Relocate old coil spring plate to Lower 1947 speical deluxe

[Pooshoe]

Anyone have and pictures or info on removing the coil over spring plate on the a-arm from the top of the a-arm and relocating it to the bottom of the a-arm to love the front? Is it better to bold or weld it on?
Can I remove the lower a-arm plate and weld I on Top of the a-arm and still clear the cool spring? 

[Ulu]

I always wanted to do this too, until I decided that I wanted struts and Rack & pinion.

Then I decided I wanted a Cadillac, and the Plymouth has been aging ever since.

(Cadillac gone for 20 years now, but still keeping '47 Plymouth.)

Edited November 5, 2020 by Ulu

[Adam H P15 D30]

I would bolt it to the bottom, not weld it

[Pooshoe]

1 hour ago, Adam H P15 D30 said:

I would bolt it to the bottom, not weld it

Can I ask why? Just curious

[Adam H P15 D30]

Much easier and plenty strong.  How good of a welder are you?

Edited November 5, 2020 by Adam H P15 D30

[Pooshoe]

1 hour ago, Adam H P15 D30 said:

Much easier and plenty strong.  How good of a welder are you?

You ever see a bird poop on a stick? J/p I can weld, not certificate 

Edited November 5, 2020 by Pooshoe

[DJ194950]

Well,  then bolt And weld is in order.  ?

 

Jus' kiddin'. ?

 

Have read about this mod here before and does seem to be a viable way of lowering.

 

DJ

[Andydodge]

Original was by rivets, which are just a "fancy" bolt and nut without any threads(lol) to hold it together so for me I'd be just using some nice hi tensile UNF bolts & nuts......if you are a good welder then maybe weld it but your choice.................tho' as a hotrodder I was just thinking that having it bolt together would mean I could send the individual sides and spring plate off to get chromed then bolt it all together................would look nice...............lol.............oops.........back in my Oz corner I'll go now............andydpla 

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have always seen the post on placing the spring plate to the lower side and never could understand the simple "just place it on the bottom" section of the answers given.  The plate is a stamped pieced of metal with a upturned lip that when placed to the bottom in a manner for the spring pocket to be right for the spring will not sit flush to the bottom of the a-arm without some sort of filler material fabricated to fit the pocket of the spring place.  Without this displacement will be very little surface to surface contact and in my opinion asking for future problems...even if welded...the lip is not designed for permanent mounting to other components.  Now if you flip this to a flat to flat mount as it is originally position on the top of the a-arm..no one has ever address the spring pocket and its spring locator function...in either case the snubber is also modified, or at least should be...

[Adam H P15 D30]

Good point Tim, add a 1/4-1/2 inch spacer to make it all work.  

Also, if it bolts together it makes it much easier to disassemble the control arm to get to the seals if needed.

Edited November 6, 2020 by Adam H P15 D30

[Sniper]

5 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I have always seen the post on placing the spring plate to the lower side and never could understand the simple "just place it on the bottom" section of the answers given.  The plate is a stamped pieced of metal with a upturned lip that when placed to the bottom in a manner for the spring pocket to be right for the spring will not sit flush to the bottom of the a-arm without some sort of filler material fabricated to fit the pocket of the spring place.  Without this displacement will be very little surface to surface contact and in my opinion asking for future problems...even if welded...the lip is not designed for permanent mounting to other components.  Now if you flip this to a flat to flat mount as it is originally position on the top of the a-arm..no one has ever address the spring pocket and its spring locator function...in either case the snubber is also modified, or at least should be...

 

Exactly right, plus it appears, at least on my 51, that the outer sway bar mount will need addressed as well.  I suppose you could grind or cut the lip off the plate, but it's there to stiffen the plate.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I would add a intermediate plate myself if I were to entertain this thought...that way bolting would keep everything leveled per se and sandwich easily when bolted....retrofit back to stock a plus aspect...as for the sway bar....addressing this would be to add an equal spacer to the frame horn and lower it to match the new location of the a-arm.  Now granted I have not done this mod but this is my thinking process based on the simple design of the components.   As for the brackets for the sway bar...a simple notch on the spacer would be most effective..

Edited November 6, 2020 by Plymouthy Adams

[Pooshoe]

I’m just going to bolt it . I was going to cut the lip to be honest. If I adder the spacer it would lower the car that much more and I would not mind that. I was also going to reuse the old lower mount and put it on the top of the a-arm.

This is my first run and I’m going mock it up and make sure I have clearance. I have two more arms coming and I also have the two on the car just in case I need to go back to the stock. 

[Pooshoe]

8 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I have always seen the post on placing the spring plate to the lower side and never could understand the simple "just place it on the bottom" section of the answers given.  The plate is a stamped pieced of metal with a upturned lip that when placed to the bottom in a manner for the spring pocket to be right for the spring will not sit flush to the bottom of the a-arm without some sort of filler material fabricated to fit the pocket of the spring place.  Without this displacement will be very little surface to surface contact and in my opinion asking for future problems...even if welded...the lip is not designed for permanent mounting to other components.  Now if you flip this to a flat to flat mount as it is originally position on the top of the a-arm..no one has ever address the spring pocket and its spring locator function...in either case the snubber is also modified, or at least should be...

Snubber? 

[Plymouthy Adams]

forget all I said and continue on your path...it is apparent this was your mission prior to the question.

[Pooshoe]

Got a little done this weekend if anyone was interested 

[greg g]

How much cutting or grinding was required? Will the stock springs rub on the arms when in position?  Do the saybar mounts need modification?

[Dodgeb4ya]

1949 -52 Chrysler's/DeSoto's already have the plate under the A-arm....

[Frank Elder]

Nice mod...I was always told to have at least 2 or 3 threads protruding from the nut, less chance for failure.......are you going to blow it back apart and address the rust issues?

[Frank Elder]

Will it require a longer shock?

[Adam H P15 D30]

Hard to tell if you did but make sure to run some sort of spacer between the plate and control arm.  

Edited November 17, 2020 by Adam H P15 D30

[Sharps40]

If you blow up the pic you'll note, no spacer.   

[falconvan]

Nice! I did this to a 48 several years ago; just ground off the lip so it would sit flush and welded. Worked like a champ.

[Pooshoe]

On 11/16/2020 at 6:08 PM, Frank Elder said:

Nice mod...I was always told to have at least 2 or 3 threads protruding from the nut, less chance for failure.......are you going to blow it back apart and address the rust issues?

 i made a spacer for it i just not have posted the pics and i was going to clean up the rust

[Pooshoe]

On 11/16/2020 at 1:44 PM, Dodgeb4ya said:

1949 -52 Chrysler's/DeSoto's already have the plate under the A-arm....

i was not use if the arms are able to be swapped out for the Plymouth and it would still fit. do you know?