I am thinking when I do my engine swap I will likely need to change front springs. I have a pair here I bought from Mark (Cdnpont) and may try them. I was doing some online reading tonight and found this on a Chevy forum. Has anyone else experienced this, where the replacement has more coils than the original?

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Here is some info from the suspension refurbishment I did on my 68 Impala Convertible (307, PG, No A/C) a couple of years ago. I purchased the MOOG 6192 front springs as recommended and used the OEM lower control arms.

Once installed, the car was nose high. Also the coils did not index well in the upper spring mount when I installed them. But I willfully ignored that fact because I was overjoyed that the front end was going back together!!

Frustrated, I hit up all the forums I could to find out this was a common problem without a simple, affordable solution (coilovers or air ride would fix, but big $$$).

So, I corresponded with another Chevytalk member (mjc1) to discuss his experience with front spring replacement (he had lots of info).

I had fortunately held onto my old springs and the GM part numbers were still legible. So I did a little research to compare my OEM springs specs and the MOOG 6192 spring specs.

Below is some of the email correspondence (edited):

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Found the old springs. They have a CB code sticker on them, GM p/n 3864715.
Coil wire diameter = .630" (measured)
# of coils = 9
Free length = 17" (measured, not sure what they were new)
Spring rate = 290 lb/inch (per GM spec)

New spring (MOOG 6192) specs:
Coil wire diameter = .640 (per MOOG spec and measured)
# of coils = 9.75 (visual observation)
Free length = 17.5" (per MOOG spec and measured)
Spring rate = 300 lb/in (per MOOG spec)
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As you can see in the email excerpt above, while the springs are not identical, the only characteristic that is significantly different (in my opinion) is the number of coils: MOOG 9.75 coils vs. OEM 9 coils. I should have paid more attention to this before installing the new springs, but I figured they were replacements so they should fit!

More email correspondence:

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Good news. I cut the coils (with a 4.5" grinding wheel, not an acetylene torch!) down to 9 coils and the car sits PERFECT. And it is not too stiff! Funny thing... The coil ends on the new springs were not indexed correctly to fit the control arm and frame pockets. I knew that when I put it in but did so anyway.

So the MOOG 6192 had 9.75 turns total (OEM coils have 9 turns). Of course it was sprung in the car as if it had 10 turns. I used the old coils as a guide and cut the "extra" 3/4 turn from the new coil. Now it has the same number of turns as the old one and the ends line up with the control arm and frame.

Result: The stance is much, much better!!!
All Moog had to do was make it like the OEM coil and all would have been well. Don't know why it had that extra 3/4 turn.
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So, that was my story. My car rides fine. It is not too stiff since the coil spring rate, number of coils, free length, coil wire diameter are similar to the OEM springs.

NOTE: As stated above, I used a 4.5" grinder to cut the coils, not an acetylene torch. The grinder did not impart as much heat to the springs as the torch would have, so I did not affect the spring temper.

If MOOG made the 6192 with 9 coils instead of 9.75 coils, there would have been no problem with the installed ride height and the coils would have indexed properly in both upper spring mount and lower control arm.