1963 Front Coil Spring

[Gerald C.]

It appears that my spring is hitting the chassis and making a "grinding" noice when I go over bumps. In taking a closer look, there is a large piece of crooked rubber on the top of the spring. Could this be making the spring "out of alignment" in the A frame cavity? If so, will spring compressors work enough so I can get that piece of rubber out? Or do I need to take the spring out as the bigger job develops. Should this do the trick for the alignment issue or do I have bigger issues to deal with. The car sits up pretty level and handles well. (I have no idea why it's there in the first place!)

Thanks,

Jerry

[Tracy C.]

Re: 1963 Front Coil Spring

Hi Jerry,

Th3 63 OEM spring is notorious for low ride height. Many had spacers installed to bring up the front end. My guess is this is what you are looking at.

The only way I would try to remove this is to completely remove the spring. There is a great article by Rob M. in the summer 08 restorer magazine that describes how to remove the front coils using 1/2" all thread. You will need to remove the front shocks and find some large washers and nuts to work with the all thread.

Good Luck,
tc

[Gerald C.]

Re: 1963 Front Coil Spring

Tracy,

Thanks for the advice. What would cause the spring to rub against the chassis? Would the car have been hit hard in the front and the chassis wasn't aligned properly after the repair?

Thanks,

Jerry

[Dale S.]

Re: 1963 Front Coil Spring

Gerald, I dont know, my rubber spacer never came out. I think your question on the front coil spring hitting the frame needs to be addressed by a alignment shop. Dale

[Wayne W.]

Re: 1963 Front Coil Spring

There are cases of frame damage causing springs to hit, however it is unusual. The most likely cause is the spring is not installed correctly and is not up into the socket as it should be. When the spring is up in the socket correctly, you will see that the spring is bowed out in the middle giving it a noticeable curve.