Anti-bag 49-52 Chevy thread

Matt
Can you define what you did in modifying the spring cups for additional travel?

 

Or you can do what George Barris did in the let 40's and early 50's when taking photos. Put like 5 or 6 guys in the trunk and as many as you can in the car.

 

Its kinda hard to explain without a pic but where the lower bump stop touches the cup at full travel is where I did my trimming. There is a small bracket thats tack welded to the bottom of the cup. I cut that bracket off and welded in a piece of flat stock in its place . You will gain a little extra travel maybe 1.5" before the bump stop hits the cup.then I cut the stock rubber bumpstop in half

 

Joe little- I currently have my 670-15 bias plys on but I have a new set of radials going on. They are 205/75/15, just 1/4" shorter than the bias plys . Pretty much the same height .

 

Ha! There's a new thread, Sand Bags vs Air Bags!

 

My wifes 52 very mild compared to most on here. Only dropped a couple inches but would like to bring the front down more with dropped spindles.

 

This is my 50 Fleetline.
It has drop spindles and springs in the front. Re-arched springs and 4" lowering blocks in the rear with a 55 chevy rear axle. The only problem now is the axle hits the frame over medium to large bumps in the road. After lowering the rear there is only about 2.5 inches between the axle and frame. Im going to do a notch come spring, but for now I'm trying to get it ready for paint.

 

Does anyone know how much you can de-arch the leaf springs on a 50 Chevy (mine's a Styline ) and still have them fit the stock shackle and bolt set up. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about removing leaves ..I mean actually having them de-arched at a spring shop near me . I'd like to go at least 3" but I'm sure that will make them longer as they flatten out. I am already running 3" blocks and they didn't get me low at all..I still have plenty on travel room on the torque tube and pumpkin if I go another 3" on the springs.

 

I "dearched" mine myself about 4 inches then just flipped the stock shackles, also I had 4 inch blocks. Rode shit but looked awesome.

So yeah you should be able to still fit your stock shackles in with dearched springs. It's just a bit of an effort to et em in there

 

Amen brother

 

Installed 3" cut Jamco coils today..I'm pretty happy with the nose-

But I still haven't de-arched the rear springs yet..so I these guys just will just have to stay on the bumper till I get around to it. (and I'm gonna be kinda busy 'cause we are chopping the roof tomorrow)

Since I have a bunch of crappy old stock coil springs lying around, I'm thinking of making some home built custom "Sproing Boots" like Wile E. Coyote used to get from Acme .Ol' Wile E. was hardcore traditional. No bags for him .

 

I think I finally nailed it! 3" Jamco cut coils up front with 3" dropped Posies and 3" blocks in back..No idea how it's gonna ride, but the clearance is fine and I love the stance.

 

Looks damn good! Chop looks spot on . Keep it up. You outta start a build thread on this thing !

 

Same with us in Southern California.

Cut the coils .... but it wasn't low enough.

Put Volkswagen sized tires on the front; helped a little but could be lower.

Cut the coils again ..... still wasn't low enough.

Installed dropped spindles ..... Now we're talkin!

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It also had big lowering blocks under the rear axle. The front was so low that it would lay A-frame when I'd go over a bump and one day on my way to work, I had scraped off so much metal under where the A-frame bolts on that it cut loose and fell off. Lucky for me I was making a right turn and going slow when that happened because I came to a screeching halt. I also got a few tickets for being too low so I raised it up with new springs when I replaced the A-arm.

There are a few more photos of it on Rikster's site

 

Great thread.

 

Hi Matt,
There are actually 2 threads. One is about repairing what turned out to the messed up tree damaged roof that was hidden under years of bondo (and even some lead) before we could even begin the chop-
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=660192&highlight=50+chevy+chop+going
..and the other on the chop itself, which we were finally able to start last week-
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=673698&highlight=50+chevy+chop
This has been a hell of a journey so far and not much of it has been easy. This little Chevy has made us work for everything she has given up of her past form. But, I am really happy with the progress and the plan is to finish the chop, nose -deck and doors , wire everything (and switch to 12v) running, get the exaust in, slap on some primer and have driving in-process custom on the road in the spring and finish all the mods( headlights, tail lights, bumper, grill, interior, paint etc,) over the next year or so

 

I was having trouble deciding whether or not to "bag" my 46 fleetline. I've bagged several cars and thought I might want something different, it's nice just to get in and drive without waiting on a compressor, or fearing a line or bag failure. This thread made up my mind. I went with a nascar style 3-link and coil overs in back(handles and rides better than original!), dropped spring pockets up front.

 

Sorry, picture of front was before lowering and wheel change(disc brakes) Here's snother

 

that is a beuatiful car

 

Cruzer.. Your fleetline turned out awesome! Stance is just right. Great work

 

That's a sweet Bomb!

 

how many of you non-bagged guys have had to put in new inner rear fenderwells (or run shorter tires.( measuring my 51, it looks like I am going to run into clearance issues if I run 15" rims and taller tires.)

 

Well here's some new shot from today. ( it was very cloudy today pics suck). I took her on the first drive in 7 months. Drives great except when you hit a large dip in the road I get a little rubbing at the top of the rear wheel wells. Other than that ride is awesome. I'll have to get the rubbing situation fixed before roundup

 

matthew, that sits really nice, about where I want the rear of mine to sit (but I plan a slightly taller tire. I would like my front to sit a little lower than yours (I want it really low but on a slight rake). how much front travel do you have. Since you are rubbing when hitting bumps, I know I will be in trouble in the rear (maybe some airshocks to air up when on a road trip..

how much gap between the top of the tire and top of the inner fender when not moving?

 

For those who used lowering blocks, did you have any issues with pressure on the torque tube? I did a three inch drop block on my '52 last summer and had to shim the starter to relieve pressure so it would turn over...i'm a little worried about tearing up the drive shaft due to a different angle it now has.

 

Im liking see all this.. I built mine with a S10 clip and a camaro rearend. have the front frame channel 3 inch up in the car and build a truck arm setup for the back..with a C notch in the frame.Plan is to have it sitting like it is now with stock S10 coils not cut and 60 Pontiac coils out back.. with any luck they wont be cut eather.. I find cut coils tighen up the ride.Im shooting for a smoother ride with longer springs.

 

Hope you're not having too much fun with that bagged truck, Matthew.

 

P.S. This is a pretty sweet thread.. Been saving pictures left and right.

 

I have 2" blocks in the rear of mine. I also welded in a Gambino Notch and removed 2 leafs from each side.

 

Now THATS how you make a 4-door look good! Awesome