So here it is, decision time. This past week I flattened out my leaf spring pack to bring the Olds *** down a bit, I left the 2 inch blocks on it, but also left the rubber snubbers on it. Well because I left the blocks on snubbers on, the snubbers hit the frame. it looks awesome, but its not going to work, the ride is terrible. Here are some glamour shots of it, i cheated a bit, by backyard makes "objects look lower that they appear". Anyhow, I need o get a half decent ride so i need to get rid of the snubbers, but I don't think that may be enough, I may need to remove the 2 inch blocks also. BUT since I have seen it this low, i wont be happy with it if i have to raise it. SOOOOO I have to decide whether to go under the knife and bag the rear end or just remove the snubbers and blocks. I cant seem to pull the trigger on the bags though....... but on the other hand, going back up a few inches will not get the look that i am after. Anyhow just wanted to share some pics (still need to get those skirts painted).
Love your car. Say what you want about bags, but my '53 Olds four door. Sits as low if not lower than the pics you posted and rides like a new car. Mine retains the original front a-arms and didnt require a notch in the rear. Rides like a dream too. I'll try to round up a pic or two to post. BTW I have been looking for fender skirts forever. Where did you get yours?
shorten the snubbers...if necessary notch the frame and be done...did that to my Chevy and don't want no stinkin' bags...By the way NICE OLDS !!
an old school c-notch... sometimes I over-think things, i am glad i posted the topic, looking at it now, a moderate notch maybe the answer to start off the process, no need to put the car out of commission to put it under the knife all at once. hey WhoDoYouFink, yeah pics would be great and as for the skirts i actually have 2 pair, these that have a spring loaded latch mechanism and then another set that have a bolt style latch mechanism... pm me maybe we can work something out.
I believe you've seen my old thread. You were the last one to post in it. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=229851 You're going to get alot of feedback that stems from personal bias for or against airbags themselves, regardless of the car. "Bags are for this, traditional that, blahblahblah..." Ignore those! Ultimately they're worthless and give you no real insight to how an altered suspension would help or hinder your situation. I've been EXACTLY where you are now. My 53 Olds was bottoming out pretty hard too. It ****s. The ride is terrible and all you get for it is a slightly lowered ride height. I actually like my ride height in terms of stance and overall appearance before it was bagged. But the tradeoff in ride quality was terrible, totally not worth it without some serious cutting. And not just the frame. I considered just notching the frame, dearching the leafs and calling it a day. The thing with that is you're probably going to want to go lower if you go through all that trouble and after all is said and done, you're still going to be on leafs that will sag over time. Then you'll have to contend with the driveshaft rubbing. The tunnel is rather shallow. You can get 2-3" out of it but as soon as you start going anywhere near 4" you will hear and FEEL the rub. And thats if your pumpkin doesnt start hitting first! The combination of a low floor and big rear end isnt fun. It ****s worse than hitting the snubbers, trust me. Also, you'll want to change your gas tank to a 15gal mustang tank. Our tanks hang low and if you're only dropping the rear you're going to bang and s****e the tank on everything. I went through all that and in the end it wasnt much more work to do a quality air setup and have the best of both worlds. You can cruise or park at any height you want, you dont have to always lay frame. But trust me when I tell that the first time you see the rear bumper of your Olds on the ground, you're going to have a smile from ear to ear. i dont care what these yahoos on here tell you. If nothing else, notch the frame, go a little lower and see how you like it. Drive it like that for a while. Either way you're going to have to notch the frame. I pulled the trigger all the way, but you dont have to. Pull it little by little. But make sure that the quality of the work is of a high caliber every step of the way. You dont want to be going backwards. Plan ahead. Let the mods be compatible with whatever you may want to do in the future. Good luck man.
wooooaaaa, i was just writing you PM about this Eryk, freaky... i actually have your thread from a couple of years ago from here and the one you posted on the Los Boulevardo's forum saved as a PDF for this exact same reason, i knew this day would come. I was going to ask you your thoughts about it. And Actually the only reason right now I won't pull the trigger is i need to have the car ready for the Viejito RGV annual picnic in South Texas in a few months. My brother is a member and i want to re-start the Viejitos chapter here in Austin... so I need to be there with a ride. As far as bags go, with the amount of coin I am going to spend on updating to stock leaf springs and the such, i might as well spend a few more and go all the way, at least in the rear. Fabricating is not the issue, so really it comes down to material and air bag components, no labor costs are involved. Anyhow, yes I do need to notch the car, and yes those springs are not going to make it in the long run, so at this point, it comes down to just the work involved in the notch, and floor, then bring it back and complete the arms, bag mounts etc. Thanks for chiming in, because you have the exact same car, your experiences really help clear the mind.
BTW Eryk, do you have the build pics up online by any chance, specifically the panhard bar and how you all worked that out... the LB thread is no longer active. Thanks
Hugh Picture I know, but I **** at the whole resizing thing. I will PM you about the skirts. I'm getting ready to have some custom work done this summer and paint the pig soon.
That is bad ***... and actually my Olds use to be a 4 door exactly like that one up until a few years ago... before the surgery. yea PM me and if you ahve any build pics i would love to see them.
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