KS69Coupe

Hello CF,

Decided to go ahead and start a thread for the restoration of my '69 rear leaf spring. Quanta Products LLC rear spring paint arrived 2/12/22 so things are moving forward. Thanks Hunt4cleanair for the help sourcing the paint. Test drove a local sandblaster 2/11/21 and seems like parts turned out nice. Feel good about taking the spring to them. Repro spring liners arrived from CC but I've received at least one caution indicating repro liners are crap, will not last, and that I should keep my originals...more to come on that subject once I get the spring apart.


fresh sandblasted parts. Will send outer support bolts out to have them black phosphate parkerized

prior to soak overnight in WD-40 Rust Remover

Plate after 24-hour soak in rust remover. Looks like light-gray paint left on the bottom side of the plate and top of spring #9 but perhaps that is just wear

spring out...waited to see how the sandblaster did with the test parts. Success! Will take the spring apart now and deliver them to sandblaster

close-up between #6 and #7. Looks like top side is / was painted but maybe my eyes and imagination are playing tricks. I was of the opinion that the tops were not painted at Rockwell. More to come on that subject.

KS69Coupe

Good Morning,
My original leaf spring post is morphing (scope creep) into other items now that I have the 9-leaf standard spring off. Will take springs next week to local sandblaster. I have the rear spring paint and new liners. Have the Fluid Film for the topside of the springs once done painting the bottoms only. Will need to source a new center bolt for the springs since I had such a tough time getting the original "W" head bolt out, threads are rough, and did some damage to the natural finish 1/2" -24 nut. Will probably source the rear leaf spring center bolt from CC PN 582112.

Question on removing and restoring the rear strut rods? NCRS book says strut rods are blue-gray from the hot forging process. Anyone have the correct color paint for the strut rods?

Another question from a non-mechanic. Easier to get the strut rods PN 3819205 and bracket PN 3931805 on P.J181 of AIM off the car with tires on or tires off? Car is currently sitting on 2x4 tire cribs. And, are there any special tools needed to get the inner and outer ends of the strut rods off....like a pickle fork? I have noticed that someone hammered on the end of the cam assembly bolt PN 3820253 on the LH side. Not too bad but noticeable compared to the RH side bolt.

interpon

Here ya go
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...od-advice.html

i went bare metal flat satin clear on struts and full clear on half shafts..they look like bare metal

KS69Coupe

Hi interpon,
Thank you for the link. Terrifying (for a non-mechanic)!

I'm going to rethink this a bit. I really wanted to get the strut rods off to get to the mounting plate so that I could repaint the plate that fastens to the bottom of the differential but not sure I am ready for all the other excitement, drift punch (did not even know what that was), stud removal sockets, AmPro T 74163 puller, lithium grease, whole conversation of rubber vs. poly strut bushings.

The only part that made me smile was Lars' comment, "takes about an hour". Would take about an hour if Lars were here in my garage walking me through the steps - right after a trip to Northern Tool and a stop at the liquor store.

DKM-106

KS69Coupe If you are going for NCRS judging I would replace the rear spring bolts and washers with NOS, they are out there. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193388014413?hash=item2d06d2eb4d:g:mT4AA OSwkfVecp8H Also, FWIW my 7 inch rear leaf spring was painted with the gray sealant on top on bottom. I know that the NCRS JG says only the bottoms on F41, but I personally disagree with that having owned a number of bowtie/survivor F41 suspension cars.

KS69Coupe

Hi DKM-106,
Thanks for your input on NOS leaf spring bolts, washers, and painted springs.

Just learned for the first time today that my rear strut rods are not NCRS correct for an early '69 L-46. Mine are 1 3/4" OD and they are supposed to be 1 1/2" OD. One more thing....

PJO

If your photos are your struts they look correct look at this photo of an unmolested strut and spring. This is an F41 Suspension.




Next are a 4600 mile Corvette

boat196

Strut rods are 1 1/4” and 1 3/8”, do you have plans to have your car judge. If not, I would leave your strut rods.

KS69Coupe

Hey PJO,

Yep, mine are a spot on match to the patina in your first photo. This helps give me some direction. My '69 has 56,000 miles. I do know that this car had some rear end damage at some point in its history - discovered during this restoration process. GM service replacement gas tank, GM service replacement stickers on rear bumper supports, forward tank support was bent a little, tank anti-squeak pads were missing fore and aft. My struts are not the 1 1/2" OD described in the NCRS book for early '69 or in the chassis restoration book . My struts are 1 3/4" OD on the ends so they must have been replaced? My control arms are a gray-bluish color too. Don't think that was original either, right? Car is a '69 (Oct. 31, 1968 build) L-46 350/350, M21 4-speed with AC, 3.70:1 posi rear. Standard 9-leaf rear spring.

Sure is challenging trying to figure out what is OEM and what has been replaced, when, and for what reason? Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Thanks for the continued support.

KS69Coupe

Hello boat196,

Yes, goal is to have the car NCRS judged someday. So, I believe I will need to source the correct strut rods for an early 1969 build 350/350 with 3.70:1 posi and a standard 9-leaf spring. NCRS 5th Edition P.218 says, "The originals are 1 1/2" diameter. Service replacements and 1974 and newer rods have 1 3/4" diameter ends". My OD ends going from left-to-right are 1.7715", 1.7810" on LH side of car and 1.7645", 1.7750" on the RH side of the car. So, I believe this car has GM service replacement strut rods on it.

Thanks for your input.

interpon

yes your eyes are playing tricks.. they did with me too here (post 5-6).. see post 27 and the podcast.. it is great.. and straightened me out on what was painted or not.. one plant used a wallpaper brush and the other a sponge! only the concave part AND sides were painted individually.. then the entire assembly was dipped in corrosion inhibitor (the rest of spring)

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...questions.html

DKM-106

There were some changes to the suspension finishes over the years, notably the black out process. Related to the 1969 production process, the rear leaf spring had a light gray sealant and some original 69's have been observed with some black out on the ends of the spring from the the final black out process of the mufflers etc. You can see it in this picture from the 69 St Louis Assembly Plant that the tops of the spring are light color(Light gray) until you get to the end portion of the spring. While the mufflers were blacked out prior to the assembly process, I believe a final black out was done on the sides of the mufflers which is why you see some original unrestored cars with black paint and runs down the side of the spare tire tub and two different coats of black paint on the mufflers. One that is more uniform and another leaving drips down the sides. In the end it was not consistently applied, not the same by all shift workers, and the goal was to cover up items that would show when you look inside the rear fender etc.