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Technical 1950 Chevy 3" Lowering Blocks vs De-arched Springs

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by mlagusis, Aug 27, 2020.

  1. mlagusis
    Joined: Oct 11, 2009
    Posts: 1,126

    mlagusis
    Member

    My son and I are building his 1950 Chevy 2 door fast back. We are putting a SBC, 700r4 and 1955 Chevy car rear end. We want to lower the car 3". When we pull the stock rear end, we are going to clean up the stock springs, repaint them, paint the frame/floor, put new bushings, shocks and install the new rear end. I can't decide if we should lower with 3" blocks or have the springs de-arched. What are your thoughts?
     
  2. mlagusis
    Joined: Oct 11, 2009
    Posts: 1,126

    mlagusis
    Member

    more info, found a shop that can de-arch them 3" for $190. They cold press the leafs individually, then reassemble them. They said they can reverse the main leaf as well. I am leaning towards that option but want to hear feed back from others.
     
  3. junkman8888
    Joined: Jan 28, 2009
    Posts: 1,035

    junkman8888
    Member

    Re-arching and re-using the springs you have is false economy.
     
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  4. mlagusis
    Joined: Oct 11, 2009
    Posts: 1,126

    mlagusis
    Member

    Hnstray and VANDENPLAS like this.

  5. RMONTY
    Joined: Jan 7, 2016
    Posts: 2,540

    RMONTY
    Member

    That's not a bad price for the springs, I wouldn't think. I bought a Chassis Engineering set a few years back that is stock height, it came with shocks, and new brackets, and a shock mount bar to get the shocks out of the trunk area, and it had new u-bolts, for around $800 I think.
     
  6. 302GMC
    Joined: Dec 15, 2005
    Posts: 7,856

    302GMC
    Member
    from Idaho

    De-arch yours. Do a search on doing it yourself - not at all hard to do.
    Never been a fan of all the extra crap hanging down from the axle with blocks ...
     
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  7. mlagusis
    Joined: Oct 11, 2009
    Posts: 1,126

    mlagusis
    Member

    I saw the CE kit. Looks pretty nice. I am really trying to keep this a simple build as possible. Besides the 55 Chevy rear, we are swapping discs up front and dropped spindles as well. I think we might get new springs, bushings, u bolts and shocks and call it good.

    I agree about the blocks. I think we need to go 3" lower to end up where we want it and I feel like that is too much for me personally.
     
  8. RMONTY
    Joined: Jan 7, 2016
    Posts: 2,540

    RMONTY
    Member

    What I liked about the CE kit was that it got rid of the "shock mounting through the trunk floor" situation.
     
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  9. Your stock springs are 1-3/4 wide and warped in tin.

    back in the day there was a special tool to grease the springs and this probably was not done for years , so I would bet you have more then one leaf cracked under the tin wrap.

    also the centering bolt is not centred , not a big deal but you would have to either make up lowering blocks with the offset hole to mate with the off set spring, or redrill your spring perch.

    posies and chassis engineering both make bolt on rear spring kits for these cars that go in super easy.


    I used the chassis engineering kit in my 50 fleetline and it comes with a cross meme bet to bolt the shocks to instead of the truck floor
    Helps to stiffen things up in the rear as well.
     
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  10. wheeldog57
    Joined: Dec 6, 2013
    Posts: 3,182

    wheeldog57
    Member

    Will de-arching the springs 3" move the "eyes" out too far for your shackles? If not that sounds like the way to go. Good luck, I love those 50 Chevys
     
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  11. mlagusis
    Joined: Oct 11, 2009
    Posts: 1,126

    mlagusis
    Member

    I think de-arching them will lengthen the springs. I think buying new springs that are 3" lowered already is probably the best option.
     
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  12. Nostrebor
    Joined: Jun 25, 2014
    Posts: 1,278

    Nostrebor
    Member

    From personal experience, 3" blocks start to flirt with scrub line issues on these cars.
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2020
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  13. chopolds
    Joined: Oct 22, 2001
    Posts: 6,208

    chopolds
    Member
    from howell, nj
    1. Kustom Painters

    I just bought a set of leaf's for my 56 Olds, Jamco had good prices (almost half of Eaton Spring!) You cna order them in any config, from stock to 4" lower. Old springs IMHO, can be metal fatigued, and fail on you!
     
  14. mlagusis
    Joined: Oct 11, 2009
    Posts: 1,126

    mlagusis
    Member

    That's what I am afraid of the more I think about this. I am going to buy new springs 3" lower than original ride height. I will check out JAMCO.
     
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  15. Lone Star Mopar
    Joined: Nov 2, 2005
    Posts: 3,811

    Lone Star Mopar
    Member

    Be warned the Posies drop springs for these Chevys end up raising it, Ive seen it happen on 2 different cars. Id go with a 3' block, trim your bumpstop and see how you like that before spending a bunch on other stuff. For 60$ and an hour or 2 work you cant go wrong.
     
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  16. brokedownbiker
    Joined: Jun 7, 2016
    Posts: 651

    brokedownbiker
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I got the TCI Parabolic Spring kit from Todd at Waltons Fab. They are supposed to lower the rear 2" and give a much better ride, I haven't installed them yet so I can't tell you if that is so or not. It's not cheap, the kit sells for $699.00.

    Sounds like you might just as well use the block and see if it does what you want it to, if not you don't have a bunch of money tied up in it and can look at other options.
     
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  17. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,174

    Budget36
    Member

    My thought is you have 70 year old springs that you are basing your "3 inch lower" on, if the spring manufacturer makes a 3 inch lowered spring, my bet it's based on a new-70 year old spring. So 3 inches lowering spring could just put you about where you are now.

    Maybe scan the web and try to find what a newish '50 sits like, compare to yours as it sits now.
     
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  18. Mimilan
    Joined: Jun 13, 2019
    Posts: 1,230

    Mimilan
    Member

    ??????????? explain [maybe you've used the wrong terminology]

    "Scrub radius" is king pin inclination and wheel centre geometry on the front steering
    upload_2020-8-28_20-59-18.png
     
  19. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    @Mimilan .....i think you called it correctly.....incorrect terminology. great illustration though of ‘scrub radius’.

    i think @Nostrebor meant “scrub line”........that no point on the car would contact the ground below the rim if the tire(s) were flat.
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2020
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  20. Nostrebor
    Joined: Jun 25, 2014
    Posts: 1,278

    Nostrebor
    Member

    Yes I did mean "scrub line". Sorry for the verbal slip.
     
  21. Terrible80
    Joined: Oct 1, 2010
    Posts: 785

    Terrible80
    Member

    If it was me, I'd make blocks of square or rectangular tube 1/4 or 3/8 wall. You can drill them to center your axle as needed and see if the ride height is what you want. I'd go 2" and see how it looks 3" seems pretty tall.

    Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  22. missysdad1
    Joined: Dec 9, 2008
    Posts: 3,305

    missysdad1
    Member

    As I recall early Chevies like yours use a narrow spring because they rely on the torque tube to locate the rear axle. When you eliminate the torque tube the narrow springs may not be adequate to locate the rear axle in performance applications. Keep this in mind.
     
  23. krylon32
    Joined: Jan 29, 2006
    Posts: 9,397

    krylon32
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Nebraska
    1. Central Nebraska H.A.M.B.

    On my 40 coupe we used a Chassis Engineering spring kit with 2 inch blocks. Where I'm going with this is the CE spring kit places the wheels a little to far forward so I found some inexpensive adjustable lowering blocks at Speedway. They helped to center the rear on the 40 and would work on your Chevy.
     
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