I would like to raise the back of my '69 about 1.5" & just refuse to install air shocks. With that said, what kind of input do you guys have on air bags??

Yup,

They will do it, it will have a relatively decent ride too.

I wanted to do exactly the same thing, raise the rear just 1.5 to 2 inches. It's just the way they sit, the (1969 Chevelles SS 396) seem to sit high in the front and a little lower in the rear. I decided to go with new Heavy Duty rear springs from NAPA. They are rubber coated, so they should last a long time. They raised the rear just about 2.25 inches, which may settle close to 1.75 to 1.5 inches when I get it on the road. I did use air-bags back in 1982, but they were not to raise the rear of the car. I used them to limit the wheel-hop, when I had the Ladder bars off the car. You can add more pressure to the right wheel air-bag, which (in my opinion) does help quite a bit. You really have to take care of the air-bags now and then, or they can tear. They guy next door use to spray his with something like armor-all or Silicon spray. In the winter, (I live in the North), he would pull the valve out of the bags, when in storage. I never took care of mine at all, except to wash them now and then. His outlasted mine by six or seven years.

SS4speed.

Are the heavy duty springs the stock size for the car? I went with cargo coils & it sits too low.
Idealistically I would like the top of the tire almost flush with the Wheel chrome.

The heavy duty springs look exactly like the original, except for the rubber coating. You can also get the Heavy duty coils without the rubber coating. The diameter of the steel may be just slightly larger, but you have plenty of room for them to fit, so that's not an issue. The height was almost exactly the same, at least I didn't notice any difference when I had them side by side. They seem pretty stiff, and the car is sitting above the tire by about 2.25 inches right now. I was told that they should settle by an .5 inch or less, once I get the car back on the road and start driving it. I will try to find (NAPA) part numbers and post them, if anyone wants them.

SS4speed.

I replaced my stock rear springs with replacements that matched the factory F41 specs-

Still sat too low in the back, so I installed the Airlift 1000 airSprings/airbags. At the normal inflation (10lbs)It raised it about 1"- and it put the chrome just above the tires. Perfect IMO. They also help a lot with handling if you valve them separately.

Full of air(35lbs) it will go about 2" higher- but that was more than i needed, and it rides badly then unless you have a heavy load in it wtih them that stiff.

I had the same problem with my 66 Malibu a few years ago when I put new springs in it. So I went with the spacer set up that goes between the bottom of the spring and the perch. It's a 3 1/2" round plate and a 2 1/2" diameter round tube. The spacer tube comes about 4" tall but I cut it down to about 2". It works great for me, and I think they only cost about $20. I'm sure NAPA sells them.

66 600hp Malibu
Dart Pro 1's

2 wrongs don't make a right but 3 lefts do!!

I have been looking for that for a couple of years now. I used one in a '73 chevelle I had years ago, it was from Mr. Gasket & they called it a coil spring lift kit. I have asked everyone about it but they all look at me as if I have 3 eyes... Did you have to use shock extenders when you installed the kit??

Mr gasket still sells them... Go to their websites online catalog and you can find them- then take the part number to your local parts store, they can special order it.

www.mrgasket.com (http://www.mrgasketusa.com)