original suspension but power disc/steering?

[zx6rrider]

New guy in Va, buying a 59 from my dad that has been sitting in one of his garages for 20 years and going to restore it "for the wife"
My question is, how bad is the origninal suspension? Does it really need switched to IFS? Not like I plan on road racing the thing. Thought about subframing it but where I have to work on it and equipment/storage wise right now it won't be practical. I'm planning on rebuilding a 350 and putting that in it. Want to switch to power disc and power steering but hate to spend the money if in the long road it should be swapped out.
I see so many people supframing them, are there very many running the original setup and upgrading the brakes and steering? Thanks for all the info and the advise. I know alot of this is matter of opinion but I thought I'd get a few point of views before tearing into it.

[beanyard]

I have wondered the same thing. I have thought many times about upgrading the brakes and steering but don't want to do it if I end up going to ifs. Right now I am not pleased with the solid axle but I also pulled out the shortest spring from the leaf pack on each side of the front, added a sway bar, and didn't change out the shock absorbers for shorter ones. I am thinking if I changed them out I might improve the ride.
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[zx6rrider]

Hows the driveability of it right now? This is kinda going to be the wifes truck but I will be playing with it too. Is it something we could live with for a few years or am I going to wish I did it while it was all apart? (probably have to have a shop do the alignement and welding so rather not spend the money now and wait til i can figure it out myself)

[SHORTDOG99]

Just throwing this out there, I am selling a brand new (in the box) disc brake set up that i bought for my 59 which i am not going to install anymore...only because i am going to be selling my 59, not because there is anything wrong with the set up. If you would be interested in seeing it, send me your e-mail address in a PM and i will send you pics. I am only asking $300 + shipping for the whole set up which includes everything ready to bolt on to your stock straight axle and upgrades your old bearings to modern tapered bearings.

[zx6rrider]

pm sent

[JumboAMONGus]

iam running power brakes in stock location and disc brakes witht he newer style bearings on stock suspension with a 302 ,4 speed,and it goes and handles fine i go 100mph on the road with hills and it corners good only thing im running 15 inch wheels and smaller tires up front and the original bfgs fromthe 60s on 16s in the rear hehee soo i couldnt tell you on performance for cornering other then i love it feels just like my 67 camaro and better then my 67 chevelle did ,,,braking tho my fronts lock up first and i even have a proportioning valve in it

[Spackle100]

I drove my 58 with stock brakes, suspension & steering for 6-8 months. It was a blast to drive. Towards the end I did get tired of having to pump the brakes going down all the hills around me and I got over wrestling with the steering wheel pretty quick. I'm 6'2 and 200 lbs.

My wife is going to drive it too, there is no way she could drive it safely being 5 foot and 120 lbs, so safety was a concern for me. I have installed my power disc kit and have just installed my power steering bolt on kit. I'm looking forward to seeing how it will handle in comparison.

If you want the truck to drive like a go-cart and sit low, install the clip. If you want it to drive like a truck, replace the leaf springs and slap on the PS and PB kits. Just my opinion

[zx6rrider]

Sounds like power brakes and steering will be the way to go for me. Wife is 5'3 and 120lbs so she would probably have a hard time too. Thanks for the imput