What's the best way to lower the front of a 54 Chevy?

I'm looking for a good, economical way to lower the front of my 54 chevy.
I'm only looking to lower it 2-3 inches and will be keeping the original suspension.

So far, I've found four options:

1. shorter coil springs (~$120)(Chev's of the 40's)
2. Dropped up rights (~$500) (RM engineering or FatMan)
3. Front lowering blocks (~$80) (goes under the lower A Arms)(Chev's of the 40's)
4. stepped lower a arms ($??, don't know anyone that can do this or what it'll cost)

The blocks for under the front A Arms seem to be the best compromise of cost and keeping the ride quality.

If I go with the blocks or shorter coils, will I need to modify the steering arms?

What, in your opinion, is the best way to lower this car?

Thanks

 

I did mine in an afternoon, in my own garage.
with general tools, nothin fancy. didnt cost me nothin but my time..oh and an alignment if you want to count that

I cut the coil with a dewalt side grinder with a cutoff wheel.

I put a jack under the control arm stay on the lower arm , took all the bolts out with the jack up under it (frame on stands) lowered the jack until the spring came loose. Cut it (do both springs exactly the same, i marked mine with a paint stick, and cut slow as to not heat up the spring) put em back up in there jacked the lower control arm back into place bolted it back up , and put the car back down..bounced it a few times to check it, than went and had it re-aligned..
done..took me like 1.5 hours. I also replaced the anti sway bar bushings and new shocks

I like it



and it rides just fine

this was my method..others will like to argue it..fine, your mileage may vary. But i didnt spend a dime just my time. and if i took more of my time im sure i could have done the alignment myself. It wasnt that far off the guy said.
as for the naysayers "oh your spring is going to break" B.S. it can be done this way with no problems other than spring rate change, but in my case the rate change helped in handeling and doesnt bottom out.4 years now and plenty of hard assed Michigan road testing..I dont baby it.

P.s. i started with 1.5 coils..ended up taking out about 2 coils or so.(if my memory serves me right) if i wanted more..i could go back at it and take another bite at it and drop it another 1" . But once the car is loaded down..with passengers and shit..it sits low enough. it doenst sit to be looked at, it gets driven in real world conditions, so its low enough

 

cut coils here and lowering blocks minus a few leafs out the rear till I 4 link and coil over the rear. Also on a budget and its my daily beater till my 52 f1 gets done anyways. drive the dog piss outta it across Phoenix, went to Yuma for ghouls show.. no issues here...

 

Sorry heres the pic of it

 

ORANG...first you said the best way, and then most economical. shit man which is it. the best way is blocks. economical is heat the coils with a torch...POP.

 

Start by cutting 1.5 coils. Depending on the condition of your springs, that may or may not be enough. Like Von Rigg Fink said, it's easy to do and does not take much time.

 

Was keeping mine to a budget as well wanting to do it the way the older guys on the block did it back in the day..
Soooo, lowering blocks in the back and cut coils in the front. I only took about a coil and a half out of mine, which dropped it about the height of the bumper (4"?), but a buddy took nearly two out of his. ...I would start easy - you can always cut some more if necessary!



-Dave

 

Back in the fiftys not having any money we did it the cheap fast way . Not the way I would do it now . place two bumper jacks where you want the bumper to stop and heat the springs up. Get a beer , drink it, hit the road with your new ride . Like I said not the way I would do it now.

 

I dont care what anyone tells you...dont ever heat your coils or any spring for that matter...it just negates the properties of spring steel..than all you have is shit,
shit that will break, and shit that could cause you to fill your shorts with shit when they do..

its not a matter if if it will break..its the fact, they will break..and potentialy causing a very dangerous situation for you your passengers and possibly anyone you are sharing the road with

 

dropped uprights are the way to go with the stock suspension. it will give you alot more travel. ive done it the cut coil way and puckering up your ass on every bump kinda sucks ass! you could always channel the car over the frame too, that doesnt cost anything but timem and then take out like 1 or half a spring loop. heating the springs just makes them weak and more prone to bottoming out(takes the hardning out of them)

 

I cut mine, like they said don't cut too much you can always cut more. After you cut it drive around the block to let the suspension settle before you you check it. Don't heat the springs, it will be lower but your springs will be trash.

