Hi Joshua. Welcome to the forum. I'd be more inclined to disassemble the springs, clean them, paint them and use plastic inserts on reassembly. Doing that will give your springs less resistance and more ability to move against each other. While you're at that, I'd suggest replacing the shackles. At this point, your leaves are old and very rusted. They're not going to slide back and forth easily.
I've seen people remove leaf springs in various vehicles for years. Theoretically you can remove all except the leaf with the spring eyes, but your outcome may not be very positive. I should tell you I've seen the aftermath of a broken leaf spring following a few months of driving around on springs altered in this fashion. The situation was instantly dire and there was nothing the driver could have done once it happened.
When I was in high school, my first car was a 1936 Ford. The prior owner left a note to get under the car 4 times a year and soak the springs with a mix of crankcase oil and kerosene to keep it driving smoothly. It wasn't much fun, but I did it and it helped.
But, back to your question you can remove a couple of the shortest springs in the leaf spring pack and it will soften the ride a bit.
