Anyone with experience bagging cars?

I have a 1971 Plymouth Valiant 4-door that I picked up awhile ago. I was planning on making a daily/drag car out of it. then gas prices went crazy and I discovered mazdas and airbags. Then I looked at my car and thought that it would look awesome bagged and body dropped. I went out there and measured the distances from everything to the ground.

if you dont know mopars, then they use a K-member, like the mazda engine crossmember, and it sits about an inch bellow the the subframe. The k-member is 6 inches from the ground, the subframe is 7.sumtin inches from the ground and the main body is 10 inches from the ground. The reinforcement sits about the same as the subframe.

what i would like to do is z up the k member about and inch or 2 so that the k-member is even with the subframe, then body drop the body about 3-4 inches so the rockers are even with the subframe.

what I am not sure is how to a 4-link out back with out actually having a frame, can I weld to the sub-frame? I want to have the nicest ride possible so can I still mount the bags on the bars under a car?
There is a guy who makes a tubular upper a-arm, so I can use that to make room for a bag, but the lower arm would need to be flattened to accept a bag.
I have to measure from the frame to the top of the fender to see how big of rim I can put in there, but I would like to use an 18" rim.
I know I would need to run subframe connectors to make sure the body dont flex.

is there anyone with experience with subframe cars that could help me figure out what I need to do. I have the option to leave the slant six in the car, put a small block in it or put a big block. I know I have to cut the hood for any motor, so its kind of how much power can the air bag setup hold. a mopar 440 can reach 600+ hp easily, small block can go about 550 hp easily, and the slant six, with a lot of cash, can get up to 200 hp. on all three engines, the oilpan sits higher than the k-member, only thing I am worried about with all engines is the exhuast. Would i have enough room to run about 2 1/2 to 3" exhuast to the rear fender wells?

I will try and get pictures up of what my car looks like for people that dont know what a plymouth valiant is.
thanks,
Mike

man, you guys have a one track mind, trucks, trucks, trucks, gosh
just kidding,
does anyone have any advice for me to try, or any links to sites specifically for bagged cars that I could ask about my classic?

I think I have the front end pretty well planed out, but I just dont know how to install the 4-link to the subframe, I dont know if I have to add a crossmember to weld the bars to or if I can just weld the bars to the subframe, I guess I would need a crossmember anyway for the middle links, I think i just figured it out,
any advice would still be appreciated though.

I would just bag my truck right now, but its my daily so I am going to do my classic first, then pick up a 4x4 to drive while I am bagging my mazda
thanks
-Mike

after lookin at some pictures i think it has leaf springs, if it does mounting a paralell 4 link from the axle to basicly where the leaf spring mounted originaly would be a strong place to put it. run a panhard bar with it so you wont have any side sway and you should be alright. you could just mount the bags over axle. the only downside to doin it like this is you would have no side to side

Look into how thay install ladder bars and 4 links in mustangs there unibody cars. Look for drag racing setups for that car might find a bolt on kit that you can mod to work I know that AirRide makes one for the B and E bodys look at those kits might be able to figer something out for your A body

there Instructions page



here is someplace else that might be of some help

Bill is a crazy guy, when I build 2 door valiant drag car, I am going to use his alter-K. I have asked about my car on that board before and people were like "dont cut up a nice mopar" its not that I am cutting it up, its going to better then before. how many mopars can lay the subframe and body on the ground, I havnt seen that many.

would I be able to run a 3 link wishbone if I weld in a crossmember to attach the wishbone to. I am not to worried about side to side, would be cool, but not needed. what would have a better ride, a parrelell 4link or a 3 link. the only reason I wanted to run the bags on the bars was becuase I wanted a smooth ride, but I wanted it to have as much lift as it sits stock.

The past owner put helper springs on the car to lift the back end to make it look like a muscle car. its cool, but the front still sits high too. If I cant put airbags on the car, then I will just big block it, but I really want the car to sit crazy low. I have the front end all planned out, I have just never delt with a rear subframe. I dont know If I can weld a crossmember to the subframe. If I can, then I am good for a tri-4 or a wishbone.

I know I have to tub the rear and the front, I just hope the axle fits under the trunk without having to cut that out. might have to change to a fuel cell.

I have the car sitting out in the front yard of our new house, so when I get a chance, and get the garage clean out, I will take some pics.

thanks for the response guys, There is not that much help for lowering mopars
-Mike

might have to pull the tank and just run a fuel cell in the trunk as for the frame rails there pretty much the same thing as the full frame under our trucks there just part of the floor pan to (the top half of it is the floor pan) you can weld to them just like the frame I think so you should be able to make a hoop to weld the wishbone to

awesome, so the only thing different then my mazda frame would be I wouldnt be welding in a notch, I would just be welding in a link system. knowing that, I could prolly just order a universal 4 link from suicide doors and weld it in the same way as in our trucks.

the front would be the hard part then. I have to notch the front end where the k-frame is up about 2 inches. I think if I use Bill's tubular upper control arms, I should be able to smooth out the lower arm and weld a bag bracket onto that. then weld a upper bag bracket to the frame that I just notched. I will also use Bill's strut arm to plant the lower arm in place.

If I do this to the front, can I just remove torsion bar and put the shock on the backside of the lower arm where the torsion used to be, or do I have to keep the torsion bar. I am not going to use an airshock. I want to use an actual bag and a seperate shock.

I know the motor will be closer to the hood, but 2 inches isnt that much. I am going to leave the slant six in the car, it has a bad motor mount on it right know and it does not even come close to the underside of the hood, it shakes a lot with a bad motor mount, so I think 2 inches is ok. I am going to put something called a hyper-pak on it, its a long runner 4 barrel intake. I will have to cut the hood for the carb, no big deal, I will just cover it up with mopar A-body dual scoops.

I have thought a lot about this, I want to get the subframe bagged so I can see how big exhuast I can put under there, then if the body starts to bother me, I will cut it off and lower it to the ground too.

once it goes into the ground, everything will be tagged and bagged so I can start removing the suspension off the car. I can strip the body to metal and weld up all the little holes. one of the hard mods I want to do to it is have the rear doors suicided. the rear door frames are sloped so I will have to do some cutting the inside edge of the door.

I drive my mazda daily, and am just kind of scared to get started on it cuase its my only daily driver, so until I can pick up another car to drive(the 68 2 door valiant) I have to wait on starting on the mazda.

thanks,
Mike

The biggest problem is you wont it to lay out thats gone be hard to do with out cutting up the floor alot since its all one thing (unibody) it will weaking the car alot. you can Bag one in the back pretty easy im sure but to get it to lay framerails is gone be hard

not my car, but looks exactly like mine except I have white wall tires

yeah, I see what your saying. The front and rear subframe is sits about 3 inches below the rest of the floor. this is why I thought I could make subframe connectors and lay the front and rear subframe on the ground. you can actually unbolt the front subframe. if the rear wasnt attached to the truck area, it could be removed aswell, I just thought since the bottom of the rails sat below the floor, I could lay out on those since the floor would touch the ground.

sorry to any chevy or ford fans, but they have it easy, kits are ready avaliable for their cars, and they look awesome bagged, but mopars are all about power and going fast in a straight line, some can turn, but not many. I am just kind of tired of going to a car show and all the mopars have huge motors with drag racing suspension, and some of the fords and chevys sit real low.

when I start to strip it, I will have to take better measurements and the decide if I want to just upgrade the suspension, or bag it. hopefully there is enough room to lay out, if not, i will just make it a bracket racer.
thanks
-Mike