69 F41

[Ken A.]

Twenty years ago when I was autocrossing my 69, I put in F-41 front springs. I have always thought that it sat a little high, but chalked it up to the heavier springs. I have since heard that there is more than one F-41 spring. Today when I was crawling around under it, I noticed that the parts tag was still on the spring, so I thought maybe someone can tell me if what I have is the correct spring for a 69 SB. The tag #3832518. Thanks for the help.
Ken

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 F41

Ken------

Yes, that is the F-40/F-41 front spring that was used for all 1963-72 Corvettes so-equipped. It was the ONLY front spring that was ever used for F-40/F-41. No other spring was ever used. However, this and other springs were used for 1974-82 with FE-7 HD suspension.

[Tom R.]

Re: FE7 Front Springs

Joe:

From the judging field perspective, documenting later model C3 FE7 setups, I've seen several front springs installed including the 362150 and 362151 but typically this is 78 and up (until 80-82).

In my FE7 notes for earlier C3s, I show the 340519 front spring used but not the 3832518...only used on F41 and Z07 suspensions. I show the 340519 as the spring of choice from 74-77 for FE7s. I believe I had gotten this from archive searches but your insights appreciated.

[Mark #28455]

ride height

The last available factory F41 springs may have had a lower ride height than the original springs. The original springs were a little lower than base springs, but the F41 springs I added to my 1970 BB sit about an inch lower than my L89 F41 car. I have also heard similar comments from other sources. I am currently looking into producing a repro of the original F41 spring with the original ride height.
Mark

[Jim T.]

Re: ride height

Mark I installed the 518 front springs in my original owner 70 back in the early 80's. One of the reasons I purchased and installed the 518 springs was for making my 70 sit just a bit higher in the front. I did not measure the height before I removed the factory installed springs. The factory springs were a lot taller in free height compared the the larger diameter 518 spring, however with the 518's installed in the car the riding height was just about the same that I had with the original factory installed springs. I do like the performance of the 518 springs. My 70 is a 350/300 and has factory air, power steering, and power brakes.

[Mark #28455]

agree, the small block will sit a little higher

than the big block. In my case, I can park the cars side by side (both BB engines) and the 1990's vintage springs sit almost a full inch lower than the 1969 springs (and the 1990's ones were brand new so it's not sagging). The spring rate on these F41 springs is supposed to be about 550 LBS per inch so BB vs SB will make a difference, but BB vs BB should be a wash. The free lenght of the later springs was just over 12" but the free length of several vintage springs I have looked at was closer to 12 1/2". I currently have two different springs made up with the correct wire diameter and size and a free length of 12 1/2" and 12 1/4" with the correct number of turns and spring rate, I just need a little free time to swap them into the car to see how they compare to the original ride height.

Mark