Could anyone recommend a place to get a quality reproduction of a standard rear leaf for my 69? I checked the archives looking for Eaton and it seems that thier main leaf is correct but the other 8 leafs are not. I was thinking of Paragon because I am getting ready to place an order with them anyways so I was wondering if anyone could comment on the correctness of thier rear leaf. Thanks.
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no correct repro
As far as I know, there is currently no "NCRS Correct" repro spring available. If you still have your original spring and it's not too corroded you may want to try replacing the spring liners and end bolt cushions as this seems to do the trick for most people. If you no longer have the spring, you should look for a good used spring. There was an excellent article in the "Corvette Restorer" maybe a year or two ago that detailed the evolution of the rear spring from 1963 through 1982 - so you can get a "correct" one.
Good luck,
Mark -
Re: no correct repro
I researched this ad naseum...Eaton won out. They are very good to deal with. Quanta sells the rear leaf spring grey paint. Eaton will chemically strip the spring prior to shipping--free. I took mine apart and further cleaned it with a wheel prior to painting. Remember to remove the shipping clips before installation.Comment
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Re: no correct repro
Well thanks guys. I'll check the Restorer for that article and maybe look for a good used one. Problem is that my original spring looks fine now that it is removed from the car....is there any way to check that a used spring will be any better? Maybe I should just take mine apart and check each leaf for corrosion so that I can see what I am really dealing with for now.Comment
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Re: no correct repro
If you take your spring apart and it is physically in good condition and not badly scaled with rust, I would try to use it over. You may consider only replacing the biggest spring leaf with a new one. Just cleaning the spring, painting it, and replacing the liners and gromets with have a profound affect on ride hight. Eaton does do a nice spring. Just my opinion. TerryComment
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Re: 69 rear leaf source
Greg:
Over the past couple years, Gary Beaupre has written two or three excellent articles in the Restorer on the rear spring. Dennis Dalton wrote a followup article in the Spring 2005 issue. I suggest that you read all of these before you decide how to proceed. There are a lot of things to consider.
I spent a lot of time trying to decide how to proceed with my spring. Basically, the "safety" argument is to use a new Eaton spring (with the Quanta paint), while the "originality" argument is to restore an old one. The difference is probably only one point (at most) in NCRS flight judging. The articles by Gary and Dennis describe various approaches that can be considered.
If I had an original spring in good condition, I would be inclined to have Eaton rebuild it as described in Dennis' article. This involves a new main leaf combined with correct re-arching and shot peening of the other leaves.
In the end, I decided to use most of a new Eaton spring, although I modified the ends to look more like the original. I also used original leaves for the top three positions (the second stage of the two-stage spring).
The reason I used original leaves for the top three positions is because the Eaton leaves are thicker than the originals, and the total stack up is about 0.4 inches thicker than the original spring. I was worried about reducing the bite that the four mounting bolts get in the differential housing. Using the three original leaves for the second stage reduced the difference to about 0.28 inches, at no cost to the ride height.Comment
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