Pulled the rear out of my '39 Standard to put the rebuilt trans in, & decided to do some work on it while it was out. So..... Changing to tube shocks & considering removing a couple leafs for a smoother ride. Other than new shackle bolts, what's the proper procedure? Derust & paint the leafs & add teflon between them? Or, should you not have paint between them? Grease seems to be out, due to attracting dirt. Also, which ones to remove, and how much drop should I expect? I like the rake I have with the stock rear & dropped front, but I'm also fine with it coming down a little in the back. I did a search, but couldn't find answers. Suggestions?
Are you aware that a google search with the word hamb in it usually produces better results. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/how-do-i-restore-my-leaf-springs.933976/
Maybe if you take leaves out replace them with a spacer on top to compensate for the reduced pack height.
If you’re fine with coming down in the back, spacer can go under spring, depending on set up, to lower car. Depending on current ride stiffness as to which leaves you take out. Sometimes just an estimated guessing game. Maybe top spring and third one . If no one can help with specifics to your car, try putting up pictures of what you have along with weight of car etc. There are some pretty clever guys here that will help you if they are able...
@clem that link doesn't help much. OK, It's a completely stock Ford transverse spring set up & banjo rear. Pics? You have all seen what it looks like. Just because I like the rake it has now, doesn't mean I am 100% opposed to it being a little lower. My poorly worded question is what is the procedure for "rebuilding" the spring pack. Is teflon between the leaves the best way to do this? What have you done? Sandblasted & painted the springs before reassembly? What paint did you use, because I'm wondering if some might gum up & bind a little. Or, maybe I'm better off just buying a Posie's or some other spring & forgetting about the Henry stuff?
My 32, front spring had an original spring , all leaves in it with teflon between each leaf. Ride wasn’t great, a little stiff, so I put in repo, 6 leaves ? like speedway motors sell, with teflon buttons, pulled it to pieces, light coat of primer, then spray can top coat, also reversed eyes, and didn’t notice any difference in ride quality. Personally, I would not use teflon between the leaves, as it seems to move out and look ugly. Probably gives a better ride though and in a rear spring probably not so obvious. How it was oft done 30 - 40 years ago, but doesn’t seem to be popular now. If ride quality is okay, I would strip leaf pack down, sand all the surface rust off, smoothing off any gouge marks or rough edges, and prime, then final paint. If ride is too firm, remove a couple of leaves. how many does it have ? Sometimes the number of leaves removed is trial and error. I would imagine that adding teflon to every leaf would have a similar effect as removing one or two leaves as far as ride feel goes. I agree with you about NOT packing them with grease. Everyone’s opinion will not be the same.
I've done several transverse springs and always bevel the bottom edge of each leaf so it doesn't dig into the leaf below it. I also clean them up and put black graphite between the leaves. To improve the ride you should remove the shorter leaves since they don't flex as much as the longer leaves.
I suppose you could use a two pack with hardener, but in reality I don’t think anyone gets that technical about it. Just use a good quality paint and spray a couple of light covering coats.
when I did my spring I took a grinder to the leading edge of each spring as it sat on the lower spring and formed a radius so it would move easier, hit with a wire brush add Teflon , brush painted rust oleum and done
that link doesn't help much. Changed it to another, My point was, did you do a google search ?, or a hamb search ?
