Does the condition of the rear shock absorber have an effect on the height of the coil over shock combination?

ie. If the shock has lost it's "shock value" then would that leave the coil spring to do the job on it's own and possibly result in the body weight compressing it further?

Just trying to decide if I should swap out the shocks first and leave the stock springs or if I should wait and pick up some new springs and do them all at once.

dead shocks may let the body droop on that side

dead springs will too....

A gas charged shock will raise the car a little, I think 1/4" to 1/2".
If the gas is now gone from a gas shock, obviously it will drop again.
The springs in the back of these 30+ year old cars have sagged, and that's usually the cause of the droopy rear ends. The stock springs were 75# springs, a nice, easy inexpensive upgrade is 90# springs or even stiffer if you want to change the front torsion bars also. For the rears it's 4 bolts, no spring compressor needed, and the last set I bought from GPR was $75.00.

There's a lot that can change the side to side height. Incorrectly set perches (if your shocks have multiple height circlip retainers), gas shocks going bad, springs sagging and then finally the supsension console starting to give. For a quick test you can spend an hour and swap shocks/springs from side to side to see if there is any difference.

There is a 1" difference in ride height from left to right at the rear.

Any removal or reinstallation of the stock springs from the shock/spring combo will require a spring compressor right?

But since I am certain that the shocks are toast and I have a set of new Koni's then I guess that is my first test.

for the spring compressor, yes and no...depends on the spring, if unsure, get a spring compressor, cheap insurance...some autostores rent them or let you borrow for free...

you could take both shock assemblies out and swap them side to side to see if the ride height changes, should take about 20 minutes

Your local "Crappy Tire" (Canadian Tire for those that don't know...LOL) store has a "loan a tool" program. You can get the spring compressor from them. You leave a deposit for the replacement cost which they refund upon return.

Cheers

Todd

Instead of a spring compressor, If needed, (I've not seen it yet) you can put the car on jackstands, put a floor jack under the trailing arm, put a little pressure on the trailing arm with the jack, remove the top nut, and gently lower the trailing arm until the spring is loose. Then remove the lower bolt and pull the whole mess out. Installation is the reverse.
When I worked at a Porsche shop, I could do the lowering springs on the front of a 996 or Boxster in 10 minutes for both sides this way. It paid 1.5 hours book time. I used a lot of grease to hold all of the shims and gaskets and stuff together while I guided the top of the shock back into the spring top. The extra money I made on the front of the car almost made up for the nightmare in the back.