Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

[Debi L.]

I am doing a frame off on my 65 SB 327 standard suspension and want to get input on what replacement spring will pass judging. I have searched the site but most entries go back several years. I'm sure those that were discussed as NOS have been sold by now as I have investigated several already. So if anyone has any recent information I'm all ears. Thanks for the support and help with my project.

[Mike E.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

Debi,
Unless the originals are very rusty and pitted consider media blasting and reusing. You can't get more correct than originals. Mine looked terrible but cleaned up pretty decent.









Mike

[Bill W.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

Mike The 65 manual says the springs had a rust inhibitor and had a black appearance . What is being used ? Also on my 65 the complete spindle was orange up to about 1/4 inch of the machined surface .

[Gene M.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

Mike The 65 manual says the springs had a rust inhibitor and had a black appearance . What is being used ? Also on my 65 the complete spindle was orange up to about 1/4 inch of the machined surface .

I think you will find that the springs had nothing on them just bare spring. Any color was due to coil winding fabrication or black out on the early drum brake cars.

[Jeff P.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

While on this subject I'm restoring a 68 L 79 convertible with air. Is there a way to find out correct length not compressed ? I was going to call Eaton spring for a correct replacement. I had my rear spring re arched, and was told no way you could do this to the front coils. I would rather use the originals over. Thanks in advance. Jeff

[Gene M.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

While on this subject I'm restoring a 68 L 79 convertible with air. Is there a way to find out correct length not compressed ? I was going to call Eaton spring for a correct replacement. I had my rear spring re arched, and was told no way you could do this to the front coils. I would rather use the originals over. Thanks in advance. Jeff

Jeff,
Did the car sit ok prior to disassembly? If so than restore original springs. I hate using replacement springs and not know how the car will sit till all done only to find out they are NG. NOS real GM springs have yield good results. Good used one's are another source I've had favorable results with.

[Mike E.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

Mike The 65 manual says the springs had a rust inhibitor and had a black appearance . What is being used ? Also on my 65 the complete spindle was orange up to about 1/4 inch of the machined surface .

Bill,
The color you see in the photos above were shot about a year ago. The way that was got to that color was to media blast then bake the spring for about 30 minutes at 300 degrees then wipe it down with used oil. Then sprayed with Boeshield after it cooled. Since then the spring has taken on more of a slightly brownish (rust) color as you can see in the photo below taken this evening. I don't think the orange paint on my spindle is quite right either. I think it should have orange paint on both the top and bottom.




Debi,
The wire diameter of my spring is about .6" perhaps someone else could verify that is correct. You can count the number of coils from the other photo.

I'm reasonably sure these are the originals, there was remnants of the green broadcast tag still on one of them. I bought the car over 38 years ago and they were on it then.



Mike

[Mike E.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

I think you will find that the springs had nothing on them just bare spring. Any color was due to coil winding fabrication or black out on the early drum brake cars.

Gene,
I think that perhaps the extensive blackout coverage extended into the early disk brake years. As this photo shows. I was going to wait until the next revision of the Judging manual is released before applying any blackout. The current one still mentions "Mitting" a myth that has been pretty much disproven.



Mike

[Jeff P.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

Thank you Gene for the advise. It looked like it sat ok. The rear leaf was way off.

[Edward J.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

Mike I have seen a few 65 bowtie cars and the orange paint on front spindles were applied sloppily and pretty much covers about 3/4 of the spindle and the more runs in the paint the better. I have to admit that the your suspension looks great.

[Debi L.]

Re: Correct Front Springs for a 65 going for judging

Thank you all for advise and photos to go from. I will post photos when done with whatever I find.