I want to replace the shocks and springs on my 72 two door malibu but I think that the car should sit up a little higher in the back than the front. What parts should I get for a stock look with about a one or two inch lift in the rear. Also...it's a small block.

The "stock" look on our cars was for the rear to sit low. If you look at the factory brochures for our cars you will see what i mean... 72 chevelle convert ad photo (http://www.chevelles.com/years/72/72ssrag.jpg)

If you want it to sit up higehr in the back(and i can't blame you, i like it better that way too)- you have a couple options...

1. Air Shocks- These will definitely raise it up... but ride quality is poor compared to regular gas shocks, and you can possibly wreck your shock mounts if you leave it jacked way up all the time.

2. Air Springs- These are inflatable bags that go inside the rear-coil springs, when valved separatly, they help cornering, as well as handling additional load. Just installing these with the minimum air inside lifts the car about 1/2"- With normal air in them about 1"
(i have these in my 70 elky- Here is a pic with just 10lbs of air in the bags (35lbs max) (http://elcaminocentral.com/albums/albun23/DSC00227.sized.jpg) )

3. Higher lift coils- You can put station wagon coils in the back, and that will lift it waaaay up- ride quality and traction will suffer.

I suggest option 2. You can get them from summit or Jegs, they cost about $70 and are really easy to install.

Or you might consider instead of jacking up the back, just drop the front a little. Hotchkis sells great springs that drop the front about an inch while giving you much better handling due to a higher spring rate. These don't ride hard (like air shocks) and still help with body roll. I have their front springs on my small block 67 Malibu and I'm sold on them. So far they're the best suspension upgrade I've made. I'm saving up to get the rear springs to install hopefully by Christmas. College student finances are tough.

I just ordered the Hotchkis 1" lower all the way around, but I bought small block springs and i of course have a big block, they said it should lower the front another half an inch and the spring rates are still higher than factory, so in all I will have 1" lower in the back and 1 1/2" lower in the front, graemlins/beers.gif , and I have air shocks in the rear, I have found that leaving them around 65 or 75 lbs(200lbs max), it rides actually very well, I would be careful, some companys that make lowering springs make them way to stiff cause bad traction on lauch. graemlins/clonk.gif

Take a look in the Member Classifieds once in awhile. You might find what you are looking for.

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