67 rear leaf spring done - thoughts?

[Chris E.]

Need to do a little paint touch up, but it is pretty much done.

[Stephen L.]

Re: 67 rear leaf spring done - thoughts?

Recommend installing new insulating strips.
Yours appear to be a little ragged.........

If some of yours are in good shape but could be used in a "shorter location" then just purchase the long ones and cut the old ones for the short locations.

I've attached a photo of my spring with new & used liners.......

[Ray G.]

Re: 67 rear leaf spring done - thoughts?

Hello Chris;

How about having the rubber bushing retainers pressed in and folded over properly?

Hope this helps.

Ray

[Gary B.]

'67 rear leaf spring liners

Stephen,

I suspect Chris' liners are new. I've seen NOS springs with ragged edges on a few of the liners. They just tend to get scraped up.

Chris, what's the build date of your car?

Gary

[Stephen L.]

Re: 67 rear leaf spring done - thoughts?

Gary, Most of my spring liners are original. I purchased 2 new ones and then used the other by cutting them off for the shorter requirements. As you can see, they aren't ragged. Once installed on the car the edges should remain intact, as there is typically nothing to wear on the edges.

Chris, I used a large ball peen hammer to spread the rubber cup holders onto the spring. Just place the ball in the hole and strike with a mall hammer. Support the other side of the cup when doing this

[Gary B.]

Crimping retainer cups on '63-'80 rear springs

Chris,

Although a ball peen hammer will work, I've made a new tool which will do the crimping in a simple and controlled way. The tooling will be shown in an article to appear in the next issue of the Restorer. I loan out the tooling for up to 2-weeks, but basically I ask the lender to pay my postage & insurance costs and a nominal charge for depreciation.

Gary

[Chris E.]

Re: 67 rear leaf spring done - thoughts?

Recommend installing new insulating strips.
Yours appear to be a little ragged.........

Stephen,
I took the pictures showing the "bad" side. That will face forward when installed. The other side of the insulating strips are better. Thanks for the advice.
Chris

[Chris E.]

Re: 67 rear leaf spring done - thoughts?

Hello Chris;

How about having the rubber bushing retainers pressed in and folded over properly?

Hope this helps.

Ray

Ray, haven't gotten there yet. Also, what finish are the retainers, cad or zinc or phos? (don't have my TIM/JG in front of me)

[Chris E.]

Re: '67 rear leaf spring liners

Stephen,

I suspect Chris' liners are new. I've seen NOS springs with ragged edges on a few of the liners. They just tend to get scraped up.

Chris, what's the build date of your car?

Gary

Gary, the spring is from 1988, as are the liners. (they came together as a complete unit)

Build date of the car is early, Sept 66. (VIN100183)

[Gary B.]

'67 retainers

Chris,

The retainers were natural steel; unplated and unpainted. Do you know if your car came with the early style (shallow sloped lip) retainers or the current style (steeply sloped lip)? The change-over happened during the first part of the '67 model year, with some early '67s, like yours, using the old style or a mix of old and new style.

As an aside, the current GM service replacement retainer now appears to be nickel plated, and too bright to pass for original. It's an easy matter to strip off the plating with diluted muriatic acid and then smooth out the finish using 0000 steel wool to match the original, bare steel look.

If you want to know more about the geometry difference between the old and new style of retainers, see my article in the Restorer from 3, 4 or 5 (time flies) years ago. I don't recall the issue exactly, but you could e-mail me at garybeaupre@comcast.net and then I can send you a PDF of the article.

Gary

[Patrick H.]

Re: 67 rear leaf spring done - thoughts?

Stephen,
I took the pictures showing the "bad" side. That will face forward when installed. The other side of the insulating strips are better. Thanks for the advice.
Chris

I think you may have the wrong liners. Look at the ones in Steve's picture.

Patrick

[Gary B.]

Retainers; correction

Chris,

I was getting my spring articles confused. The one that included the retainer info was co-written by me and Joe Lucia. Let me know if you want a PDF version.

Gary

[Chris E.]

Re: Retainers; correction

Chris,

I was getting my spring articles confused. The one that included the retainer info was co-written by me and Joe Lucia. Let me know if you want a PDF version.

Gary

Gary, if you would be so kind as to email me a copy of that, I'd appreciate it.

censtrom@comcast.net

Also, thanks to everyone else who provided guidance. I love this discussion board.

Chris

[David D.]

Re: 67 rear leaf spring done - thoughts?

If I may ask....

How difficult of a job is this, to rebuild/refurbish the leaf spring(s)?

How does one know if any of the leafs are bad and need to be replaced?

If there is an article / pdf on how to.....could someone please post here or send to me. I have a '64 with 9 leaf.

I wish mine looked as good and clean as shown in the photos......

Thanks in Advance,
David

[Stephen L.]

Re: 67 rear leaf spring done - thoughts?

David,

Rebuilding the spring is easy. Removing/replacing is easy... just remember there are forces involved that must be relieved to avoid injury. 4 bolts hold the center section and a bolt at each end and the spring is out. You'll have some forces present at the ends so support the end with a jack as you loosen the bolts.

When reinstalling, do not tighten the center 4 bolts until the car weight is back on the wheels. Otherwise you may break the ears off the diff case trying to torque these bolts.

If there is little or no corrosion on the leaves then a good cleaning and repaint is all that is needed.

I was able to reuse most of my 40 yr old liners, purchasing just 2 long new ones and then cutting the used ones shorter to remove the worn ends, and moving them up the spring.