1954 belair rear end and leaf spring swap

i have a 1954 belair that i'm doing a tranny swap to a 700r4 keeping the 235, which requires me to run a new rear end, my plan is to run a nova or s10 rear end. how i'm trying to decided if i should keep the stock springs or go with after market 2.5 wide springs. any input would be great, also who makes the best after market springs that have about a 2 inch drop. also which axle fits better the nova or s10, are the bolt patterns the same as my front now or different.

 

Your bolt pattern will remain the same with either of those rear ends. As for the springs and which one will fit better I cannot help on that. My old 54 Belair got a rear from a volare, fit perfect.

 

did you have to reweld the spring preches?

 

Since you are keeping the 235 there is really no reason to upgrade to the wider springs. They mainly help with more power.

I've been driving my '53 with a 350 V8 and original-width springs for 10 or 12 years with no problems at all. It's not a high performance engine and I don't drive the car hard. If I were going racing I'd put in the wider springs.

I have Posies superslide springs in my car. I do NOT recommend them - they ruined the handling and I didn't notice any real improvement in the ride. You can have your original springs dearched a couple inches for far less than a new set of springs, or if you are only going for a 2-inch total drop you can just use lowering blocks.

Speaking of which, you WILL want to upgrade the plates that mount below the spring that the u-bolts go into. [I don't know what it's called?] When I put the S-10 4x4 rear axle in my car I just grabbed those plates and drilled two new holes in each one to allow for the narrower spring. Worked like a charm, although if you're using original shock absorbers that might require a bit of welding for the lower shock mount.

 

2nd Gen Camaro rear is just about a drop in. Use 2" blocks to get around relocating the hole for the pin. Nova may fit also depending on what year.

If you go S10 it has to be a 4x4 rearend. They're about the same width as stock. You will need to cut off and move the spring perches.

No bolt pattern issues for any of those.

 

where would the best place to get lowering block from that relocate the pin?

 

I am running an 8.8 ford with 3.73's and a posie that I pulled out of an explorer. The upside is that this rear is pretty solid and can definitely hold what I am throwing at it, and it was $50.

The downside is that now my bolt pattern is different front to rear and the tail end of my drive shaft tunnel had to be re-worked for clearance (luckily this was already being down anyway). Of course I had to re-weld the perches back on.

I do however, like the Posie's springs. I have put a few thousand on them now and they feel just fine. I use those and a 2.25 inch block under them. You can buy the 3" blocks from anywhere, I even think Posie's sells them for like $30 and as long as they are solid then you can machine them down to whatever size you want if 3" is too big. Just remember if you buy the Posie's springs make you specify the rear end you are using, the spring pin location is different. Good luck!