OK guys, I need a bit of experience here. If I was lower the front of a '55 Pontiac Starchief (I dunno, 3 or 4 inches or so) with the intentions of keeping the stock coil springs in case I wanted to swap back to stock (ugh ugly word!!) suspension is there a direct "bolt on replacement" type spring that I could use?? I know some of the trim pieces from the 55-57 pontiacs are interchangeable with 55-57 chevy's (or so I was told?)... How about them front coil springs? I would like to lower the car, but I want to have the option of returning the car to stock if need be.. any helpfull ideas out there?? P.S. I am planning on posting pics of the car this weekend.. I am curious about the air conditioning system, if its rare, or worth repairing, etc etc.. Thanks guys!
Call up the guys at Jamco. They'll set you up w/ whatever you want, spring wise. http://www.jamcosuspension.com/pages/1/index.htm It'll be a little more expensive than their ready made stuff, but I think their prices are OK. For the rear splurge and have new springs made as well. It's worth it.
Ok, if you want to keep the old original front coils, here's what I'd do. Measure wire thickness of the poncho springs and go looking for new or used springs of the same thickness. Obtain the "free" height of your original poncho springs with 2 coils removed and cut the new coils accordingly. A/C was available in those years but it was seldom ordered because of the added expense. I got a buddy that sells the entire used factory A/C changeover for $600 to $1000.... I base this on having cut 2 loops off the coils of many 55-57 Ponchos with the heavy original engines/transmissions. I cut 2 loops off my last one, a 55 wagon with little poncho 301 engine and it was still too high! Popped 'em right back out and cut another full loop off. Worked great. Lowering blocks with wedges in the back work just fine. Oh, and on the front, cut the rubber snubbers down to about 3/4" tall. The chevys of those years had a different suspensions with ball joints and the cars were lighter...wire thickness would prolly be too small to support a pontiac car's front end weight but just measure wire thickness to be sure.
Oops! The part about the A/C was supposed to be tacked onto the end of the paragraph about springs...somehow it got in the middle.
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