight needs more dampening. So, since a lot of weight is on the front wheels, you're at the least going to have to increase the dampening up there. If you convert your stock shocks to coilovers you're still going to have to figure out how you want to fab your top mount for the spring. The required increased spring rate coupled with stock dampening will make the ride pogo like and wear out the shocks quicker. I ran 2" drop springs on kyb gr2's and then Eibachs with AGXs and the difference was night and day. The stock replacement gr2s just couldn't keep up. I'd hit a dip on the highway and the front end would just bob up and down.

If you can run W-body springs like I was suggesting you would probably get about a 3" drop in the front with Eibachs. Superior dampening is a must, do not avoid that.

For the fronts, I know your knuckles are the same as W-bodies. So a w-body AGX strut will bolt up to your knuckle. Now all you have to do is compare top mounts to verify the ID of the top of the springs are the same. Just ask an auto parts place to pull a 97 GP top mount and one for your car. This will tell you if you can use w-body front springs. The advantage of this is used springs can be had for cheap and agxs will not make you regret lowering by keeping it in control. Not sure on the rears but coilsprings.com can make custom rears. I've had a few sets made by them. (kept wanting lowerrr) p.s. you can also upgrade to 98-02 LS1 f-body dual piston front calipers and 12" rotors.

The Bloody Beetroots ft. Steve Aoki - WARP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvO_oQbWmmw love parties like this..

Confused.. Yeah it's definitely a love or hate thing. I like them because they're completely not serious, kinda funny, hype, and they admit they're crappy. Definitely not how all music should be but it's cool every once in a while. Nero - Innocence

I guess it's not serious enough for you?

If your so smart explain this Clarissaa pow. haha. MSI is the best when you're tired of everything else.

10 11 13 Essential Mix - Nero

I got the thrust bearings for top and bottom and QA1 400lb springs from Summit. The sleeve and the lower perch are from A1racing. I welded a piece of 2.5" pipe to my stock top mount to center the spring and bearing. For the most part this setup works well. I would love to draw an adjustable top mount up in CAD with provision for a pillowball mount, but that will have to wait till later.

Luckily it came with a series II. It's the first year for that engine, last year for the bodystyle (96-99 is a little different).

I was waiting for someone to bring up 60*v6s.. I actually have a lot of respect for 60*v6s and I've been a member of 60degreev6 for over 5 years. I even enjoyed the LH0 in my Regal when I had it. (did the 1.6 JY rocker mod just because) No doubt the splayed valve, aluminum heads, and overall better flowing upper end have me beat.. stock for stock. But it was never a comparison to me. People always want to compare the two and I've never understood it. Sure they're both pushrod v6s but that's about all they have in common. One guy will say an L67 can handle more boost the other will boast about 60* flow numbers then that gets countered with 3x00 gasket issues (just did 3400 head gaskets on a rendezvous today), then it's hp vs. boost, then how fast has each actually gone.. lol. Believe me, I know the advantages of both. What you probably don't know is my ported heads flow better than stock 3500 heads and are even slightly better than a stock LS1 head. This is referencing the flow comparison chart on 60degreev6. And they have a near perfect intake to exhaust flow ratio, which is why I chose them. The point of my build it to take this outdated 'boat anchor' and make it perform as well as it's stock up to date n/a counterparts. I know very well it can and reliably. It probably seems like a strange thing to do.. I know I get 'why not just top sway it?' or 'turbo it' a lot from 3800 guys I mention it to. lol. It's just not what I want. I built a SS turbo hot side for an L67 Regal already.

I tried to sell the wheels right before I got into an accident that destroyed one (see intro) but it's tough to get what they are worth. New, they're $6k imported from NZ. I got them for $2200 used from a JDM importer shipped and machined to 115x5 and 70.3mm bore. I've seen them go for as much as $3k on the east coast though. Theres probably 2 dozen sets in the US tops.. Which is why that set with one wheel's barrel destroyed beyond repair is now worth nothing. (believe me I'm searched/called/emailed for a barrel) Oddly enough I had the new wider and chromed set by the time of the accident. I live in Philly but I'm in VA Beach/Norfolk area a couple times a year. I do like that idea. Problem is I think it would be too close to the beemer kidney grills. I like that the grill is different enough to where it's not completely resembling an E39. Also, without any major other bodywork aside from the shaved trunk key hole and antenna, a lot of people really think that I didn't do anything at all to make the lights fit. That's kinda cool in a way.

Progression thread it is! Thanks everyone.

Here's the progression of my car over the past three and a half years. Right after I picked it up: Engine and trans from my last bonneville installed plus some SSE/i tails: Flared out my bumper: I resto-ed some 16x8 (22 ET) GP crosslaces and had the centers powdercoated black: New almost everything suspension with GP AGXs and Eibachs up front with LS1 F-body brakes and Powerslots. Custom 3" drop springs in the rear with air assist shocks. SS Braided Lines from the fuel tank: Vac pump setup: A trip to VA: DIY front coilovers and 4" rear dropsprings: E39 headlights and Super RSes from Japan. 2-stage Black Onyx 202 paint: I had already determined how low I could be with raised drivetrain and modified fenders but I decided to bottom it out anyway to see how the axles would respond.. They shook the whole car so bad that I only drove it a half a block.. here's what it looked like though: suspension geometry fail. Headlights cleaned up and Super RSes back on: Interior refresh: How it looked till about a month ago: And the start of my engine/bay build:

I use to be more into metal-type genres back in 99-03. I still like everything I listened to but the progression of the.. i guess metal core stuff I was into ruined it for me. Of the top of my head the stuff I still listen to from then would be 18 Visions (anything past 02 blows) Badluck 13 Hatebreed Dillinger Escape Plan AnalCunt A Long Winter Meshuggah My favorite band is GlassJaw hands down. I've been way into them since 00. Whatever genre that is completely sucks after 03 IMO.

