Well i will soon be the proud new owner of a 1953 pontiac chieftain...straight eight,,4-door....im super stoked.....but i need to know what is the best way to go about lowering a car of this type....im ***uming coils up front,,and leafs in the rear...would a simple cutting out a section of coil work..? with lowering blocks in the rear...this seems to be the most practical and most popular way of doing a lowering job...besides hydraulics and the sort....simple, fast and inexpensive is what im looking for..any suggestions??? goose
i got a set of S-10 V6 springs to try in my 50, as i heard they'd work well to drop a 60s impala. weight and all that is similar with the 50. haven't gotten it on the road yet, though. with the 65 impala, i cut two coils out of the front, dropped it a good bit. you don't want to cut more than two. use a cut off disk if you cut them, NOT the torch. i'd figure lowering blocks in the rear would be pretty easy and cheap to boot.
My '55 has had the front springs "relaxed" with a torch, and the rear has 3" blocks, along with air shocks, and an onboard compressor. Also, cut a couple of inches off the rear bumb blocks. When I get where I'm goin'. dump the air, and it's in the weeds. '53 is the exact same, suspension wise. Good Luck
the S10 springs should fit. we're talkin pre-94 boxy style. measured them out and they are the same diameter as the pontiac springs. never ran em, heard that trick from a guy on here...
Ony draw back is that you will never be able to get the front end in alignment if you take off more than the one larger coil on the bottom. Thats all that i took out and I cant get my tires straight up and down, they always lean in at the tops. Blocks work great in the rear though. Just dont put 500lbs of torque to the rear or you may snap leaf springs like I did. I had to take the blocks out after that and now it sits on the bump stops. Also I believe that in 55 the fronts got aligned with shims. Not sure though. And anything chevy is way different. Brandy may know of something that could be mixed and matched to make the job easier though. Hope I helped. .
Very Nice...It does need to be lower..haha...i will defintly let u know...the s10 theory sounds alright...im willing to try anything as long as its somewhat cheap...ill let u know if i find something better..thanks.. goose
That car does have coils in the front and leaf springs rear. I'd go easy on it with a 3inch block in the back. Cut a few coils out of the front. DO NOT torch ANYTHING. Using a rosebud and allowing the coil to compress/relax will only cause it to COLLAPSE and thats a ****ty ****ty ride. Use gas shocks on the rear. Anything more then 4inch blocks on the rear will cause problems with the driveshaft AND removing the rear tires. I'll be replacing my front coils *heated and collapsed* and have already replaced the blocks in back with 3 inchers. HOPEFULLY, the car won't rub in funny places, I can realign the rear bumper AND have some suspension under the motor. Having it so low with out airbags has caused a GREAT deal of stress on my Poncho and has actually started cracking the roof from the twisting the frame/body goes thru to get into a driveway, on jack stands and god only knows what else.
coil spring specilties. I got 4 inch drop coils for my 50 chevy for 130 shipped. there soooooo much nicer then cut coils and for the price you cant go wrong. they can make any coil for any car any amount of drop. takes about 3 weeks.
what does cutting two coils equate to in drop? 2"?? if a set of springs is 130 bucks for that car, they'd have to be close to that for my 65... they have a website?
i just dearched my leafs about 5 inches..will this cause any problems like snapping them or any problems with the drive shaft or tweak the body?i read what brandy wrote..and i dont have lowering blocks..its a 50 shoebox..
Too much of a dramatic drop will cause the driveshaft to rub on it's tunnel and cause your seals to leak because it's now crammed up into your trans. Best bet would be to take it to a driveline shop if you are worried about it and have them check it out. My Pontiac was originally set 6 inches down on its belly. The driveshaft tunnel was cut and raised and the shaft was shortened. I've never snapped a leaf spring, but under SO much tension of trying to support a car and you've just weakend it........I could see it.
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