C3 Rear Spring Question

[Ted Y]

I was curious if any other C3 owners have a steel rear spring. I am wondering if mine is worn out. I have sort of a ride height issue. I even installed longer bolts that are supposed to be adjustable, but it still sits a little off-kilter and the spring appears to be almost flat, with just a slight bend down on each side. I looked on all my documentation with the car and everything on the rear susp was new except there is no mention of a new spring, so it could be 37 years old, but it looks repainted.

How much bend is there suppposed to be in the rear spring when the car is sitting on the ground? Pics would help. If needed, I'll post mine for comments. Thx!

[dewey]

I have some pics of my old, worn out steel spring, and my new VPB glass spring, but it'll be later today (tomorrow for you) before I can get them posted up.

My ride height is still a little high as well.

[Phill's Vette]

Here are a few pics I found in my photo archives.

Not sure how much arch you should have ona steel spring, I have a VPB glass.

Note: One of the pics is of the car on a hoist so the arch will be different from being on all fours.

How does it drive and corner? Is one side higher than than the other?

I had to use 10" bolts to get my ride height where I wanted it, now sits at 27.5" (Ground to wheel well)

Post your results and good luck!

[ChadC]

get a VB, and premium $29 napa shocks. call it good.

Trust me, they made technology changes in the last 40 years.

cheers

chad

[Desertdawg]

I agree!!

After riding in a few older steel spring C3's and then riding in my 82 with the fiberglass spring, I think swapping out the steel would be one of the best mods you can make for ride quality.

If your trying to stay NCRS, then hang onto your steel spring for judging, but you won't belive the difference in ride quality with the fiberglass spring.

[Ted Y]

I agree with you all that the fiberglass spring is the better piece to have on my car for driveability. At this time I am looking for feedback to see if I have a problem.

When the left and right spring bolts are adjusted equally, I have 27-5/8" on the drivers side and 28-1/2" height on the passenger side from the ground to the top of the wheel arch. When I adjust them differently, I can get them to within 1/4", but the bolts look odd at different lengths. Which leads me to wonder if I have a problem with the spring itself, since the shocks, tie rods and other bits are new replacement parts. It's just another thing that makes me shake my head in disbelief that CnV did all this work and left something so obvious pass along to the customer. The other possible cause is a bent frame, but I don't want to consider that. The body mounts look fine and the fiberglass is not cracking...

I don't drive it hard around corners and I think it rides fine so I can't complain about that. I haven't ridden in anyone esle's C3 to compare. With that said, this is my first Corvette and I love it.

BUT......I really struggle in my mind about whether to make my car a great driver or restore it. Maybe I gotta stop reading CF. Those guys on there just seem to slam and degrade anyone who dares to improve their C3. The only thing those people care about is originality.

Although my car has the original block and tranny, it has aftermarket heads, intake, carb, distributor, starter, and alt, just that I know about. God knows what happened to the original parts. I think what I intend to do is to make it the best driving car I can, until the day I decide to restore it back to original and find the correct dated and numbered non-original parts. That will probably be the day I sell it. However, I want to keep the car as long as I can. Maybe in 10 or 20 years, it won't matter so much... At this time and place, any NCRS standard is a long way off. It would certainly require a body off resto of the car as well as locating a pile of parts. One thing I don't want to do do is make a bad car, just to pass some standard, though. My head hurts just thinking about it.

It's a very interesting dynamic (to me) that everyone puts added value on a C4, C5, or C6 that is modded out for performance with no regard to originality, but as soon as you have a C1, C2, or C3, they discredit you for doing the same and only want to brag about their "unmolested" original car with perfect documents and all the right options.

It makes me wonder about any car that claims to be original that is 30, 40, or 50 years old. You just know those old cars were modded out at sometime in their past, just like new ones.

This post started as a short and simple post, but I had to get this rant out of my system for now. Thanks all. I still value your feedback on this.

[Desertdawg]

I don't think you can set the spring bolts exactly the same, there are differences in weight for one thing, (battery on drivers side for one)... And if your spring is original, or looks like it's been in the awhile, then it's going to sag some. Will it sag equally, I don't know, but it's sure a possibility.

When you bring up originality, the best saying in the world is, "It's YOUR Corvette, build it the way YOU want it".

If you want a blower sticking out of the hood, then go for it, BUT don't do it to impress others, do it because it's how you want to. Remember, it's your smile that counts, not theirs.

If I still had my 82 CE, I would still be looking for a donor convertible vette, I wanted to have the only CE vert.

BTW, any news on the C5 your friend bought in Cali???

[Ted Y]

I gave the spring a closer look this morning and my half shafts are pointing slightly up from diff to wheel, whereas most I've seen point slightly down from diff to wheel. This shows me that any load or bump will make the diff even lower and worsen the situation. My spring appears to have less "bow" to it than others.

I still want to see Dewey's pics if he can post them. My spring looks no where as "bowed" as the one in Phill's pics.

To respond to Dawg, I agree in principle that I should do what I want to "My Car". However, I have to at least partly look at my car as an investment and not destroy the value by doing something dumb. I'm not against sticking a blower on a C3, I just don't want to do that to an original engine. If I really decided to do that, I'd take out the original engine/tranny and put in a built/blown one, keeping the original in storage.

I wonder if I should consider replacing the front springs at the same time? Thoughts?

