In summary: I want to replace the air springs with coil springs in my '92 Grand Marquis. A Haynes repair manual says the standard coil springs, and the air springs found in some models (like mine) are mounted in the same way & have the same "seats". Disregarding the complexities involved in removing springs & installing them, can it be as simple as pulling out the air springs & slapping in the coils, with no modifications or adjustments otherwise? Secondly, I want to get these coils from a junk/salvage yard. What make, model & year cars could I pull the proper coils off of? This so I can ask the junk yards if they have any of these cars.
Those are the basic questions; everything below this is just a longer-winded version of the above, with a few more details, justifications and a few useless anecdotes.
Last time this happened, it was a blown fuse...easy to fix. This time it's not. My car has once again turned into a low-rider. Since the first time, I'd ordered a Haynes Repair manual that outlines the steps involved in pulling out & installing air springs, and doing the same for coil springs. Obviously, I'm gonna splice the operations; supplant the air springs with coil springs.
The manual states "The rear air springs, a pair of cylindrical inflatable bladders, are mounted in the same location as conventional coil springs ( they even use the same upper and lower spring seats)."
As I know virtually nothing about cars in general, I don't know what implications the above quotation carries, but it seems that it's saying that the air springs are interchangeable with the coil springs....physically, anyway...I'll worry about all the electrical-sensor-stuff later...I think all I have to do is keep the air suspension switch in the trunk flipped off & I'll be fine.
The first question, then, is does this seem right to you?
Now I can give you a big sob story about tuition, rent, & being poor, but suffice to say that this thing isn't getting fixed unless I do it myself. I have access to all the tools I'll ever need, and I have a mechanic acquaintence, so guidance is available. The purpose of this post is to determine whether something like this can be done as I'm envisioning it, and second....
To determine what other makes, models, & years have the coil springs that I would need to use. For instance, I know that if I can find a '92 Grand Marquis with rear coil springs at a junk yard, I'll be in heaven. Unfortunately, my last ordeal with a belt tensioner proved to me that that's not likely...I think I got one off an old Ford LTD or Delta 88 or something...Christ, I really have no idea...the guy at the junk yard told me he had what I was looking for, and sure enough, it was the right part...conveniently, there was no body encasing the engine...don't know how I got that lucky...