71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

[Christopher K.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

Bill,

When I bought my '72 Lt-1 in 1984 it had a 7 leaf spring on it. There is no reference to any special suspension on my build sheet. I suspect it was replaced by a previous owner as Ron has said.

[Dick W.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

It would be interesting to see what color is on the springs.

[Mike G.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

It would be interesting to see what color is on the springs.

mine was rust colored.

[Dick W.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

mine was rust colored.

I wasn't clear with my post, I should have said when disassembled. The ionaclad (sp) was used on original springs and would most likely still have show gray on the leaf

[Mike G.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

i was able to see two 71 zr2 corvettes being judged. both real nice cars. i thought both should have had f-41 7 leaf rear springs, both had standard 9 leaf springs. could you get a zr2 or ls6 corvette in 71 without the heavy duty rear spring?

[Mike E.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

#21653 (30k miles) is equipped with 3.36 and M20--I've never pulled the tank sticker.

M21 and 3:70 were the standard configuration. Great question. This part of the tank sticker is legible and I will have to take another look.

VIN is in the 13k range built on March 31st.

[Terry M.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

i was able to see two 71 zr2 corvettes being judged. both real nice cars. i thought both should have had f-41 7 leaf rear springs, both had standard 9 leaf springs. could you get a zr2 or ls6 corvette in 71 without the heavy duty rear spring?

ZR1 & ZR2 should have had 7 leaf spring. Those things (including the F41 shocks) will rattle the fillings out of your teeth.

[Joe L.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

i was able to see two 71 zr2 corvettes being judged. both real nice cars. i thought both should have had f-41 7 leaf rear springs, both had standard 9 leaf springs. could you get a zr2 or ls6 corvette in 71 without the heavy duty rear spring?

Mike-----


ZR-1 and ZR-2 were performance packages rather than an engine option. As such, they included all of the components of the performance package among which was the F-41 suspension. An engine option (like L-88, for example) also required certain other options, including F-41 but those were not included with the engine option.

So, why did the ZR-2 cars you saw not have the 7 leaf spring? I can see only 3 possible reasons:

1) Someone changed the spring at some point, possibly as a partial solution to a too rough riding car. The original owner might have thought it was OK but that does not mean that a subsequent owner would have felt the same way about it;

2) The factory made a mistake;

3) The cars were not original ZR-2's.

[Dick W.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

Mike-----


ZR-1 and ZR-2 were performance packages rather than an engine option. As such, they included all of the components of the performance package among which was the F-41 suspension. An engine option (like L-88, for example) also required certain other options, including F-41 but those were not included with the engine option.

So, why did the ZR-2 cars you saw not have the 7 leaf spring? I can see only 3 possible reasons:

1) Someone changed the spring at some point, possibly as a partial solution to a too rough riding car. The original owner might have thought it was OK but that does not mean that a subsequent owner would have felt the same way about it;

2) The factory made a mistake;

3) The cars were not original ZR-2's.

# 1 and # 2 would have made a very miserable handling car. Would exhibit extreme oversteer.

[Joe L.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

# 1 and # 2 would have made a very miserable handling car. Would exhibit extreme oversteer.

Dick-------


In the case of someone having changed it, it's possible they would have changed the entire suspension package (front springs, rear spring, shocks, and sway bar).

[Dick W.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

Dick-------


In the case of someone having changed it, it's possible they would have changed the entire suspension package (front springs, rear spring, shocks, and sway bar).

I would think that option # 3 would be more likely that changing all that.

[Joe L.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

I would think that option # 3 would be more likely that changing all that.

Dick------


Definitely the most likely.

[Ron G.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

Guys,

I recall buying a leaf spring over the counter from Partyka Chevrolet in Hamden, CT in the early eighties and it was a 10 leaf with metal liners. As far as the finsish is concerned, that spring and all originals at least from 1965 thru late 70's and early 80's was coated with 200 L weld thru primer from the Inoclad company which I believe is or was in Arkansaw. I actually purchased this paint and am still in possession of it, but do not know how good it is after all these years.

[Mike G.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

Dick------


Definitely the most likely.

number 3 is what came to mind. of course i was not in a position to say that but it was what we were thinking. i was not judging the springs but it sort of jumped out at me. thats the kind of car you want to crawl around for a while and check it out. both were real nice cars and were at different shows.

[Joe L.]

Re: 71 LT 1 with 7 Leaf Spring?

Guys,

I recall buying a leaf spring over the counter from Partyka Chevrolet in Hamden, CT in the early eighties and it was a 10 leaf with metal liners. As far as the finsish is concerned, that spring and all originals at least from 1965 thru late 70's and early 80's was coated with 200 L weld thru primer from the Inoclad company which I believe is or was in Arkansaw. I actually purchased this paint and am still in possession of it, but do not know how good it is after all these years.

Ron------


Yes, the original 9 leaf spring used for most 1964-74 Corvettes was superceded several times for SERVICE. Many of the supercessive part numbers were 10 leaf springs.

Ionoklad coating was available until fairly recently from Quanta Products. They purchased in bulk from the original manufacturer and re-packaged in pint size cans for retail sale. I understand that Quanta no longer carries this because the Ionoklad coating is now obsolete and out-of-production. I still have some, too, but I don't know if it's still any good, either, since I did open the can and use some.