Air vs coil

I am a retired Pastor trying something new. I just acquired a V W Beetle/dune buggy. Apparently the kids who tried to build it couldn't figure out how to raise the body of the dune buggy up from the V W chassis to fit the 20" spoke rims. They put 2 pieces of HY 80 angle iron in to replace the shocks. This clearly won't due. I am a little mechanical, but I am new to this type of vehicle so I could use all the help anyone can give me. I need to raise it up enough to ride comfortably on the 20's but standard V W shocks wont raise it high enough to clear the wheels, and if I'm not mistaken shocks are not for lifting they are just for stabilize and absorbing shock. how do I do what i need to do with out breaking my limited bank?