Front spring restoration

[Kurt G.]

I'm in the process of restoring the front suspension of my 72 coupe. With regard to the coil springs, the springs have mild to moderate rust on them from 35+ years of life in the Chicago area. I've done a search and have not found any archival posts that address the best way to remove the rust and restore the finish to as close as possible to the original rolled steel appearance. Is media blasting with aluminum oxide media a good way to remove the rust and get close to the original finish/color, or is there another/better way to do it. I understand there was a post some time ago that listed the steps used by one of the members to restore his springs to almost like new appearance, but I'll be hanged if I can find it.

Welcome your suggestions.

[Patrick B.]

Re: Front spring restoration

I took mine to a commercial rust removing business called Chem-Strip. But, I'll bet I could have done it myself simply dipping them in the Phosphoric acid sold at the paint dept of Home Depot for $15 a gallon. I painted them with Seymour stainless steel paint keep them looking decent but that is not really like the heat treated steel look l suppose judges look for. Of course the springs on a new car were probably covered by light rust by the time the car was delivered.

[Dick W.]

Re: Front spring restoration

Gun cold blueing gets you close in color

[Edward J.]

Re: Front spring restoration

I did my 72 front spring and painted them black , If I did it over again, I would just leave them natural and spray some satin clear over them since this would be as close as you'll ever get. I preped alot of C3 corvettes in my days at the Chevrolet dealership and I believe they were just plain old grayish color.

[Paul O.]

Re: Front spring restoration

Kurt

Look at your judging sheets both front springs are 2 points for originality and 2 for condition. So each spring is 1 point if we use the 25% per area (can not use date) it is worth 1/4 of a point each area so the only problem is not typical Finish if painted or a total of 1/2 a point. I personal would take the minor deduction but as always it is the owners choice or go with Dick recommendation it would most likely be very close and remember minor surface rust is a no deduct for me. Because that started as soon as the part was made.