I have had my restored '51 Ford club coupe since 1987. I drive it daily during the summer, and it's a great driver. Lately, however, I have decided that it was too stock for me, so I decided to do something with it. The first step was to put on some "big 'n little" Coker classic (195/75R15's in front and 225/75R15's in the rear; please don't start a bias vs. radial war here; like I said, I drive this car daily in the summer). I also installed some Aerostar front springs and pulled the shackles down in the rear. I think the car looks a lot better, and it drives much better than it did with the old 6.70 bias plies. I don't think it's low enough yet, and I think there is room to take one coil off the Aerostar springs, and maybe add some 2 or 3 inch blocks in the rear. What do you guys and gals think?
looking good, and it can go even lower without scraping a lot. For my '51 club coupe, I used the same Coker tire choices/sizes as you and have the Jamco rear springs. ...with a super heavy 392 hemi in front and impossibly heavy steering, about 15+ years ago, I abandoned the original front suspension and went with an aftermarket MII type. It is low enough, but more important, quite drivable.
Do not chop the Aerostar coils,add these:http://www.butchscoolstuff.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=13 Also see what they have for the rear,if you call in your order tell them the H.A.M.B. sent you.
The rear shackles in the first pic were installed wrong. Flipping them up put them in the stock position. So far, so good.
Jeff, What is the advantage of using this kit over cutting the coils? After installing the Aerostars, I think it would be a lot less work to pull the coils and cut them than drilling out the rivets. etc. I'm getting a little to old to be crawling around under a car for hours on end.
I too have a '51 Coupe. I went with Aerostar coils up front, had all new bushings, rod ends, etc. and I love it ! However, I put 3" blocks in the rear and it was not good for me. I live in a town that has steep driveways in certain areas and I live outside of town on roads with dips (for water runoff) and my driveway is not paved. The point is the car was scrapping in the back, quite a bit and my pipes were getting flattened. I took out the 3" blocks and went with 1" and that suits me fine. It still looks good and I know it's limitations. I too hate crawling around under the car anymore so I'll just leave it and focus on the up top stuff!
Don't cut the Aerostars, they're really about the limitation of travel where they are, and you'll quickly find out that the ride and handling depreciate quickly. First thing I'd do is a pair of lowering blocks in the rear. Once the back is down to a more respectable height you'll have a better idea of how low you want the front. With the bigs n' littles you're obviously going for more of a hot rod look than a custom so I suspect you'll want to keep some rake. Throw in a set of 2" blocks and have a couple heavy friends kneel on the front bumper. IF you decide the front needs to come down more, order a set of FatMan dropped uprights. Combined with the Aerostar coils you'll have a really nice (but low) drop. Check out Happy Hoppy's shoebox to get an idea of how low this combo gets you. I think Butch's ball joint conversion will do basically the same thing for less money, but is more work. Don't know, haven't done them yet. '27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=734383
I don't think cutting the new coils is a good idea. I think it looks real nice in front, some 3" blocks in back and it should look super. A little down in back would not be a bad thing for your car style, beautiful coupe I must say. Just my 2 cents. ~sololobo~
Thanks for the kudos folks; I appreciate them. At the present time, it looks like a set of 2" blocks in the rear. I don't really like the "taildragger" look, and I certainly don't like skirts. This being said, I've been talking to an old-timer up here, and he says he has a set of original skirts for this car in the trunk of his '47 Desoto in his uncles garage in Nebraska. He says he's going to bring them up and give them to me (I'll buy him some drinks; you know the kind). You bet I want these. As an offside comment : the Coker's seem to be quite good tire. One of the fronts balanced perfectly with no weights added. The other took 3/4 ounce. Not bad, in my opinion. However, the rears took 2.75 ounces each, but I was able to put the weights on the inside of the tires so everything is good. They are round, and I ran them up to 80 mph with no problems (the ole' flathead was straining), so they are fine. All in all, a great improvement.
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