mike r "T-odd, thank you for the info and pics. Definitely gives me more of an expliantion to go about my plans, im a visual person. Also Dons rod is awesome! I love the colors, love the stance, very well put together in a clean and simple way. his motor seems to be mounted a little high though I think. in your opinion, would you lower it maybe an inch or two?"
A "Don's car clone" could be built with the engine dropped an inch and maybe even two, but you have to take a few other tings in consideration when dreaming about dropping it in the weeds.
Suspension travel and comfort might be affected in order to look cool. You don't want a car three inches off the ground to scrape when two people get in it so you stiffen the suspension. In the old sprint car with torsion bars it was easy to adjust a "click" or two. With air suspension you can adjust by turning on the compressor and airing it up. With coil overs, you can get out the wrench and adjust it. With leaf springs front and rear it's darn near impossible to adjust on the fly... unless you set up the spring mount with a weight-jack like my old super modified. It had a big bolt that you could tighten to jack the weight of the car around to the inside, or back off to shift the weight to the outside.
When we were dropping VW bugs to the ground and couldn't clear a crushed soda can, the ride suffered because we can't have something that low and have it bouncing around like a cruise ship. It's just dangerous. So low vehicles usually have "sport" suspension. Sport = stiff. You have a car that has 6" or travel and rides like a caddy, you can't really get it low because it'll be scraping the ground on the big bumps or if you have a hefty passenger.
As always, there are exceptions to the rule and I'm speaking in general terms. Just because the suspension is a little stiff or amount of travel is decreased does not necessarily mean it doesn't have a nice ride. You can obtain the look and ride if it is very well planned out.
My bucket's front end barely has an inch of travel and I drive long distances in it at the drop of a hat. Memphis to Springfield, IL was no big deal. Not once did I say, geez, this front suspension is too stiff. The rear? a little different story. I'd like a little softer, but I'll fix that with a better seat. ISSUE RESOLVED.
Somewhere I have the pics from when Stitch's car was ripped apart and rebuilt. The frame on that was pretty drastic BUT Stitch drove that hot rod across the country... from Chicago to Bonneville, then flogged it like a rented mule and drove it home.
When he sold it, he drove it from IL to Arizona, dropped it off and flew back home. It was built to drive and it was low, but it was also very well planned out. Sad end to the story of Stitch's bucket, the new owner totaled it a week later.
