Raising the rear end

[PapaBato]

Whats a good way to raise the rear end of my '67 sat a little bit to give it more of an aggressive look?

Also - I'd either like to get a gtx hood or a super stock hood scoop on my car, but i'm having a little trouble finding a gtx hood, and if i bought the hood scoop alone, how would i go about installing it?

[dusterbd]

try VFN fiberglass for the gtx hood (by gtx hood, im assumiong that you mean the one with the two "eyebrows" on it)
for the scoop, you can bolt, rivit, or fiberglass it in place, then blend it in with fiberglass or bondo.
mike

[kekoakeakane]

Don't know about the hood, but as far as raising the rear, you can get new rear springs from ESPO Springs and Things that are +1" or +2" above stock ride height. I just got my +1 XHD springs from them but have yet to install them. These are biased with 7 springs on the right and 6 springs on the left, but unlike the SS Springs, will let the car sit level.

You can try bigger wheels and tires in the back or smaller wheels and tires in front.

If you're low on cash, helper springs in the rear would work or lowering the adjustment on the Torsion bar to lower the front. Just be careful to get it re-aligned if you lower a bunch.

Whatever you do, don't use air shocks. These place load on a part of the car that wasn't designed for it.

[Tarrbabe]

Yes I can say it looks good on drag cars, the rear high with the slicks, but that is straight line...... If you plan on driving a mopar, or any car on the road, you will find the rear of the car will try to come around on curves if you take them near the speed limit. You can do it if you want but be careful how you approach it. If you move one part of the supension, you will alter the designed setup, and that my friend can spell more than you care to read. The safest way would be to have your rear springs re-arched. At least that would not change your spring rates.

[NewBlackDak]

I've lifted or lowered(mostly lowered) every vehicle I've ever owned. In each and every case it handles way better than stock. I agree that cranking torsions and adding lift/lowering blocks is not safe. Using well tuned suspension parts though, you car will handle way better than it ever did from the showroom floor. Just ask anyone that's installed a Hotchkis setup on a truck. I say 4-link and bag that bad boy, but I like adjustability and being able to fine tune my ride.

[Tarrbabe]

I hope I didn't come across as being negative against raising the rear totally. Changes can be done if done carefully. The reason I spoke up was to warn against the fads of the 70's when everyone use air-shocks and what ever they could find. If done carefully, and with thought the dangers of ill handleing can be avoided. Keep in mind if you add stiffness to the rear, you must also counter with something to the front or you will have problems with the handling. I use to run my Volare in S.C.C.A. and had to add a rear swaybar just to get it to turn when I wanted it to. ( I actually had a cop thank me for not running from him when he pulled me over because he had seen me run some autocrosses, "cones set up in the parking lot and you drive through them as fast as you can" and he said he knew he couldn't have caught me if I had run. Careful thought will produce welcome results.

[PapaBato]

Thanks for all the info everyone

[5th_Ave_Sleeper]

So how bad would it be if a person, say, re-weld the spring perches on the top of the axle and set the springs on top?

[Ausydad]

The majority of the lift that I have in the rear is a combination of the $30 Pep Boys helper leafs and the coil over shocks from a '70-'72 Ranchero GT.

[Tarrbabe]

Surely, you jest?
or do you plan to raise the front end 5 inches also.

[NewBlackDak]

Originally posted by 5th_Ave_Sleeper
So how bad would it be if a person, say, re-weld the spring perches on the top of the axle and set the springs on top?

Those of us that lift/lower trucks do this all the time. You can usually buy a pre-fabbed flipkit. That would raise you the width of your axle tube though, and that would be alot!

[ttraut@unlockit]

I replaced my stock springs with Super Stock springs from Mancini Racing. My ride was stock level and -- while many people would argue this -- my preference was for a slight bad-ass attitude by raising the rear. My post a year ago netted about the same response as yours:

1) DON'T do shackles or air shocks since they ruin the driveability and affect the safety.
2) Flip and switch the attachment do-hickeys on the front of the leaf springs (you'll have to redrill a couple holes to get them to align but you'll gain a half inch).
3) DON'T flip the plate since you'll get more than you bargained for.
4) You may want to try getting your springs re-arched.
5) Get super stock springs.

I got the SuperStock 3800lb leaf springs (MRE454/455 from Mancini Racing); since I have a B-body, I had to also get a bracket for attaching the front of the leaf spring. I also purchased new shackles at the time.

The bracket has two holes in for adjusting your ride height. On the lower hole (the heighest ride height), my rear went up about four inches. Yeowser!! Even for me, that's a lot! However, this being winter up here and the car's parked, I'm going to see if it settles a bit on it's own before trying the other hole for a lower rear.

