have any of you guys ever ?

a lot of funny stuff posted here. already have full 3/4" offset hangars, already have 1/2" spacers installed w/ the 295 65 15 draq radials. I bought a complete caltrac system off a guy (don`t remember who) on this site a few yrs back. doesn`t matter now. the (caltrac ?) springs were 2 piece- 2'' springs. tire clearance was perfect,one side set too low so I ordered a new rear half from John at caltrac for that side, we'll u guessed it , it`s 2 1/2", which makes it 1/4" wider on each side. cutting my "just adequate" tire clearance. I have seen quite a few cars over the yrs. w/ springs cut or ground for tire clearance, mostly back in the old days. I know it will be ok if not much is taken out. I was just wondering about options for cutting a 1/4" out w/o getting the spring hot. did it yesterday, 1/4" about 3" long on the tire side. kept it cool w/ water while doing it . will mount it today. it`s still a lot stronger than the 2" spring it`s replacing. not worried about it in the slightest.--it doesn`t affect the front half because the rear half doesn`t go that far forward. have another rear half on the way.-- sorry for the long explanation.--
wonder how much, if at all, that affects the spring rate of the spring?