Hi Folks,

I'm looking for some rear suspensions advice. I have a 1939 Buick Special hotrod. The rear-end is from some 70s-ish Ford (currently unknown) and is comprised of two large coil springs and shocks. The springs are about 18.5" long uncompressed, 14.5" long with the vehicle sitting on the ground, a spring diameter of about 0.65-0.7" and an total diameter from the outside of the spring of close to 7". The current shocks are Gabriel Guardian (part #: 81878) with 17.7" extended, 11.2" compressed and 6.6" stroke length.

In an ideal world I need to do two thing.
(1) soften the ride
(2) raise the rear-end about 1-3"

I've looked for other coil springs that are longer, I found some from MOOG but their have a very high spring rate and would likely make the ride much stiffer. I have considered going with something like RideTech 8000 Series ShockWave, but they are expensive!

Any suggestions would be apprecated. Thanks!

Links:
- shockwaves: ShockWaves :: Universal Styles - RideTech.com - Suspension Specialist - Online Store
- current shocks: Gabriel Guardian/Shock/Strut - Front (81878) | AutoZone.com
- mood springs: Moog Suspension Parts - Universal Coil Springs