yes or no on lowering the Buick

^^^^what he said. 3" and wide whites

 

I like it as is.

 

Lay sexy lady down!!!

 

Drop spindles are the best way as the handling stays factory. 2 1/2 drop and 3" blocks in rear should make it look correct!!!

 

My wife always told me.....she likes it when i go low =] drop that beast.

 

I have the center grill piece that appears to be missing from your '57. I also have a '57 4dr parts car.

 

dont lower it older cars look soo much better with air under them with a nice rake

i HATE the no springs broken down frame laying on the ground look

 

This is the difference in a firm(or even stiff) compared to a bone-jarring ride. I've had several lowered "the wrong way", but trimmed or put on smaller bump stops, plenty livable.

 

Lower and put wide whites on everything!

 

Drop it.................rich

 

Apparently, Buick didn't get that memo.

 

yes!!

 

WWW and drag that bumper!

 

don't drag it.

make it look just like the vintage advertisement.

dragging frame is lame.

driving the crap out of your car is very cool

 

I think Buick's look best with the WW centered in the wheelwell.

 

Measure each end of car on flat surface. Snip one coil wrap (2") or a aftermarket spindle 2-3". Rear new shorter coil 2". You can load the trunk 'till its 2" lower to see the results. A forward rake looks tough on the mid fifties-up cars.

 

Do not heat or cut the coils that car will be like driving a dump truck. Add drop spindles lowering springs or maybe Shockwaves if the budget allows..... nice Buford!

 

Fine if you wanted your car to look like it came from the dealer. Guys were replacing wide with narrow.

 

jamco offers a front and rear lowering coil spring 3".....I haven't delt with them yet but ive read ALOT of bad posts about them on the hamb....

 

Like everyone else says, 3 inches lower and big ole white walls.

 

Hey mate. I own a 54 Special and was recommended these guys by someone when I was researching lowering mine.

https://secure.jamcosuspension.com/sc/

I would suggest maybe 2" would be best. Give them a call and see if they do one for the 57

 

I think you're just a little bit early on the death of the wide white. Looking through old magazines all of my life at this point, I would put the end of wides at about '60-'61. '57-'59 there is still lots of cars in the mags of the times proudly sporting wide whites.

 

Absolutely! There is a lot more to lowering a car than just clipping the springs. I am seeing plenty of "oh god don't cut the springs, it'll ride bad/be dangerous/handle poorly" on this thread. Just makes me wonder how many guys have really spent time in the specifications pages of a shock catalog or relocating a bump stop mount 2" higher. Just don't heat and drop!

 

My $.02

If you like the way it looks, leave it..... If you want it lower, lower it.

I know that might sound like I'm being rude but at the end of the day its up to you. I wanted my Chevy so low that I could not go over a beer can (no bags) so that is how low I made it. That being said there is a price to pay for riding that low. At the end of the day, you have a beautiful car & I personally think it looks great as is but if it were me........ I'd lower it.

Cheers,
SN

 

Lower it?
On this forum?
That's like going into a bar and asking " should I have a drink?"
Lower it, not broken lower, but still drivable lower.
Cutting coils are fine. Most 50's cars have such a soft ride, that stiffening the coils a bit makes them ride and handle much better than stock.
Do not heat them!

 

The styling of the car, with the circular rear wheel openings, presents the problem that the rear wheels really want to be centred in the openings under normal conditions. It looks like the opening centre is currently a bit higher than the axle centre, so the car needs to be lowered slightly to get to that ideal.

On the other hand this sort of wheel opening ideally needs a tallish tyre to fill it, and that works in the opposite direction.

The wheel placement in the above ad doesn't look bad, though. Lowering just past concentric might just be the best with the tyres you've got now.

 

YES without a doubt on lowering and wide whites

 

It looks great like it is.
Why waste your money and the car on lowering.
I know it appears that slamming is the thing to do on this forum but it is a fad just like resto-rods of the 70s, billet clad pastel colored smoothies of the 80s, big inch wheels of the 90s and patina on the ground rat stuff of the 2000s.
The whole on the ground thing is from West Coast low-riders/Kustoms, pimp rides and mini trucks.
Its a regional thing too, a lowered car would have been useless in the Southeast due to road conditions 60 years ago.

 

Been wondering about this.. My heap is going to be low but still have a rake and still go over any bumpy road, speed bump or driveway without bother. Probably 4" clearance in front and more in back.

 

Thanks for everyones input. Time to dig in.