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Its time to make the decision on the rear spring on my 77. I have already completely rebuilt the front suspension with new springs, bushings and KYB gas shocks. I have KYB shocks for the rear. My stock leaf spring is in fine condition. Car sits perfect. The problem is since I detailed the entire rear undercarriage I just can't get that spring to look acceptable. And... I am hesitant to take it apart... spend $50 on liners, get all the leafs sand coated and then figure out what color gray looks good (so far.. they all look like crap to me) or.... do I get a stock replacement steel multi-leaf spring or a composite. If composite.. do I go expensive with VPC or do I go affordable with TRW. My suspension on the front is stock. New Moog coil springs, all new bushings and all new steering components along with KYB gas shocks. My car sits on the high side. It did when I got it. The replacement parts I put in didn't change the height. My stock rear leaf spring made the car sit perfectly.. on the high side perfectly level with the front. I am leaning towards getting a mono leaf. I just need a recommendation on the spring weight and manufacturer. Its just a stock street car with a stock small block in it.
Here are a few pics of my leaf spring. I painted it with Duplicolor primer gray which I felt it was the closest color to factory stock. It just doesn't look good. Mainly because of the liners. They look aweful. The liners are black but my research showes that the leaf spring was painted gray at the factory AFTER the liners were installed. This means just painting the entire leaf spring gray should suffice. I painted it and to my eyes.. it looks like crap mainly because of the liners. My option is to take it apart, buy new liners, clean up the exposed leafs as much as possible and respray it gray. But... do I really want to take the time and effort to take apart a 37 year old original leaf spring even if it doesn't have any structural issues. IMHO.. it can't possibly be better than ANY new replacement spring whether its steel multileaf of a fiberglass or composite mono leaf.
You're right, it can't be better than new, but, new can be worse than the old. Think about all the post on here asking why the ride height is so high on the rear of the car. The kit to rebuild the springs is less $50 I think.
If you decide to go with a composite, pass on the TRW- too many stories about high ride height. I've seen the photos and it's not pretty. I got a VBP composite and even with that one I had to use most of the 8" aftermarket bolts to get ride height where I wanted it.
Many years ago I cleaned my factory spring and repainted it in black. It still looked virtually new when I took it off a couple years ago. If you're happy with the ride height and don't want to lose weight or get a better ride, if you clean and paint it well you could keep your current spring and save a fair bit of change for something else.
My recommendation would be to purchase a new one from Duntov Corvette. You can get the 9 leaf for $189 or the 7 leaf for $225. I was on the fence before I purchased a new spring (I went with the F41 7 leaf) and determined that new would be the best option. A 40 year old spring is bound to fail much sooner than a bran new one would. So for me it was all about peace of mind. The next time I will look at replacing the spring will be in another 40 years or so which is pretty far out there for me. Your other option would be to send it to Duntov and have them restore it. Just food for thought...everything costs money just depends on how good you want it to look or if you are ok with the gray that you sprayed on.
My recommendation would be to purchase a new one from Duntov Corvette. You can get the 9 leaf for $189 or the 7 leaf for $225. I was on the fence before I purchased a new spring (I went with the F41 7 leaf) and determined that new would be the best option. A 40 year old spring is bound to fail much sooner than a bran new one would. So for me it was all about peace of mind. The next time I will look at replacing the spring will be in another 40 years or so which is pretty far out there for me. Your other option would be to send it to Duntov and have them restore it. Just food for thought...everything costs money just depends on how good you want it to look or if you are ok with the gray that you sprayed on.
Just a heads up- take a minute and search Duntov Motors here at the forum and in a general Google search. A lot of folks have had bad experiences in dealing with them. If you've had a good one I'm happy for you. I'm just saying that there are other options out there with solid reputations.
Just a heads up- take a minute and search Duntov Motors here at the forum and in a general Google search. A lot of folks have had bad experiences in dealing with them. If you've had a good one I'm happy for you. I'm just saying that there are other options out there with solid reputations.
Seriously!?!? I didnt realize that there was bad press about these guys.
I have ordered my F41 spring, rear differential, brake pads, and a bunch of other parts. They have been absolutly excellent to deal with. They have personally called me if there was an issue with an order. I left a note that I need parts by on Friday when ordered on a Tuesday and they shipped it 2 day express with no charge. When I call them they know who I am and can quickly reference my parts and order number without looking at a computer for 10min and asking me a bunch of random questions. But most of all their parts have been spot on with ZERO defects or issues. Personally, it has been a great experience working with them while I restore my car. Hope yall dont look past them. I would be curious to hear some bad press though if its out there.
