sammyb

As many of you know, my '69 has absolutely no tank sticker, paperwork etc. We were able to determine that it was a 427/435hp car, and actually probably was originally a TH-400 car as well.

But what would one look for to identify if the car was equipped with the F41 special front and rear suspension or with the J56 Special HD Brakes?

Many of the original parts have been replaced, but I'm hoping that there might be some parts still there if these options were equipped.

Thanks,
Sam

RHD '68 L89

From memory,
For the F41 suspension on a '68 which "should" be the same as '69 the easiest check is the rear spring has 7 leaves as opposed to the stock spring with 9 leaves.
If there are labels still on the front springs (mine still had them in '85 when I bought the Vette) they will have the part number on them 3832518. Stock is 3931825.
Shocks had a different 2 letter code on them. Cant help with the letter codes but part numbers are 3192868 stock, 3171488 F41 for the front and 3192869 stock 3171489 F41 for the rears.
These details are in the Assembly Instruction Manual.
Good luck.
James
:cheers:

Paul L

All 1968 and 1969 BB Corvettes, and all SB-equipped cars with optional F-41 suspension use a 15/16" front sway bar. All small blocks not equipped with F-41 use a 3/4" bar. All 1968 and 1969 Corvettes equipped with standard suspension use a nine-leaf rear spring. Cars equipped with F-41 use a seven-leaf spring and have a 9/16" rear sway bar. Hope that helps.

Wrencher

Also, someone pointed out that the rear (and maybe the front?) shocks were silver with no upper housing, just the exposed ram. My shocks had been replaced, but other than that, everything is as stated above on mine. Another way to tell is the god awful stiff ride (which I really don't mind) and great handling, at least on a smooth road!

Hans

Barry's70LT1

F41 front springs have equal spacing of the coils for the length of the spring.
Also, (Springs not installed), the F41 spring is about 2" shorter than a non F41.

Non F41 springs have the upper part of the coil spring with coils much closer together than the lower part.