You can go with a 3600 lb spring or 3400 spring which I was told will not raise your height as much.

A couple of "gotchas" that I learned:

1) I could NOT get the nuts off of the u-bolts that attach the plate to the axle; my car's 33 years old and they wouldn't budge with a 90psi impact wrench or short breaker bar. I ended up hacksawing them off -- which went very easy! Make sure you plan to buy new u-bolts.

2) Putting different equipment on the back affects the angle that your axle attaches to your driveshaft and that should be watched. You MAY need to put shims (I didn't need to so I'm guessing on this) on the front or the back of the plate to adjust the angle.

Other than that, replacing the springs was pretty easy. I'm trying to sell my stock springs now on eBay (Item # 600889092) but am getting no takers at $20 plus $1,000,000,000 shipping!

Email me if you want an amateur's perspective. Good luck!

Terry

[cuda66273]

I guess there's two ways to attach hood scoops:
Bolt them on or mold them on.

If you must bolt on:

1.I have no idea?

The way that works for me....

1. Position the scoops on the hood and mark with a magic marker.

2. Use a 50 grit pad on your DA and remove all paint around the area about 12" in all directions.

3. Use your grinder or DA to bevel the edges of the scoop to get a smooth transition to zero.

4. Position the scoops back in the right spot and drill a 1/8 hole every 2" through the mount flange and into the hood using Cleko clamps to hold it.

5. Mix up a bunch of JB Weld or GM Corvette panel adhesive and apply a generous bead to the bottom of the mounting flange.

6. Slam it down on the hood and using a couple of fast Buddy's pop rivet it in place using the 1/8 holes, you gotta move fast, the JB sets up in about 20 minutes. Use Al.rivets they won't pull as hard, you need to have JB in that joint for it grab. If I get too much squish I'll only put one pull on the rivet and release it, don't over tighten and squish all the JB out from the joint.

7. While the JB's still wet clean any excess from the inside.

8. Once the JB sets up get your drill back out and remove ALL the pop rivets, this is important if you leave in a rivet it will work it's way out in about 6 months.

9. Grind, sand, finish, prime and paint.

I've done 3 hoods this way and they all seem to be holding up perfect, the first about 4 years ago and no signs of cracking, I used JB on the first one and the others got the panel adhesive, both seem to be about the same, JB is alot cheaper.
Proper prep work and patience will get you the best results, If you want to paint it flat black I use a mix of 50/50 flatning agent and black, in a 1 pint can I add about a 1/2 teaspoon of yellow base and shoot it with a Devillbris HVLP gun in my carport. It's amazing how this touch of yellow takes away the primered look and makes it look more like the original Mopar Black accent color.

[71383bee]

I ordered the heavy duty springs from Ma Mopar and they were a direct bolt on. To avoid any hassles i ordered a new set of u-bolts too. Best thing I have ever done. They were a pain to get off and i bent them all up in the process. Anyways, I used PST's polyurethane rear spring bushings and bolted the new ones on. With the new springs, KYB shocks, and a 1/4 tank of gas, I would say the back end is 2" higher than before. Looks bad ass.

[PapaBato]

Thanks A LOT for all of the info. I checked the site for vfn fiberglass, but i couldn't find a gtx hood/gtx scoops. I could get a bigger super stock scoop, but i'm not sure how it would look on my car.

[plumebody]

71bee did you use the mopar long rear shocks? I have ss springs on my challenger(3400#) but was looking into the kyb for front and rear for ride comfort. Did you also put kyb's in the front? How do you like them?

[71383bee]

I ordered the shocksd from summit. The order actually said that they were for the 73 and up B- bodies, but it was a direct bolt in. I bought the car as a shell so i never was able to drive it in the stock suspension, but it handles a ton better than the 72 charger I owned. The suspension is tight and it seems to handle well in the corners. I haven't had a chance to open her up yet. Oh, just read your question. Yes, it has PST polygraphite all around with KYB shocks stock 383 torsion rods, and a firm feel stage 2 steering box. I have a rear sway bar, but I'll mount that latter. The car is stiff, but I like that. I'm used to trucks.

[tim]

lucky you 383 bee, i also ordered heavy duty mopar springs from mopar and they accually lowered my car from stock location, had to take them apart and rearch the new ones from mopar to gain 1 1/2 inches. This has worked out just fine for slicks under the rear. Little stiffer but still lots of traction. Tim

[71383bee]

I think my parts guy told me that the rear springs he got for me were HEMI springs. I just asked for an upgraded set and that is what he ordered I guess. Either way i am pretty pleased with them so far.