I posted my plans for my wagon a few days ago. I was planning on doing an air bag set up on the car with rear trailing arms, but have been doing some research on here and read about the Aerostar springs and was thinking of using coils on the rear with the trailing arms. I'm starting to think that I don't want to have all the plumbing and extra parts under the car just to be able to raise and lower it. I don't even want the car to lay out when parked. I was just wanting it to ride as smooth as possible. My second thing is I was thinking of doing 4-wheel disc brakes. I've got an 8.8" out of a mid 80's Lincoln with disc already and was thinking of doing the Granada conversion on the front. I've done some searching on older discussions and JeffB2 had mentioned in one of them that the 55-56 Fords had really good drum brakes. I was thinking to save money I could just swap them out to power brakes and leave the drums. I would like opinions on these I could go either way. Opinions lets hear em'.
I have been driving my '55 Country Sedan for about 2 1/2 years, it was all original. I had planned on doing exactly what you are saying but, it stops good, drives great, and runs fine, I did convert it to 12 volt and I run radials, drove 6 volt cars with bias plys for years, no thanks, I am thinking I will go for the Aerostar springs, only about $50 I believe, and thats it.. just my 2 cents
Yea I remember way back when I used to drive mine, it was pretty smooth and it did stop pretty decent. I'm concerned about brake fade a bit though. Living in So-Cal and having to deal with traffic I just want to be sure I'm making the right decision.
I will never understand why it is cool for a car that is parked to look broken, (laying on it's frame.) The 8.8 and the four wheel disc brakes make sense, and sounds like a sweel idea.
You may want to check this out concerning the bags: http://www.ruffrodders.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42879 I could rant for days about why a frame layin' ride is cool. One reason comes to mind is it makes people with cut coils & blocks envious because they get stuck on speedbumps when a bagged ride can just raise up over them.
My '56 Customline was all stock, with boosted drum brakes all round. It was fine for normal day to day driving. However I went to a really hilly area once to look at some land, and on the long descent down, the brakes got too hot even though I was driving conservatively. By the time I got to the bottom I had both feet on the brake pedal, wedging myself against the seat, but could not pull up. I rolled straight through the main intersection at about 30km/h and there was not a thing I could do about it. I currently drive a '61 Mercedes with front discs and drum rears. The difference in braking and handling is amazing - it makes the old Cusso seem like a real POS. So much so that my project car (have another '56) will now be getting some sort of suspension and brake upgrade. Cheers, Drew in Oz
The more I think about it the more I'm leaning towards 4-wheel disc or at least in at the front. Jury's still out on the bags though.
I could rant for days about why a frame layin' ride is cool. One reason comes to mind is it makes people with cut coils & blocks envious because they get stuck on speedbumps when a bagged ride can just raise up over them.[/QUOTE] Wouldn't it be a lot cooler to have a car that would still be able to limp home if the airbags broke? Or not have your ride grind to a halt in the middle of the roadway if a line blew, or a bag popped? That's the way I'd build mine. I guess having a car that would go all the way down on the frame might be alright if your brakes went out? I'm not trying to "bag" on you. Just discussing.
if you decide bags hit me up my prices beat any website out their car looks great by the way, love the color!
...my '56 Mainline business Coupe now has Lincoln Versailles discs on all four corners. Excellent stopping. The swap is almost a bolt in!!
The problem with the drum brakes is we can no longer buy the good shoes. The crap we get now fades from a 70 MPH stop to the point when you get to 20, you are about finished braking. The Granada conversion is not to difficult. Good drums in the rear should be enough. A stock 54 to 56 suspension, even lowered, will ride better than most other cars on the road because of the design of the front end. With a big front sway bar, they handle very well for a brick.
Well I was going to use the 8.8 with the disc, but my dad decided he wants to use it. So I will be sticking to my stock rear axle. Still going with the trailing arm and bags, and am going to look into the Granada setup for the front, but I may just add power to it to keep costs low for now.
I like bags too... Just make it so you can drive it when it's all the way down and you are good. I'm building my truck so it's able to ride the bump stops and still get around if I need to. Some people build big HP engines that are unreliable and break stuff all the time. I don't understand that either.
Yea most definitley will make it driveable if there is an issue with the bags. I'm like everybody else I like to go fast, but I've noticed that the older I get the more relaxed I am when driving and I want something that will get with it but I like the cars to be driveable & reliable. If I want to go fast I'll take my dads 64' Ranchero for a spin it runs 11.7's .
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