I was wondering what a good leaf kit is for a lowered rear end for this sedan. I plan on a mustang 2 kit for the front but not sure which one (almost think about a dropped axle also), still going to have a newer 6 cyld/power glide and all stock inside. Also if any one hss put a rear end in a 40 which RE did you use. Thanks in advance. Mike
I have a 48 which is close, I used CE's rear spring kit, it went in nice but they use a 4wd Dodge Dakota front springs and my car rides like a pickup. I called them and they told me to take the second from the bottom leaf out and it improved the ride but it still is like a pickup on larger bumps. The ride has not got better with age either. Beautiful kit, I'm not happy with the ride. The problem that I have found with my MII front end is that the wheels are into far, if you want to have the same width as the original front end and run narrow tires, its hard to do. I used a 70 Ford half ton rear which was identical to the chevy in width, easy to do the e-brake cables etc.. I drive the car a lot, the front tires wore the outside edges off so I must be going through the corners to fast. The front end alignment was checked twice, I was using a rim with 2 and 3/4 inch BS so now I just bought some new rims with 3 and 3/4 BS. It moves the wheel in one inch so I will see how this does. There are more than one reason that I'm unhappy with the MII, sway bar is another, doesn't fit right. This is all MO so good luck.
I, too, have a CE rear end kit in my 49 Chevy fleetline....not saying I have a harsh ride in the rear but my 68 corvette with a buggy rear spring rides like a Caddy compared to this rear end kit....I have run it original, just the top 3 springs, just removing the 2nd shortest as recommened my CE, and now I have the top spring, took out the 2nd longest spring, and put in the rest....time to try something else....still a very harsh ride. If I had not given away my orig springs, I would have tried to work with them...like my ol mechanic said....it don't get better than a GM suspension. And by the way, my Mustang II front suspension is about as bad if not worse. After market junk........IS JUNK!!!!!!....Its about taking your money for an inferior product that does not work or do what is stated it will do. By the way, I have personly installed a 71 Monte front clip in a 55 F100 I had and a 84 Monte in my 51 shoebox I had.....both were a pure pleasure to drive....these chevies have a very narrow frame so I decided to go MII.....what a huge mistake.
I have a 39 chevy coupe with a Heidts IFS (with 2" drop spindles) and the same Chassis Engineeing rear spring kit as mentioned above. The springs were far too stiff for my coupe so I removed the second from the bottom leaf. I also didn't like how tall the car was so I had to add a 1.5" lowering block. The advice I would give is to make sure the axle is centered in the wheel opening because chevy originally had the wheels sitting a little too far forward....about .5 inch. If you are looking for a nice spring, go take a look at Posies or Eaton and build your own spring hangers.
The Jalopy Journal
