Questions about a 1965 rear leaf spring

[Joseph E.]

Hello,

I acquired an original 9 leaf rear spring for the 1965 corvette that I'm in the midst of working on. I measured this distance between the arched ends of the first leaf and the surface of this same leaf that faces downward and I came up with 10 7/8 inches. Is this spring a good candidate to restore and will it provide the proper ride height when fully assembled? There is a light amount of surface rust on the individual leaves but they should clean up nicely with just a wire wheel. The liners are worn. How far past the end of the individual leaf should the liner extend when in an non weighted and arched attitude? Would it be better to leave the liners long and wait until the spring is at ride height in the suspension to set the liner length? If so, how much of the liner should extend past the end of the individual leaf? Thank you in advance for any responses.

Joe

[Leif A.]

Re: Questions about a 1965 rear leaf spring

Joe,
See post #4 from Jeff Smith in this thread from CF.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c1-and-c2-corvettes/4799150-rear-leaf-spring-question-s.html

[James W.]

Re: Questions about a 1965 rear leaf spring

I recently rebuilt my rear suspension on my '65. I can't give you any info on the "as-found" spring arch dimensions for the spring as the rear ride height on my car was excellent before I took it apart. Note: After removing the spring and before I took the spring apart, I used a small center punch and made a very small dimple in the very center of each leaf on the forward facing edge so I knew what orientation the spring leaves should be in when reassembling the spring. These dimples are hidden once the spring is reinstalled. I disassemble the spring and lightly media blasted each leaf. I then painted each of them with a gray cold galvanizing primer.

As for the liner lengths, I bought and installed the pre-cut liner kit from either Quanta or ZIP. I installed the liners and did not cut the ends until I had the spring reinstalled on the car and the car back on the ground setting curb height. I then trimmed them about 3/8 of an inch from the end of each spring leaf. I have a 4-post lift so this was easy to do. If the original liners are still in place on the spring you bought, use them as pattern to cut the new liners to the desired length.

If the spring you purchased still has the center bolt with the "W" on the head, reuse it. I found that some of the aftermarket rear leaf spring center bolts are way too long and the head is too tall to properly fit in the differential cover depression without needing to be ground or machined down to approximately 1/4 inch with a total bolt length of approximately 3 inches.

If you have any questions feel free to ask here or send me an email or private message, I'd be happy to help you.

James

[Joseph E.]

Re: Questions about a 1965 rear leaf spring

Hello,

Thank you for the photos of your spring and the information provided. The spring that I have does have the correct "W" marked center bolt with the short head and the same un-threaded shoulder that is seen in your photo. Also, the free arch in your assembled spring looks just like the free arch that is in the spring that I have. The visual similarity of this arch gives me hope that my spring will sit much like the spring in your car once I have it restored and installed. I appreciate the help.

[Thomas N.]

Re: Questions about a 1965 rear leaf spring

Joseph
Please see enclosed writeup on a 67 rear spring and its restoration.

67 Rear Spring Restoration.pdf