Appears that the coil springs on my 55 have been heat to lower the front.  Ride seems good but does not do well with bumps.  Is there something to improve this issues?  Or will I need to replace the coils.  I like ride height but those dips in road drive me nuts.

A lot of guys use Ford Aerostar springs to lower the front without compromising ride quality. They are a straight bolt-in replacement. If you are a member of the 1952 to 1959 Ford social group on the H.A.M.B. there's a lot of information on the subject there.

Macs Antique Auto sells Coil Springs with several different ride Heights. Apparently Ford Aerostar Coils can be used also for lower Ride Height. Using Ford Granada Spindles with Disc Brakes will drop front about 3 Inches with standard Coil springs Intact.  Lowering Blocks in rear to level Vehicle Height.

  

This comes up under search on here. There’s other threads about it and shocks, etc.

http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Topic117546.aspx

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

So it sounds like you are saying that someone heated and compressed the stock springs, and now you bottom out when hitting a bump. In my opinion, you should probably remove the spring and measure the uncompressed height. Compare that to the stock spring height and go from there. Replacement springs are available, and you can change the ride height using the "Drop and Stop" Ford Granada spindle kits which offer a 1.5" drop and 2.5" drop. I have the stock springs with the 2.5" drop and the stance is just right for me.

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

My experience is on my 55 bird. I removed cut stock springs and replaced them with the Aerostar springs. For me they were all improvement and no drawbacks. They are a progressive winding, so they were less harsh over small bumps, but don’t bottom on a real hit. Someone on here combined them with the drop spindles, and he found that was too low. IIRC, it wasn’t that the suspension bottomed, it was the car that hit, on say a speed bump. I know I couldn’t use the drop spindles on my car and navigate the more extreme speed bumps.

The bird has less weight and better engine set back than the pass car, but a lot of pass car guys seem happy with the Aerostar springs, sometime with a spacer and sometimes not. I think it depends on personal perceptions and local driving conditions. I don’t have to deal with the big frost heaves I know some do.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