RPO 684 Rear Spring

[Ken H.]

Hey Folks,

I am restoring my '58 RPO 684 car and have one corrrect rear HD 5 leaf spring and the other is from god knows where (I was wondering why my car sat funny in the back). Does anybody have or know where I can pick up a correct rear spring? I am also looking for a single offset front shock clamshell for Driver's side (again, mismatched set) and a rear brake scoop for the driver side (this one was broken off).

Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place - I looked for a parts section and didn't see anything.

Thanks!!!!

PS - I have pics of all my stuff as I have taken the car down to the frame and am now building it back up. I will post a photobucket link this week in case anyone is interested.

[Justin B.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

I have a 1958 RPO 684 car. Its an early one...#1327, how about yours? The good news is that you are very lucky to have at least one of the three rare parts (leaf springs, front offset shock retainer, and rear brake scoop) but the the bad news is that all big brake parts are hard to find. The early 684 versus 687 parts seem to be even harder. I personally have never seen any offset shock retainers for sale (except this week on ebay), only one set of rear scoops, and only 2 sets of rear leaf springs. Fortunetely for me my car had most of its original big brake equipment still intact.
You have a big money car so plan on paying really big money if and when the parts come available. I learned that people who have big brake parts normally don't sell their parts but do like to trade for other big brake parts so try to buy all the big brake parts you can (even if you don't need it) for trading material.
What other parts does your car have on it? Shocks, shoes, wheel cylinders, drums, front scoops, duct work, backing plates, etc??

[Bill M.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

Ken:

Is your wrong spring a 5-leaf with 6 anti-splay clips?

Bill

[Ken H.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

Ken:

Is your wrong spring a 5-leaf with 6 anti-splay clips?

Bill

Bill,

I think that describes the right spring - I have a 5 leaf with 6 clips with a rivet on the bottom. The part number (forget it off hand) is correct for an HD spring and is dated 1/31/08.

The incorrect one is a 4 leaf with 4 bands and a part # that is not a corvette #.

Thanks!!

Ken

[Bill M.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

Bill,

I think that describes the right spring - I have a 5 leaf with 6 clips with a rivet on the bottom. The part number (forget it off hand) is correct for an HD spring and is dated 1/31/08.

The incorrect one is a 4 leaf with 4 bands and a part # that is not a corvette #.

Thanks!!

Ken

Ken:

I was asking because I have a set of 5-leaf that are from service. They aren't correct for your car because the leaves aren't grooved, but I thought you might have the same design. Guess not. Good luck!

Bill

[Ken H.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

I have a 1958 RPO 684 car. Its an early one...#1327, how about yours? The good news is that you are very lucky to have at least one of the three rare parts (leaf springs, front offset shock retainer, and rear brake scoop) but the the bad news is that all big brake parts are hard to find. The early 684 versus 687 parts seem to be even harder. I personally have never seen any offset shock retainers for sale (except this week on ebay), only one set of rear scoops, and only 2 sets of rear leaf springs. Fortunetely for me my car had most of its original big brake equipment still intact.
You have a big money car so plan on paying really big money if and when the parts come available. I learned that people who have big brake parts normally don't sell their parts but do like to trade for other big brake parts so try to buy all the big brake parts you can (even if you don't need it) for trading material.
What other parts does your car have on it? Shocks, shoes, wheel cylinders, drums, front scoops, duct work, backing plates, etc??

Justin,

I don't recall the vin off hand, but it is a mid-March car. I have a set of 59 or 60 drums, a set of 57 or 58 drums, a set of NOS rear wheel cylinders, the pass side rear scoop, a pass side clamshell (not sure if side specific because of the offset), 2 HD swaybars, 2 sets of eccentric brake pins, 1 rear spring, most of the air ducting (except for tusks) and a set of HD front springs. I am missing everything else that is an original GM part, but have repops for some of the other things.

I am aware of how expensive these parts can be - hopefully horse trading will be the way to go. I just need to find someone that is willing to trade.

Anyway, the car is documented back to 1982 and I have spoken with the owner back to 1976. I know the car was in Oregon before that, but have not researched it further just yet. I bought it a few years ago on the west coast.

Anyway, take care and thanks for responding!!

Ken

[Ken H.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

Ken:

I was asking because I have a set of 5-leaf that are from service. They aren't correct for your car because the leaves aren't grooved, but I thought you might have the same design. Guess not. Good luck!

Bill

Bill,

The one that I have is grooved and is dated about 45 days before the car was built, so I believe it to be original. The bands look different than what I saw a drawing of in Noland's C1 book, but have been told by a knowledgeable friend that the bands are original. Basically they have a rivet on the bottom (centered on the band) and then the band is wrapped around the springs with the two end "meeting" (but not overlapping) in the middle of the spring on the top side. I would say the bands are about 1/8" steel. I have a bunch of pics I want to add to my photobucket site (and was trying to add last night but without success) and will be sure to get them up sometime this week.

Anyway, I think my problem is I don't know if I am going to be able to find a correct mate for it.

Thanks again!!

Ken

[Steven B.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

Ken, if no luck getting a response try advertising in The Driveline and Hemmings.

Good Luck!

Steve

[Ken H.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring/RPO pics so far

Thanks Steve - Will Do!!!

Here is the link to my photobucket - a bunch of misc. pics of stuff but I have labelled a lot of the RPO parts. I still have some things like the offset clamshell (I only have one), the HD sway bar, the rear air scoop, etc.) but wanted to show what I have and what is being done. Please let me know if you can't access the photos as I am new to posting stuff this way.

Also, I have a pic of the pad stamp on my block - please let me know what you think. The broach marks look good to me (they extend all the way accross the deck on both cylinder banks) but am interested in your opinions.

Thanks,

Ken

http://s365.photobucket.com/albums/oo91/Remotecontroller1/

[Justin B.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

When was your car built?

[Ken H.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

Not sure of exact date, but March 21st is what I have been told is approx build date.

Can you see the pics ok based on that link?

Thanks,

Ken

[Justin B.]

Re: RPO 684 Rear Spring

Yes, the pics look good. Do you have any pics of the front air duct work? What color was the car originally?