[dewey]

Ted,

Not everyone on CF is totally nuts on restoration of C3s. PM or ask GrandsportC3 or BigBadOrange, C3 guys, and they've modded C3s. GSC3 drags radces one of his, it's no where near what the 'restorers' would do.

Oh, and make sure you ask for the guy who sells the NCRS t-shirts

Not

Correctly

Restored

Stingray

I'll try again tonight on the pics.

Internet over here is, well, it gets column lock quite a bit.

[anmracing2]

Melissa's spring has about that much of an arch as Phill's Vette. I think you would definately have different lengths from one side to the other in some instances. How much thread is showing is not what you should be concerned with. It's all part of the alignment. You wouldn't want to put the same amount of shims on the front "A" frame so that they look good, you would want to put the shims that make the tires straight on the ground. Same principle for the rear leaf spring. On a lot of cars it just works out that way.

Andrew

[Grayeagle]

:boggle

So let me get this straight..

..if my rear end is sagging..

(not sayin it is, but... umm .. )

..all I gotta do is put a longer *bolt* in it!!?

(squirms in chair uncomfortably for a moment)

I *really* don't want to go *there* with any kind of *bolt* !!

-Frank

(I earned my sag!)

[Ted Y]

Dewey: Do what you can. Thank you and BE SAFE! I love the NCRS: Not Correctly Restored Stingray shirts. I need two!

Andrew: Thanks for checking it out on Imaginary. I think I'm gonna order a new spring here soon and ask for help installing it on a Corvette Saturday maybe when it cools down a little. What about front springs, too? The front tires are pretty close to the fenders (not like M's 4x4!)

I suppose a 4 wheel alignment is in order...

Dawg: Sag on Brother!!! You have earned it.

[Phill's Vette]

Ted,

Front springs are most likely original stock also, so it wouldn't hurt. Also when it cools down, I will be rebuilding my front end WITH new springs. There are a few different springs available depending on the ride you want; I have Bilstein shocks all around and HD Comp.adj strut rods in the back, so I have a rough ride already but it handles very nice. Bilsteins are by far the best thing you can do for suspension performance!

I also have a CnV vette; they did do a lot to the car after I bought it and before I picked it up, BUT there were issues that I had to fix that were a hazard! For the price they charge, their vettes should be in much better shape! I wish I knew now what I didn't know then..... Like you though, I love MY vette no matter what and I plan on keeping it for almost ever!

For me, I try very hard to keep it stock OEM, but when it comes to improving the Drivability, safety, performance and functionality; stock is not always an option. Some things you do CAN decrease the resale value; if I was to remove the Crossfire injection and put carbs on or even custom rims. So I guess stock looking is what I prefer for me.

Yeah, I don't know how the highly modified C4 and C5 are not affected by this thinking and belief when it comes to resale?! I would want performance upgrades if I bought a C4/5/6, but they are not in the "Classic" category - yet.

That's my .02 cents

[dewey]

Here you go, Ted, the VBP spring, but I don't have any pics of the bolts

[Ted Y]

Thanks Dewey.

I found an alignment chart in one of my Vette books. It shows that the proper frame height should be 8.68" as measured from 30.5" behind the center of the front wheel and 8.57" as measured from 24" in front of the rear wheels. I am a full inch low on the left and 3/4" low on the right. The book says low ride height is a symptom of sagging springs and not to attempt alignment until they are replaced.

I'm gonna need new springs all around from the look of it. Then a precision 4 wheel alignment and maybe new tires...

[Desertdawg]

And when you do get ready for that expert alignment, might I suggest Joe (sloryde) at

Classic Gold Auto Center

317 S Rockford Dr

Tempe, AZ 85281

(480) 967-2521

He did wonders for my 82 when I had it in there...

[Ted Y]

Corvette Central had a special for no shipping charges, so I ordered my front and rear springs today!

[P51tj]

Good deal!!

[Bigfoot]

Be sure to post some progress pics and/or a day when we can come wat...I mean help.

[Ted Y]

As a further development, I was studying the catalog and saw in bold letters, Springs are shipped with band clamps which will need to be removed prior to installation.

Does this look like a band clamp to you guys? It does to me.

Should I remove this? There is one on both sides. I see a similar one on Phill's pics. Could this be restricting my spring???

[nort99]

It sure looks like a band clamp to me. But it is kinda hard to tell for sure in this picture. Old leaf springs use to have a shackle clamp around them in two spots. I have on idea about these. It does not look like the kind of clamp that I have seen before on leaf springs.

[Ted Y]

I'll take a better picture in the morning. It looks like my spring has each leaf attached at the end. It does not look like an original spring in the pictures I've seen in my books... Another mystery about the car.

[Desertdawg]

Ted,

Your spring is correct, all metal leaf springs have that band, it's there to keep the leaves from fanning out while in use. And the buttons you see on the end of each leave is the backside to the pad that is inserted into a hole, the pad prevents metal to metal contact for noise and wear.

I would still say your spring is just old and tired. the differences from side to side are normal with car weight and frame flex. You have to remember, your trying to keep what was designed to last 10 years, alive 30 years later.

[dewey]

I can vouch for the fact that if those bands aren't there, you're spring will fan out, as was the case with my old spring.

[Ted Y]

Roger that, then. Thanks for the info on the bands and pads. My rear spring is shipping today and the fronts are on back order till next week.