AIR RIDE on early GM IFS

gosh, i'm only about a year late in answering your question. wish you had just PMed me after i did'nt respond. i'm not as avid on here as i once was.... but to answer the question for anyone interested...
it should be a very similar suspension. my 47 Chevy coupe looked much the same as this one and yours is the same as that. best thing to do is to just crawl up under there and start lookin at things and how it all works. then you can compare what you've seen to the pics above.

 

Looks killer great job!!!

 

I've had two different HAMBers ask me very recently about baggin this type of suspension and weather or not they should swap it out for a MII IFS.
well each situation is different, and if your building a high performance car with a big motor that is going to need big brakes then maybe you should consider an IFS swap...
BUT if your building a cruiser or custom with a mild motor then maybe an overhaul of the original brakes and suspension is all you need. the original parts have been steering and stopping these cars for decades and should be (depending on how you drive) up to the same task today.
I've come to embrace the term "If it ain't broke don't fix it." Every situation/owner is different but ask yourself "how do i plan to drive the car?" and "is it really worth the extra time, effort and money???" and more importantly "can i realistically see myself getting it all back together in a reasonable amount of time if i dive into such a big project?".
Be smart. Do your homework. And think things through. Then you can make a truly informed decision of weather to upgrade or simply to rebuild.

happy building...

 

i just realized that i never updated this thread with pics of the rear bags mounted in the car. lets remedy that shall we...
i have to add that the rear was all done by Jeff alone (with only a little advice from me). i think he did a swell job and i particularly like how he took care of the shock mount situation.
these sleeves bags (or rolling lobe bag) offer a smoother ride than your standard double convoluted (or bellows) style bags. you will notice the plate we mounted under the bag so that the rubber does not roll down and around the base. that could cause chaffing and will eventually cause bag failure. honestly the lower plate could stand to be a just a little bigger in diameter (say about an inch, total, all around) than we have here, but this should do the job just fine.

 

more pics...

 

and...

 

Thanks for sharing, i`m very interest.

I do the same at this time.thumbs up.

 

awesome... just so happens I was searching for shock info for my '37 Pontiac and came across this. I had a thought to do the same thing, keeping the knee action shocks, and just swapping out the springs for bags... but this takes it to next level. I'll be refering back to this when the time comes. Ironic the timing as I was looking through ebay for air ride parts as well. Thanks for putting the time into documenting this.

One question, that Ill probably answer using the search here, but how is the car sitting/handling today? just curious... J.

 

Thank you for bringing up this post. I have a 1940 Buick series 80 I am goin to bag and this is perfect. My project is a long time in the making but I have planned to make custom upper to get rid of the built is shock and lower arms and run a more modern spindle with ball joints. Probably a mid 70's big car spindle with the 12 inch rotors. But need to check spindle heights and pivot points etc. I don't know technical terms.

What dominator bags did u run. The D2600's seems to be what I am finding mostly.

Thank u again
Ken

 

Great tech, explained well and with good photos. Thats one of the great things on here is the knowledge that is shared. Keep up the good work!

 

Hey Ken.. you might like this write up on knee action upper arm upgrade, and ball joint retrofit...

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/1937-1957_Buick_Oldsmobile_Pontiac_suspension_upgrade

 

Thank you for the link it is goin to help a lot. Also like the write up on the rack And opinion. Time to start junkyard hopping. I may also look imo a hydro boost setup. But we will see what I find. sorry for hijacking. will start my own three when time comes.

 

wow...great article. got a 41 chevy I'm looking to do this exact thing to.

 

any chance you know where he got the dropped uprights from?

 

Got 'em from fatman.

 

i realize this thread was started 3 years ago, but it seems to gain steam every year.

one thing id like to add, and mike may have done this, when you cut open the front pocket, removing the rolled lip, ie pic3 in original post, i like to weld up the seam from the inner frame rail to the pocket. most times, like in this instance, you cut right up too, or threw a stock rivet. i have seen frames separate in these areas that are not welded back after being cut open. as mentioned be sure to grind down any welds or slag left behind.