Thanks guys! I'm gald you all are diggin it so far. I still have a long way to go till I'm satisfied. Here are some more pics you might like. I got another set of Super RSes but 9/10" wide insead of 8/9" with chromed barrels. (2-pc) Puddle lights and window spoiler: Here are the longtubes and a vid when I test fitted: Heads: Some random painted/polished stuff: The blue anodized will be black and the rails will be purple. Trans:

Nice. I heard hide and seak in a Gabriel and Dresden mix a while back. I see she does looping too. Good stuff.

Hopefully I'm not the only electronic music guy here.. Clare Maguire - Ain't Nobody (Breakage Remix) Danger - 4h30

I'm fairly certian you can tune an 08 L26. A used turbo kit is the way to go if your after quick easy power. 350whp with a turboed stock longblock isn't unheard of. With a good tune the n/a L26 or L36 can take over 500whp. Then there's the transmission.. Turboed 3800s are rough on the trans. A stock open diff has been in the eights but thats about it as far as luck with the trans. I believe there were some revisions like a hardened 4th clutch hub in 05 and maybe some other things but the trans will need work.

95 F-body/LT1 cars were odd in the sense that they had a flashable prom vs. a removable memcal yet they were not full on OBD2. www.moates.net had hardware and software that will work for your application. Email Craig (Craig Moates) about sites that may have tuning guides to help you.

Hey all. I was forwarded a link to this site and decided to check it out. I've been driving a 95 Bonneville 7 out of the last 8 years and have owned two of them. I've been in the 3800 scene that long and have done a fair amount of work to my cars and others. 95 was the 1st year of the 3800 series 2 so I was lucky in that respect. Shortly after buying my car in 02 I found out about all the mods available for the 97+ GPs (and other W-bodies)and the gears started turning. I wanted to stay n/a (never changed) and did a cam/heads in 04 and had basically every n/a bolt on by 05. Appearance wise it was kind of a rice bucket. I did so much bodywork to the thing I couldn't even take it apart. Shaved everything, molded in some base E39 headlights, custom drop springs, 15lb 17"s.. yadda yadda. It was my first car and I learned a lot from it. I ended up getting into an accident with the car and the damage totaled it.. In retrospect this was probably a good thing. I kept what I could from it, drove a beater for a year and bought basically the same (unmolested) car with no engine. It had 180k on the clock but was still in great shape for its age. I dropped in my old engine and all the mods into the car and started over. I hated the 4x4 stance and the only option available was custom springs and KYB GR-2s. I wanted something better. I did some junkyarding and found out that for the front I could use a W-body strut with an 00+ Bonneville knuckle and W-body drop springs. I also found out that I could now bolt up F-body LS1 front brakes too, which I did. I got about a 2.5" drop from W-body Eibachs and AGXs. I did custom rear springs and air assist struts in the rear. It was much better but I wanted more. I tried a couple other W-body front springs but they all netted the same height. And I also started having issues with my CV boots. To fix that, I raised my drivetrain 1.5" with spacers on two mounts and welded/modded the other two. This worked well so I converted the front AGXs to DIY coilovers with 400lb springs, and dropped just over an inch more. I also got 4" custom drop springs for the rear too. Right after that I started molding in another set of E39 headlights.. but the right way. I cut and riveted/epoxied front sections of E39 fender to mine, welded metal to my hood, and built the bumper up a little. Fiberglass and bondo finished it up. It can all be disassembled like stock. Plus I got projectors and HIDs out of the deal. Also during that time I got a set of BBS Super RSes from a JMD wheel importer from Cali. You might see similar wheels but these were never for sale in the US. I spaced them out over 20mm to get the stance correct. Paint came earlier this year and I opted for base/clear and a lexus black onyx 202 paint code. I loved when it rained so you couldn't see the primer. lol Shortly after the engine install I found that I had low compression due to fried rings. So all those mods and I was basically sitting at stock power level and also burning enough oil to be a 2-stroke. Said f-it drove it like that for 3 years while I planned a major n/a build in the meantime. I did a crap ton of other less noteworthy things but I'll leave them out in an effort to not make this a book. And here's how it was looking up until about a month ago: I lady kindly decided she wanted to be sideways in front of me on the highway out of nowhere. I avoided her but caught/skimmed a concrete barrier. It destroyed one wheel, strut top mount bent and it poked the hood, scraped the mirror, and trans mount bottomed out hitting the ground messing up the diff. In the grand scheme of things though.. I was very fortunate. So my n/a build started early. I hope to have everything ready by the spring. There will be a ton of while I'm in there things. Highlights of the build are 13k mile shortblock, bigger cam, heads with a perfect I/E flow ratio, 33" longtubes I made with upswept primaries, 10.5ish CR, Bigger TB, shorter intake runners, every bolt on, a trans I rebuilt with various improvements and 3.43s and a lot of painted/polished stuff. The goal is about 240ish very reliable whp and to crack a 13.9 possibly with weight reduction. I know very well how easy it is to meet those goals with much less money and effort but that’s just not enough for me. If you made it this far I hope you enjoyed the history and the car.