C2 Rear Leaf Spring Questions
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 751
Likes: 8
From: Escondido CA
C2 Rear Leaf Spring Questions
Hello, all,
I disassembled and repainted the leaf spring off of my 63 convertible. The spring leaves had almost no corrosion, and the liners are in very good condition. However, before I reassemble the spring, I have a few questions:
1) Will it make a difference if I replace the stock spring stack bolt with a grade 8 hex 5/16 X 24 x 2 3/4 inch bolt? Will the hex head (as opposed to the rounded head of the stock bolt) cause any problems? What is the torque spec for this bolt? How is it oriented; is the nut pointing down?
2) Should there be liners between each leaf? I had no liner between #1 (smallest) leaf and #2. However, I consulted a picture which was posted some time back, and it indicated no liner betwen #3 & #4. Hmmm....
3) Should the leaves/liners be assembled dry, or should they be lubricated?
4) All of my leaves appear to have an arch, even the top three. However, all of the pictures I have seen in the catalogs show a spring with the top three leaves sticking straight out (no arch). Should I be concerned?
Thanks to all for any assistance.
I disassembled and repainted the leaf spring off of my 63 convertible. The spring leaves had almost no corrosion, and the liners are in very good condition. However, before I reassemble the spring, I have a few questions:
1) Will it make a difference if I replace the stock spring stack bolt with a grade 8 hex 5/16 X 24 x 2 3/4 inch bolt? Will the hex head (as opposed to the rounded head of the stock bolt) cause any problems? What is the torque spec for this bolt? How is it oriented; is the nut pointing down?
2) Should there be liners between each leaf? I had no liner between #1 (smallest) leaf and #2. However, I consulted a picture which was posted some time back, and it indicated no liner betwen #3 & #4. Hmmm....
3) Should the leaves/liners be assembled dry, or should they be lubricated?
4) All of my leaves appear to have an arch, even the top three. However, all of the pictures I have seen in the catalogs show a spring with the top three leaves sticking straight out (no arch). Should I be concerned?
Thanks to all for any assistance.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 38,897
Likes: 1,926
From: Washington Michigan
A replacement bolt will work fine - the area to watch is how the bolt head fits into the recess in the rear cover casting; the original bolt had a special thin head so it didn't bottom out in the recess, which can cause the rear cover to crack when you tighten the spring retainer plate bolts (don't tighten them until the weight of the car is on the wheels or you can break the ears off the bottom of the casting). The spring center bolt has the head "up" as installed, and the nut on the bottom is torqued to 25 ft-lbs.
The liners are installed dry - I don't recall if there's a liner between every leaf on a '63 - maybe someone else has the '63 Judging Guide, which will have that information.
You have the correct spring; '63-only used a spring with all the leaves cambered. '64-up used the 9-leaf spring with the top three leaves flat, and only the bottom six cambered.
The liners are installed dry - I don't recall if there's a liner between every leaf on a '63 - maybe someone else has the '63 Judging Guide, which will have that information.
You have the correct spring; '63-only used a spring with all the leaves cambered. '64-up used the 9-leaf spring with the top three leaves flat, and only the bottom six cambered.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 7,032
Likes: 2
From: Newburgh NY
Also, 63 springs had an arch in all 9 leafs (sometimes referred to as single stage) with a slight taper and curl up at the ends on leafs 2-9. 64-67 springs had the upper 3 leafs running straigt across, referred to as dual stage.
I've been told by some that some later 63's had the dual stage spring. However, the NCRS (for those who might care) currently does not recognize that in the judging manual. I've been down this path before.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 751
Likes: 8
From: Escondido CA
Wow,this is too cool. 
Once again, the members of the online Corvette community have come through with flying colors. Kudos to JohnZ, SWCDuke, and 78Vette-SA for responding to my leaf-spring queries and providing me with the necessary information. And thanks to everyone else for responding to all of the other inquiries I've put forth to this forum.
You know, back in the bad old days of 1986 (when I started on this never-ending project), none of these online resources were available. I'm sorta glad I waited 18 years to get back to work on it!
Once again, the members of the online Corvette community have come through with flying colors. Kudos to JohnZ, SWCDuke, and 78Vette-SA for responding to my leaf-spring queries and providing me with the necessary information. And thanks to everyone else for responding to all of the other inquiries I've put forth to this forum.
You know, back in the bad old days of 1986 (when I started on this never-ending project), none of these online resources were available. I'm sorta glad I waited 18 years to get back to work on it!
