My '56 Plaza has 2" dropped spindles and it bottoms out everywhere; I'd like to install stock spindles but want to know how it will affect the front bumper height.

Using the dimensions in the pic below, how much will the bumper rise if stock spindles (move spindle shaft down) are installed? Are the supplied dimensions enough to compute that?

Roughly a bit more than 2"

2.4" roughly is a quick and dirty guess.

African or European swallow?

Assuming front is lower than rear, then less than 2" not more.

(2/115)*23 added to 2 or 2.4 as stated above.

That is correct. (2.3995)

I think what you really want (if you still like the current lowered look) is better springs and shocks.

What BBM said, I'm wondering if stiffer tbars would take care of it along with possibly trimming some of the height of the black rubber bumpers. it'd save you the cost of the new spindles (you may have kept em tho) & not sure if realigning is required

I have a friend that is building a '56 Plymouth street rod and is planning to use a Volare clip. He has the original springs & spindles (he never throws anything away) and I could check with him, but I really think that BBM has the right answer for you. And I think there are better solutions than a Volare clip for my friend, too. But, what do I know?

No T-bars on a '56, originally coils; and besides, it has a Dakota front clip.

2.4" it is, thanks for the help guys.

what exactly bottoms out ? stuff hanging below the chassis such as exhaust, or bottoming out on suspension components ? and how bad is it bottoming ?

The lower control arms and crossmember are the usual points of contact and occasionally the pan on speed bumps. Dropped spindles are nice for keeping the front end geometry intact but, unlike shorter springs, they also drop the lower control arm lower than the rim.

I raised the bumper 2.5" with a floor jack and it still has a slight nose-down attitude.

How about trying to firm up the coil springs with some 'boosters' first, which you install between the coils?
Seems cheap enough to try.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Coil+Spring+Boosters/N1716/C0361.oap


In my little book of personal rules it's 'unacceptable' for one to be able to see the top of the front tire in the fender.

Boosting the springs doesn't change the position of the lower control arms.

Hey, it's a nice looking car.

Took me a while to figure out that (figuratively) sliding the spindle up slides the LCA down. If that's hitting you're sort of stuck. Possible solutions include taller tires, higher spring rate springs, and shocks, stiffer on compression. So swapping spindles back looks like an easier thing to do.

Now the problem of the top of your tire showing. I bet you'll be able to live with that. But if someone convinces you to fix it, you'll either have to move the entire front clip down, channeling it over the frame, or else move the lower edge of the fender lip down. Neither of those sound very easy either.

So it probably won't win the Ridler Award for next year, but it will get attention on the road. Good job!

R.