Calvert set up pictures

I too have the engine and chassis manuals and yes there is a lot of good information in them and the OP would benefit from reading them.

Can SS springs be made to work, absolutely, but with some basic fab skills and a few tools for about $100-$125 you can make a set of cal trac knock offs that will be more user friendly and more consistent too. As I posted before CE 3 way adjustable shocks are cheap and will work fine for the OP. My street/strip Dart has gone 1.38 60' many times with them.

I'd like to see some of those 8 second SS cars on SS springs, I'd be willing to bet that there aren't many 10 or 11 second stock or SS race cars running them let alone 8 second cars and there is a reason. Yes there was a time when they were the way to go fast but so was heavy TRW pistons, purple shaft cams and dual point distributors.