Looking for advice on air suspension.

[INJUNTOM]

I'm looking for advice on how i should do it, and what parts i should use.

Also hoping someone has done a similar thing before, and can give some insight.

The car is a 1937 Pontiac coupe. It has some kind of aftermarket Mustang II setup with Rack and pinion. The rearend is a '57 Pontiac with leafs.

These additions were done by an old machinist friend that i bought the car from, and is now deceased.

Now for what i'm trying to do:

I'm not looking for anything fancy, and want to keep costs down as much as possible.

I want to be able to slam the front of car down pretty low when parked, but be able to raise it for driveway entrances, etc.

I'm not so worried about the rear....i figure i'll have the car sitting a little low on the rear without the air suspension, and then be able to raise it a couple inches.

Here's my 2 problems:

1) I don't want to change my rear suspension....I don't mind adding brackets, bags, etc., but don't want to switch to 4 link or anything like that like people are suggesting to me. I Know that i can make something work with it, but maybe somebody has been there done that.

2) When i look at parts, it's no problem to find stuff to work with the Mustang II stuff, but what about the rear? I'm really surprised that i don't see any kits to add air suspension to a leaf spring rear. Do they have some sort of "Air shock" that may bolt up, and tie in to the system? What about fabbing up some kind of brackets to put bags between the rearend and frame, leaving the leafs in place?

I'm not looking for a great ride. This car won't see a lot of highway miles.

What am i going to need moneywise on a system?

I'm not quite ready to do this, but wanting to do my homework a few months ahead of time.

[40 Chev Coupe]

Try Air Ride Technologies at www.ridetech.com. They should be able to help.

[enjenjo]

You can keep the rear springs, and just install a bag on each side for suspension.I would suggest removing most of the leaves so the air spring is what does the work.If you are concerned about spring wrap up, you can keep all the leaves, and cut most of them off behind the axle.

For the front, you can use shockwaves, which are an air spring/shock combo, that bolts in place of the stock shock.

[INJUNTOM]

You can keep the rear springs, and just install a bag on each side for suspension.I would suggest removing most of the leaves so the air spring is what does the work.If you are concerned about spring wrap up, you can keep all the leaves, and cut most of them off behind the axle.

For the front, you can use shockwaves, which are an air spring/shock combo, that bolts in place of the stock shock.

That's what i had in mind....Last time i looked nobody had a kit to do this in the rear. I never investigated too deeply into it because i wasn't ready yet, but as soon as the cash becomes available it will be my next step.

I have an engine ready to go, but want to get this set up first.

[brti]

I've looked ito this a little bit and understand that the way to do the rears is to have your springs "de-arched" at a springshop and you can retain their "integrety" as far as axle location and control goes then add the bag system. Also no matter what you put on make sure you have adequate stop blocks incase you blow a line or a bag which will enable you to still move with no air.
           From what I can see if a car isn't done "right" air bagging it can severely impact it's value. It's easy to change over to air but gong back is another story.
           I know that if I ran across a car thet had been bagged I'd sure give it a good look over for workmanship. I feel it will be an issue where I live in the coming years as we often run into roadside inspections and a bagged car will be given the third degree.
            Good luck with your project.