The specs for the original shock wouldn't work for a shock relocated to the center of the spring. The original shock is working between the two a-arms, against a certain amount of leverage, and is probably considerably stiffer than it would need to be if one end was attached to the body. I've heard before that the Monroe shock specced for the 544 front end cross-swaps to a 50's Ford full size picup, and indication of how unusually stiff it needs to be in it's fairly unique (I've never seen it before) mounting location.
It's worth noting that the PV front end uses smaller than typical coil spring diameters. If they were a more conventional size, you could pick and choose from a bunch of cheap options in a spring manufacturers catalog, but as is pretty much anything would have to be custom wound, which isn't cheap. But a typical coil-over package would *probably* fit into the space OK.
And, of course, if working in that part of the car, look closely at the spring perches on the lower a-arm. Stress cracks seem to be endemic on them. I can't say I've heard of anyone's actually failing, but it seems that most people who look close enough see stress cracks on them, more often from the welded side rather than the bolted side.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic 245 + turbo
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