I replaced the liners on my '72 and painted Grey
Looks OK to me
Not as Nice as Alan71's !!!!!
Well, pretty much nothing looks as nice as Alan's Vette underneath. I hate that guy!
Originally Posted by BEVO76
Seriously!?!? I didnt realize that there was bad press about these guys.
I have ordered my F41 spring, rear differential, brake pads, and a bunch of other parts. They have been absolutly excellent to deal with. They have personally called me if there was an issue with an order. I left a note that I need parts by on Friday when ordered on a Tuesday and they shipped it 2 day express with no charge. When I call them they know who I am and can quickly reference my parts and order number without looking at a computer for 10min and asking me a bunch of random questions. But most of all their parts have been spot on with ZERO defects or issues. Personally, it has been a great experience working with them while I restore my car. Hope yall dont look past them. I would be curious to hear some bad press though if its out there.
I have a new TRW 340# composite spring for sale in the C3 Parts for sale section.
I researched it before I bought it and did not see any issues with using it for my application.
Just decided to go with coil overs and offset arms.
As to ride height you can always use the 10" bolts to lower it.
Good luck with whatever you decide.....
I'm breaking the cardinal rule by posting without completely reading the OP and follow up messages...
Anyway, VB&P monoleaf is the way to go if you want to spend the money. Do your own research, but if I remember correctly the average cruiser guys were going 330-360 lb. Remember, mono leaf glass spring rates are not equally comparable to a steel springs rate.
On the flip side, if you want to do it cheap and easy, I have a new never installed mid-america 9 leaf replacement spring I'd sell for a good deal.
I'm breaking the cardinal rule by posting without completely reading the OP and follow up messages...
Anyway, VB&P monoleaf is the way to go if you want to spend the money. Do your own research, but if I remember correctly the average cruiser guys were going 330-360 lb. Remember, mono leaf glass spring rates are not equally comparable to a steel springs rate.
On the flip side, if you want to do it cheap and easy, I have a new never installed mid-america 9 leaf replacement spring I'd sell for a good deal.
Ibanez RG540. Nice. I have owned many Ibanez guitars. RG550's were my favorites and I had a bunch of Jems and RG570's and some Prestige and Dave Bunker models. Anyway.... I am a guitar player too. I play lead guitar in an 80's Arena rock metal band.
I pulled my original leaf apart. Its incredible how rough the individual leafs are cut on one of these springs. There are 10 leafs in total. Most of them are rough cut. Almost looks like an amateur made these with his eyes partially closed. I was expecting nice machine cut leafs. Nope.... PM me and let me know how much you want for the 9 leaf Mid America spring. Thanks bro. John
Ibanez RG540. Nice. I have owned many Ibanez guitars. RG550's were my favorites and I had a bunch of Jems and RG570's and some Prestige and Dave Bunker models. Anyway.... I am a guitar player too. I play lead guitar in an 80's Arena rock metal band.
I pulled my original leaf apart. Its incredible how rough the individual leafs are cut on one of these springs. There are 10 leafs in total. Most of them are rough cut. Almost looks like an amateur made these with his eyes partially closed. I was expecting nice machine cut leafs. Nope.... PM me and let me know how much you want for the 9 leaf Mid America spring. Thanks bro. John
Not an RG540, a 540R (believe stands for Radius) it's more rounded and contoured then the pointy RG's. I barely play anymore but was the first username I had back in the late 90's and have used it ever since. Miss the band days...
I took my stock original spring apart (its 10 leafs btw...) and tried cleaning it up. What I found on some of the leafs was some fairly significant rust. It didn't eat into the individual leafs that much but it did a little. Also... the cups at the end of the longest leaf are really in poor condition and will never clean up enough to look good. On top of that... I need to replace all 4 bolts (they are all rusty and look horrible) that attached the spring to the differential and the main bolt that holds the entire spring together is shot. I think I am better off to ditch this spring even though it had my car sitting perfectly. I don't think its going to last. I don't want to go with a stock multi-leaf spring only because of cosmetics. I like the way the composite looks better. Now I just need to get up enough money to buy one!
If you aren't concerned with originality, I would go with the composite spring. I put one on from VBP many years ago and it is still the single best upgrade I have made to the car. And I've been through four engines and three transmissions in that time. (Can't seem to leave well enough alone.) Still got that spring though.
Another Rear Spring Question..
but was the first username I had back in the late 90's and have used it ever since. Miss the band days...
