Trip to Corvette Repair

[Don M.]

As we all are well aware, we as a club are learning more and more about our cars. Every year it gets harder and harder to retain our high score due to deteriorization or the fact that the judging teams know how to differentiate original from replacement , etc. My car is a 67 435hp car , and had always been a bit of a cheater. It was a real F41 car with non F41 shocks and the wrong rear leaf spring, I had a few paint issues, my jams were too shiney, and little things like my exhaust manifolds were looking a little used,etc. I talked to Kevin Mckay at Corvette Repair about bringing my car to him to bring it up to speed. We all know when we enter into restoration work it almost always takes way longer than we planned, and it is almost always a more expensive than we expected it to be. I have to tell you the work was done very quickly. The work looks fantastic and the bill was much less than I ever expected. We used an Americas Finest Corvettes Rear spring. I told Kevin I sure didn't want that jacked up rear end look that is so common. The car sits PERFECT, Americas Finest states that they retain the original ride height. It sure does! I kept giving Kevin just a few more items to correct, he did them quickly and at a very fair price. I now know why he has such a good reputation. I hate to get on my soapbox, but I was very satisfied. The car will be at the Florida Regional.

[Don H.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

Sounds like a great car, and one I would love to see in Florida if I can get there, but it might not be possible.
Any chance you could post a good photo here so we can see how good the work came out?
thanks

[Gary R.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

Anyone else have any comments on the rear spring? I have not used one from America's Finest so I can't comment but every steel spring I've used required 8" bolts to bring the car down. It would be nice to hear someone has it correct now. I used USA,Mexican,and Canadian without any luck.

[John H.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

Anyone else have any comments on the rear spring? I have not used one from America's Finest so I can't comment but every steel spring I've used required 8" bolts to bring the car down. It would be nice to hear someone has it correct now. I used USA,Mexican,and Canadian without any luck.

Gary -

I have an Eaton 9-leaf spring on my '67; it started out about 3/4" high, and after about 100 miles it settled right down at normal ride height.

[Gary R.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

Thanks John,
I believe the USA one I tried was an Eaton, could be wrong, but I had to use the 8" bolts with that as well. Now if Eaton is making them as stock, with the curled ends and has been, then mine may not be an Eaton. I was only told at the time it was USA made, I wasn't aware of many USA companies making them.

[John H.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

Now if Eaton is making them as stock, with the curled ends and has been, then mine may not be an Eaton.

Gary -

The Eaton spring has the curled ends on the leaves.

[Gary B.]

Eaton 9-leaf spring

Gary,

I would agree that the Eaton 9-leaf spring has upturned ends, but I would quibble a bit about calling them curled or curved or "taper rolled" as I think the original treatment is called. More like bent upward. At present I believes it's the best reproduction 9-leaf spring out there.

But based on the Eaton 9-leaf I examined a few years ago it was detectably different, cosmetically, in terms of the upturned ends. In terms of ride height, I've heard stories like John's that the Eaton 9-leaf is spot on, after settling down with driving, but I've also heard some say it's not. It could be those latter complaints are based on trailer queens that never went thru the settling process with driving, since they were never driven.

There is a persistent rumor that Americas Finest Corvettes plans to release a 9-leaf spring, but that 9-leaf doesn't exist yet as far as I know.

Gary

[Steve B.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

Sounds like a great car, and one I would love to see in Florida if I can get there, but it might not be possible.
Any chance you could post a good photo here so we can see how good the work came out?
thanks

I know Kevin well and he does do fantastic work. I am with Don and would love to see some before and after pictures.

[Don M.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

Guys, I will find some time to take some pictures. I never thought about the fact that some of these cars that I've seen jacked up might have been trailer queens, and therefore never settled down. I'll try to take some pictures from the side so you can see the way the car sits. It looks great like it's supposed to look. Don

[Steven C.]

Re: Eaton 9-leaf spring

Gary,

I would agree that the Eaton 9-leaf spring has upturned ends, but I would quibble a bit about calling them curled or curved or "taper rolled" as I think the original treatment is called. More like bent upward. At present I believes it's the best reproduction 9-leaf spring out there.

But based on the Eaton 9-leaf I examined a few years ago it was detectably different, cosmetically, in terms of the upturned ends. In terms of ride height, I've heard stories like John's that the Eaton 9-leaf is spot on, after settling down with driving, but I've also heard some say it's not. It could be those latter complaints are based on trailer queens that never went thru the settling process with driving, since they were never driven.

There is a persistent rumor that Americas Finest Corvettes plans to release a 9-leaf spring, but that 9-leaf doesn't exist yet as far as I know.

Gary

Gary, I have an Eaton 7 leaf in my basement and yes the ends are turned but if someone feels they will get past a knowledgable judge with these springs they are mistaken. The curvature is excessive and easy to spot vs original.

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

The Eaton spring varies significantly in configuration from the original. I have 1 of each and an aftermarket spring purchased about 15 years ago. The current Eaton is exactly the same as the other aftermarket spring and appears the same as all other aftermarket springs I have seen. The America's Finest spring appears identical to the original. I have not installed the New Eaton so I can't speak to the ride height.
Jeff

[Ronald L.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

I can't see how a trailer queen car does not have at least 100 miles on it. If they intend to pass any functional evaluation they must drive the car to be sure something isn't loose, was not forgotten or worse.

[Gary B.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

Ron,

I'm just speculating as to who some respected authorities, like John Hinckley, would find the the Eaton spring is spot on and some would find otherwise.

Gary

[John H.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

Ron,

I'm just speculating as to who some respected authorities, like John Hinckley, would find the the Eaton spring is spot on and some would find otherwise.

Gary

Gary -

I found my Eaton to be spot-on in terms of correct ride height, but it's definitely not in terms of the plan view trim, taper, and curvature of the end of the top eight leaves (although it's better in that respect than any of the other 9-leaf reproduction springs currently out there). I think Mike Eaton could make it spot-on appearance-wise if he thought it was important; he'd need to make a trim die for the plan view taper, but they do the curvature by hand in a roll mill, and that's just a matter of technique.

[Gary B.]

Re: Trip to Corvette Repair

John,

I was only referring to ride height. I inspected an Eaton spring a few years ago and I know the end treatment on the upturned ends was not that close to correct.

Gary