Hello,
I want to raise the height of my 1970 Cutlass S 350 by a couple of inches (sits too low and I am 6'-2" - hard to get in). Coils in the from, leafs in the back.

Would I add heavy duty coils (maybe 455 coils) and use an adjustable shackle for the leafs?

Regards.

 

You may want to look at the rear again; it should have coil springs there, too.
The easiest thing would be to add air shocks to the rear. Add 60 psi of air and the car will look better, too. I'm 6'-2" and that works for me and my 1971 Cutlass.
Heavier stock springs won't always make it sit higher, especially in the rear. The aftermarket may have some solutions, or try Eaton Detroit Spring.

 

You don't have leaf springs on your car. You can replace with big block springs to the front and station wagon or cargo coil springs to the rear.

 

Thank you both for the fast response. I am leaning towards air shocks in the back and heavy duty coils in the front (I have never put air shocks on the front of a car before.

I will update you how it went .

-Bill

 

Air shocks suck, they leak, ride terrible, and can destroy the upper mounting point. Your better off doing springs in the rear and they are easy to install.

 

Here is my 70 with 5401 springs and a Global West spacer. turned out perfect for me.

 

Thanks Bob. Do you have a side picture comparing the front to the back? I want to get the front end up as high as the rear.

 

They sell spacer blocks in different heights that go under the rear spring. With these you keep your spring rate but can adjust the ride height easily takes about an hour to install.

 

You could also buy a set of air bags to go inside the rear springs. Old school trick to pre-load for drag racing launching but also great for making your rear height "adjustable". I run them on my 71 442.
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Can use them to dial in launches (if rear is going to one side or the other) or if the trunk has lots of stuff in it or heavy rear seat passengers on a long cruise, I can air them up. It gets a little bouncy if you go too crazy with it (above 20 to 25) but may work perfect for what you want. Since I have 1" drop springs in the rear, with a full tank of gas and 2 rear seat passengers and a full trunk, I have to air the bags up to about 20 psi to keep the correct height in the back and prevent bottoming out. You can get these from Summit for about $100. Most of the time they are empty or just at a few psi (especially now with my setup being more for autocross), but they really come in handy when needed.

-Joe