 

I just heated up my coils with a torch

 

This is what happens when you heat a coil with a torch until it collapses. Not good. Contrary to rumor, cutting off a coil with a torch won’t affect a spring’s heat treatment because only a small section of the spring really gets hot.
but "sagging" the spring with heat does affect the heat treatment and the spring will eventually break or bend to the point of exit out of the pocket it was intended to stay in..possible equipment damage may result..or possible accident from an unprepaired driver when it decides to fly

like most things..theres a right way and a wrong way, good luck on the latter

 

I've got a rock stock beater '51 4-door Chev, will cutting the front springs and leaf removal work for mine too? How many leafs to remove before it settles to the right height? I want to drop the front about 3 inches, the rear about 2 1/2 for the rake. Can I fab up a set of lowering blocks for the rear instead? I've never cut springs before so...

 

forgot the picture...

 

To begin with , heating the springs is the wrong way . I would not tell anybody to do it. It looks like only one side was heated on that spring . We would heat it even all the way around and not to much at one time. I have removed them to replace with new ones when it was time to tradeup as dealers never wanted them. The heated springs would stand straight and I never did break one . But like you say there is a right and wrong and heat is wrong. I like dropped spindles , but thats just me .

 

depends on how much the stock springs are sagged at this point.

my suggestion for getting 3" out of the front is to NOT take it all out of the springs to get it there..maybe a 2" lowering uprights, and 1" out of the springs if you buy the dropped uprights , get the dropped steering arms too(springs will need to be cut as you go kinda thing to get what you want..a little at a time type deal , dont shoot for all 3" out of your springs..it aint going to happen and the ride will suck ass)
now for the rear, plenty of options..reverse eye main spring..blocks, or a combination of blocks reversed eye, and maybe a leaf out..or make a new set of lowering perches like i did for mine ( i went open drive line so i welded new perches designed to drop my rear 3.5" and retain the full spring pack and ride)

about 3 to 3.5" is all your going to get out of the rear..the housing will bottom out alot if you go much lower with out a C notch and possibly a hole for your pumpkin in the trunk

as always ..pay attention to scrubline issues when lowering anything

 

The best way to lower your car is with a Big Block.

 

You're an idiot!!

 

eh only a few pounds more than a stovebolt.

 

Thanks for the advice. So my question is can I take 1 1/2 coils from the front and lowering blocks in the rear with a closed driveline? Would the blocks be the safest way or should I remove some leafs or add shackles...or am I missing something. I'm not trying to lay frame, just give it a better look without having to worry too much about speed bumps.

The car is box stock. How hard is it to convert it to an open driveline? I've never dealt with a closed driveline before so it's all new shit to me. (sorry if ya'll think this is a thread jacking)

 

Cheapest way: let the air out of your front tires.

Next cheapest: remove the coils and cut a coil out with a saw, not a torch.

Best way: a clip, or a MII type crossmember.

Just my $0.02, before taxes.

 

yeah i would think you could get 1.5 coils out of the front without too much of an issue..sneak up on it.
i personally wouldnt remove any spring leafs, but thats me after what i saw happen when a few others tried this and than had some of their leafs crack and break alsmost leaving their rear end in peril.
try the lowering blocks first, or design of a new leaf perch on your rear end..dont short cut it..
you will be bummed if you do

Im running open drive line on mine..you still have the restriction of the frame and pumpkin bangin no matter what rear end, if you decide to go more than 3 or 3.5" thats when it will become an issue

that picture of mine might be 1.5 coils on the front..i forget..but its no way more than 2. that im sure of

 

Cool. I don't want to max it out leaving the diff to bang around all over the place so it looks like lowering blocks. Where can I get a good set? Sorry for all the damn questions...I'm a bit new to the scene, took a trip from muscle cars down to here.

 

wish you were closer..we could knock this out in an afternoon with a few cold ones.

if you are staying with the closed rear drive..lowering blocks might be the way to go for now..i think National Chevy might have them..not sure
nationalchevyassoc.com

you also have a PM

 

Not to highjack the thread, but hopefully add to it. I have the dropped uprights, and cut coils, and I think i'll want my 54 to sit just a little bit lower. A buddy suggested shimming the lower control arms on the crossmember. It was brought up earlier as lowering blocks for the front end. Who has tried this? What was the affect on the ride and steering? and how much does it really lower the car? thanks!

 

DO NOT HEAT YOUR COILS!!!!!

sorry for yelling.

 

Easy well, letting the air out would be the quickest, but if your not married or anything maybe a couple 500 lb. women "would getter done real quick like"...

 

We are kicking around the idea of just fabbing up new lower control arms for the 52 because we have access to the tools. However notching the a arms (assuming your a good welder) is a cheap and fairly common way to get about two inches then you can get the other inch from your coils and your good. Of course you will still need an alignment but your still in way less than 500$ and you shouldnt sacrifice to much suspension travel. I will be watching this thread as I am trying to get mine low before the roundup!!

 

Anyone had any experience with blocks up front ?? Ive heard them mentioned but never seen em in action.