c2 spring ID 427?

[Bill S.]

i replaced the front springs on my 66 L72 2 yrs ago because i thought it should sit a little higher. especially here in vermont where i live off a very rough dirt road. i was looking at them and started to wonder if they were the originals. i count about 12 coils they are greish blue with an EB tag. the car has about 60K and i assumed the tags were added. any thoughts?

[Bill M.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

i replaced the front springs on my 66 L72 2 yrs ago because i thought it should sit a little higher. especially here in vermont where i live off a very rough dirt road. i was looking at them and started to wonder if they were the originals. i count about 12 coils they are greish blue with an EB tag. the car has about 60K and i assumed the tags were added. any thoughts?

Bill:

Measure the wire diameter. The standard 427 spring was 0.600 wire, the A/C 427 spring was 0.573 wire. Is the space between the coils uniform or are some closer than others?

Bill

[Bill S.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

they are all evenly spaced. i do not have a micrometer right now. one of my techs does so i can measure later today. i can email a picture to you. i have not figured out how to post a pic.

[Rich P.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

William,

if you car has F-41 the front will sit low, about an 1" lower than non f-41. Do you have a 7 or 9 leaf rear spring?

Rich

[Rich P.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

Will,

I just checked and EB is correct for 65-67 396/427 with standard suspension. So those are the original springs.

Rich

[Bill S.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

first i do not have 2 L2 cars. one with F21 and one with out to compare. second the springs are not now in my car. you can add tags to any springs so that is not a method of IDing the part. i would have thought it could be done by coil count as i would assume all F41 427 springs would be the same in apperance. i have never come across a description of one. i am hoping here that some one that has experiance with the F41 BB springs could shed some light on this.

[Rich P.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

Will,

maybe someone can help you with measurements which I don't have. But I have a few things to maybe help you along. First if you could post a picture of the spring it would help. The F-41 Spring is VERY SHORT compared to a regular BB spring. and can be Identified by a visual inspection.
Also did you install the new springs? If you did the F-41 spring almost drops into place. You don't need a spring compressr to install them. Now compared to a regular BB spring that does need a spring compressor to install.

Hope some of this helps, Rich

[Duke W.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

first i do not have 2 L2 cars. one with F21 and one with out to compare. second the springs are not now in my car. you can add tags to any springs so that is not a method of IDing the part. i would have thought it could be done by coil count as i would assume all F41 427 springs would be the same in apperance. i have never come across a description of one. i am hoping here that some one that has experiance with the F41 BB springs could shed some light on this.

Dimensions and other suspension spring technical details are listed in the AMA specs.

Search "restoration package" in the archives.

Duke

[Bill M.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

they are all evenly spaced. i do not have a micrometer right now. one of my techs does so i can measure later today.

The 3888251 spring has evenly spaced coils. it has a wire diameter of 0.573 and is 17.15 long. Mine have 9 turns.

If it's much shorter than 17.15, it may be the F41 spring.

[Bill S.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

they have 12 turns from what i counted and measure around 17" are yours F41 springs? i think thats what you are telling me. i saw a set when i went to the archives and they were said to be from a SB and seemed just like mine. are F41 and reg SB springs visually different enough to show in a picture?

[John H.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

they have 12 turns from what i counted and measure around 17" are yours F41 springs? i think thats what you are telling me. i saw a set when i went to the archives and they were said to be from a SB and seemed just like mine. are F41 and reg SB springs visually different enough to show in a picture?

Bill -

The photo below shows the standard variable-rate, progressively-wound small-block spring (#3851100) on the left (note changing gap between coils), and a typical constant-rate F41 BB spring on the right.

[Bill S.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

thank you, i see the SB spring has 10 coils mine has 12 and the spacing on mine seems to be consistant. my car lost it's original 427 in 72. these were probably changed at that point as the car must have sat higher with out the weight of the BB. does that sound right? i do not want to sell them only to find out they were the originals. there is no question that my car was a L72 car but i do not know if it had the F41 option. it does have the FB 4:11 rear.

[Bill S.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

is there any chance of my springs i took off being non F41 BB springs? given the 12 coils verses 10?

[Bill M.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

thank you, i see the SB spring has 10 coils mine has 12 and the spacing on mine seems to be consistant. my car lost it's original 427 in 72. these were probably changed at that point as the car must have sat higher with out the weight of the BB. does that sound right? i do not want to sell them only to find out they were the originals. there is no question that my car was a L72 car but i do not know if it had the F41 option. it does have the FB 4:11 rear.

The constant-spacing standard-suspension 427 spring is 17.35 in. long and has 9 turns. This is part no. 3888251

The spring on the left of John's photo is 16.88 in. long. You can see that the constant-spacing heavy-suspension spring next to it is in John's photo is much shorter. HD spring is part. no. 3832518.

Your springs are not original to your '66.

[Ridge K.]

Re: c2 spring ID 427?

My '67 bigblock, standard suspension, has nine "coils" or turns.