53 five window

[53_fivewindow]

Hello all.
Brand new to the forum, purchased my first 3100 series chevy recently. I plan to do some work on it over the winter. The truck had been in storage for ~ 20 or so years. It has solid bones and a nice petina for a northern vehicle.

I really dont know much about these trucks. Currently the vehicle runs and drives. It has a replacement 261 inline 6 with 848? heads and a 3 speed on the column and torque tube driveline.

My goal by springtime is to clean it up go through brakes and get the truck lowered to improve the stance(-3" or so). I plan on driving it with the 6 cylinder for a period while I work on interior and some other small items.

I plan on lowering the front end with a dropped axle/springs combination. My question to the experts is, what are my options to lower the in the rear with the torque tube?
Te rearend looks to be a replacement with the axle on top of the leafs, with some sort of a pivot joint at the mounting points.

Attached are some pictures of the rear end. Any thought on an inexpensive approach to lowering the rear 3"?

Thanks

[mr48chev]

Sounds like you have a solid plan.

You probably figured it out that Sids http://www.droppedaxles.com/ is the go to shop to have an AD Chevy axle dropped.

Kustom car parts that is the new name for the old Night Prowlers custom car parts after their name got jacked a few years ago. They have 2,3 or 4 inch lowering block kits.
http://shop.kustomcarparts.com/Chevy...-Kits_c195.htm

[53_fivewindow]

Yep, I browsed sid's website, looks like the best option for a dropped front axle.

Will lowering blocks work for my rear setup? Given that the axle sits on top of the leafs with that pivot point? Is the torque tube driveline a concern when dropping the rear? Vibrations, pinion angle problems? Thanks

[mobileortho]

[QUOTE=53_fivewindow;8028080] Given that the axle sits on top of the leafs Thanks[QUOTE]

Are you sure its a 3100? I could be wrong, but I thought the only 3600's were mounted on top of the leafs.

[53_fivewindow]

[quote=mobileortho;8028249][QUOTE=53_fivewindow;8028080] Given that the axle sits on top of the leafs Thanks

Are you sure its a 3100? I could be wrong, but I thought the only 3600's were mounted on top of the leafs.

Yes it is a 53 3100, but I suspect the rear-end has been replaced with the rear from a 3600 many years ago. Is it possible to use this existing driveline and still get the truck lower? Or do I need to start from scratch with a different rear-end? If that is the case this just got a lot more complicated