need help in day2 restoration

[black69]

I lost the blue helper coil springs that were under this car to keep it from bottoming out.

I got the rocket wheels and tires ready to go back on it.

Air shocks on it (yellow, I think monroe) do lift the car.

questions are, do I and where do I find the right helper coil springs to keep it up? and is that the best way to raise the back end and have it ride as good as it could.

any advice appreciated

I am tempted to have the springs re-arched, or talk to eaton spring in detroit to get new leaf springs with lift built in. Eaton made springs for me once (55 chrysler C300 hemi) and they were perfect and raised the back end.

http://i358.photobucket.com/albums/oo29/xxxblack69/DSCN0931-1.jpg

[whitetop]

I would have the springs re-arched by Eaton and use air shocks at a low pressure as back up for when you might hit a bad bump unexpectantly. I would never trust the springs when the tires are directly under the quarter panel..or stick out past the quarter.

You will have to use the Mr Gasket shock extensions again as what was on the car in the photo. They are still available from Mr Gasket in case you lost the originals.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mr-Gasket-Shock-...=item4cfd043465 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mr-Gasket-Shock-Extension-1288-/330662425701?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories &vxp=mtr&hash=item4cfd043465)


Not sure what you mean by the little helper springs??

[black69]

here is what I refered to as helper springs
that is what I unfortunately threw out (with the coil bases too)
I will buy those extensions from mr gasket (thank you)

http://i358.photobucket.com/albums/oo29/xxxblack69/DSCN0934-1.jpg

http://i358.photobucket.com/albums/oo29/xxxblack69/DSCN0933-2.jpg

[whitetop]

I think you will be fine with just the re-arched springs/air shock combo. Most people back in the day just used air shocks. Original owner probably used the extra springs because the leaf springs were not re-arched and wanted extra security.

It would look cleaner without the extra springs.

[black69]

thanks for the advice.
Is it safer to have one air fill line per shock?
My gtx and this car have a shared fill line using a T.
Yes it will take more time to fill them, but just makes more sense to me if you hit a pot hole, the air supply is not shared with another shock.
I really have to guard against this thing bottoming out when its done.

[PxTx]

There is so much room with those wheels if you got a more favorable offset to run the same size tire under the car without sticking out, is there any consideration for running that way?

[whitetop]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: black69</div><div class="ubbcode-body">thanks for the advice.
Is it safer to have one air fill line per shock?
My gtx and this car have a shared fill line using a T.
Yes it will take more time to fill them, but just makes more sense to me if you hit a pot hole, the air supply is not shared with another shock.
I really have to guard against this thing bottoming out when its done.
</div></div>

Yes, I would run one line per shock and I would never run old or NOS shocks-just for display only. I would run new ones for the street.

Again, if you buy correctly arched springs you should not even need the air shocks for normal driving...but I would have them just for looks and in case you hit a huge bump or pothole as extra insurance.

[Salvatore]

I run 2 seperate lines because my drivers side sags some and you can preload each side if you want to. Actually when my SS nova was new back in the early days I did not run air shocks but used a shackle kit instead. Gave me more room for tires and of course looked good. Many Stock/SuperStock cars used a shackle kit in the early days.

[Hemicolt]

I would say that the E-body rear valance would prevent him from running shackles.
There is a rear view picture of the 68 Camaro in the Motion book that shows the two air gauges mounted in the tail light panel. Rosen used the air shocks as a tuning aid to preload the suspension. This is one reason to run two lines.
I'm thinking about adding the two gauges on the rear of my car.

[black69]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: pxtx</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is so much room with those wheels if you got a more favorable offset to run the same size tire under the car without sticking out, is there any consideration for running that way? </div></div>

15 x 10 rockets I have wont fit iside the wheel well with the offset on them, with the mickey thompsons.
If I got a custom offset and ran L60 15, then that would fit.

I will check into new air shocks to replace the ones on it, and run separate lines as advised. I knew that made sense.

14 x 6 rockets on front, new good year F 70 14 for now (resusing a set I already have). I recently found out <span style="font-style: italic">concord</span> tires were popular in the day (cant find them now).

I really really like the 2 air gauge idea.

[TDW]

When a leaf spring is re-arched, it makes the center to center measurement of the eyes closer together. That makes it a lot harder to get them re-installed in the car. I had the ones in my Nova re-arched by a local spring shop. I was not happy with the results. The owner of the spring shop said the springs have a &quot;memory&quot; and would try to go back to their original position. I then had Eaton make me a set with a 2&quot; lift. Much better than the re-arched ones.