just got my shoe box a few weeks ago and was wondering what you guys thought about air ride on it. also who sells a good kit on flames? thanks for the help guys... will get some pics up soon.
It is difficult and not terribly effective to put air ride on the stock front suspension. You won't get it all that low. Due to the width and configuration of the frame, it is not possible to do a simple MII setup. A frame stub MII setup or a frame clip from a donor vehicle would be in order. Not cheap, and not for the faint-of-heart or fabrication skills. For the rear, NASCAR style trailing links and a panhard bar will do the trick, and let you keep the back seat. As for flames, I'm not allowed to do anything with fire anymore.
The car has a Nova front end in and a camaro rear end. I don't know if that helps or not? That and is it really worth it to try and get the low stance?
I did a 49 coupe a few years back I used fatman dropped uprights, and everything else was stock. The front crossmember was about 1-1/2" off the ground. Plenty low. Yes, it can be done. Mine was essentially home made. Edit, I just read about the front clip.
Mine has the fatman kit. It will get the frame within 1 inch of the ground. On the back I have a 4 link. All together it works nice. It has ride height sensors and a digital controller. Once you have it set it is trouble free.
Since, you have Nova up front and Camaro out back, there is no problem going with a good Air Ride system. I have a '52 Chevy with a Nova. I put drop spindles up front and air bagged it all around. If, you want to go low , but not in the weeds, the stock spindles will be fine with a parallel leaf system out back. If, you want to be in the weeds drop spindles up front and two or four bar link set out back. CRUISER
With this setup, there is no "kit" per-se. The rear will need to have the leafs removed, and replaced with links and bags. This is a weld-on deal. For the fronts, the bags replace the coils. A cup above and below the bag are all that is needed to do this. Dropped spindles for the Nova setup are an off-the-shelf item. Installation is regular mechanic stuff. My shop uses AccuAir stuff. We're a dealer. It looks expensive, at first look. If you total up ALL of the expenses with a more "basic" air ride system, and add in the labor, the AccuAir most often comes out less expensive in the long run, and there are fewer potential points for leaks.
Nova/Camaro..... the track sounds too wide, you might not get it low because you won't clear the tires. Got pics? Rich
Just stumbled across your pictures of your shoebox. I can't believe that thing is still around. & looks to be in decent shape! I'm from Lawrence & remember seeing that thing when I was a kid. I remember before the current paint job it was solid white (with some really ugly hubcaps. haha) Good to see an old kustom still around. Did you just get it?
& on your question, bagging that car should be fairly simple since you already have the new front clip. Almost any kit will work with the front A-Arm/spindle setup. The rear will require some fabrication, but not TOO difficult depending on how you wanna do it. Definitely worth it to get a nice low stance without constantly bottoming out on these shitty Merrimack Valley roads.
Rubbish. Stock front with drop spindles no problem. I removed the bump stop mount and replace it with 3mm plate steel and the sump plug is near on the shed floor. My buddies one is te same with the frame notched a bit and slams crossmember on te groud.
The Jalopy Journal
