Technical Can I safely reverse the eyes on this spring ?

I want to lower my 1946 ford fordor.
After taking my spring apart i found out it has a channel/ reverse bead ( sorry I don’t know the right word) on top of the leafs.
It looks factory but i’m not sure , i never saw this on my model A springs.
First question: is this factory or just worn out ?
Second : if it is factory can i reverse the spring ? The channel will then be on the bottom of the spring.

thanks,
Dennis

 

The Groove Is Factory And Allows Grease To Be Pumped In Between The Leaves....Proceed..

 

Thanks ! I thought about that but never saw one like this.

 

Is that a crack in the spring in that picture? That would be a definate no for me if so.

 

no crack , i made some scratches when scraping the dirt off

 

Learn something every day. Never seen one of those, but then I've not seen much!

If it is reversed won't the grease fall out of the groove?

Chris

 

I take mains like yours to a local spring shop and have the ends re rolled then your grove would stay on top.

 

When you reverse the main leaf the eyes get further apart, this means the shackles hang down, so best to take it to the spring shop to get it sorted.

 

In that case go for it. Ive done it 2 ways. Either way I trace the spring on the garage floor. Then I mark the spring every couple inches like frets on a guitar.
The first time I reversed one I used a 3 pound sledge hammer and hit the spring at every mark over an I beam. Didnt taken that long really but I was in my 20s. Now I put them in a press at every mark. Check it against the outline on the floor. Usually takes 3 passes on the press. I always over arch it a bit

 

I made a simple fixture
I copied it off the hamb years and it works great and have done a truck load ..
I mark the spring curve arc on the floor and will copy the . I then mark every inch with chalk and install into fixture. I then Jack it up in the position. Then move to the next go slow and nice and quiet enjoy.

 

I used my 10-ton press to reverse the eyes on my '29AA front spring and broke the spring by not taking it slowly. For about $85 I got a new, reverse-eyed main leaf made by Atlas Spring & Axle Co. in Wichita, and that included shipping. Had I known from the beginning they would be that affordable and dead-on accurate, I wouldn't have bothered trying to reverse my original main leaf. I highly recommend Atlas.

 

You can always use St. Louis spring co , in well ,ST Louis mo , fast and accurate work , that is why they have been open for over 100 years , they make new and repair old springs. Quality work !

 

The OP is in The Netherlands. Shipping would be steep.

 

The one I had done was by a spring shop. They traced it with chalk on the floor, had a machine with 3 rollers and moved it back and forth 'til it got the right contour. Took less than 10 minutes and was fairly priced (don't remember). No banging used.

 

@seb fontana like the fixture and dial indicator on top great idea. Worked in a spring company for 20 years and rolled the spring into shape but Jack will do the same job . As they say more the one way to skin a cat..

 

I do them in my 20 ton hydraulic press, with chalk marks just like it have been shown previously. Since I upgraded the press to air over hydraulic, reversing the spring main leaf takes less than 20 minutes.