I did my rear spring recently. After disassembly I used a 4 1/2” Paint Eater disc to remove the old paint and rust. It’s fast and messy but doesn’t put gouges in the surface. I had a full stock spring with several short leaves that didn’t follow the “length progression” and my car is light so I removed them. I deburred the tops of each leaf where they had been rubbing and tapered the bottoms to prevent them from digging into each other. I pressed in the new bushings and painted each leaf with Krylon Rust Tough Semi gloss black, my go-to under car paint. In my car the spring doesn’t show unless you lay on the ground so I used the poly strips that wrap slightly over the leaf so they stay lined up. I don’t remember where I got it, I’ve had a big roll forever. I wouldn’t use that if the spring shows - too street roddy. Some go as far as nylon screen strips, wheel bearing grease and a leather cover to keep out the grit. Whatever. I put new stainless steel bolts in the clips and put it back in. You’d be amazed at how much the poly strips loosen up the motion. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Like others have said, de rust, dress burrs, chamfer bottom of each spring, smooth out any wear steps in spring face caused by other spring, paint and coat with slip plate. Then re assemble and install. https://www.slipplate.com/product/slip-plate-no-1-dry-graphite-lubricant
I've always just blasted, primed and painted the spring leaves, then assembled them with poly spring liners leaving a few of the short leaves out. Worked well for the last 20 years on my roadster...
Thanks guys. Pretty much what I suspected. I did do a search, & maybe I wasn't using the correct wording. It's not gonna be seen under the back of my Tudor Sedan. Just wanted to soften the ride up some as long as I had to take it out. It was pretty stiff from the factory. Of course, a frozen shock didn't help either. Wasn't sure if the teflon strips were still being used anymore, or somebody had a "new & improved" way to do it. Didn't want to spring for a new one, unless necessary. The car has under 60K on it, but should I take anything else apart on the banjo to check out before it goes back in? It's been working fine. Just easier when it's on the floor. I will have to pull the drums to get the park brake working. Wheel cylinders were new a few years ago, shoes good.
I have wondered about spraying everything with aerosol graphite. Not sure of it would be enough build up, or if it would wear off quickly.
This has been published before but I don't remember where. Maybe Fordbarn. Reconditioning an early Ford spring. To completely recondition a spring, after it is out and on the bench, I use two large C clamps, one on each side of the center bolt. I pull them up tight and take the nut off of the center bolt. I then SLOWLY LET THE C CLAMPS OUT EQUALLY till the spring is relaxed. I then glass bead all of the leaves to get rid of all debris. Then inspect the eyes for wear. If worn, discard that leaf and have a new one made at the spring shop OR, find a good used one to replace it. Then I magnaflux them. If all is ok, I then take them to a spring shop to have them re-arched and re-heatreated. Steel does not wear out, it just gets fatigued. Re-heatreating returns it to original. After I get the leaves back, I inspect the top of all the leaves for grooving. If grooved, grind and taper the tops of all the leaves for the last 3 inches back from the ends. The number of leaves you use will depend on the final weight of the car and the "ride" you want. On a typical early Ford it is possible to get a 100 lb. per inch spring rate which will give a very comfortable "touring ride". Have the shocks disconnected when checking spring rates. The easiest way to check spring rate is measure the height of a point on a bumper. Apply a known weight to the bumper such as a 200 lb. person. Measure the same point again. say it went down 2 inches. You have roughly a 100 lb per inch spring rate. DO NOT USE GREASE BETWEEN THE LEAVES. It attracts dirt and dirt is very abrasive. DO NOT use paint on any part of a spring. Paint is a very poor lubricant. I Parkerize the leaves and then spray them all over with SlipPlate (trade name) which is a graphite spray or Moly Kote (trade name) which is a molybdenem disulfide base spray. I use 1/16 UHMW plastic between the leaves. This is similar to Teflon but about 1/3 the price. This really decreases friction and prolongs spring life. It is also the main item for making a spring work smooth and provide a soft ride. Contrary to some beliefs, it will not forge out from between the leaves in NORMAL STREET USE. This stuff is NOT for racing and high performance applications. After determining the final configuration of the spring I wrap it with black electrical tape from the eyes to the U bolts. This keeps dirt out. There are commercial spring covers available also. If you use a reversed eye main leaf, be sure the second leaf is short enough that there is no way it can bottom on the eye when at full compression. Sometimes the original spring clips will not reach over the spring after the UHMW is added. It is a simple matter to fabricate ones that will. The inside top of the cross member where the spring seats, usually has a radius. BE SURE the top leaf of the spring has a radius to match. a sharp corner on the spring leaf can cause a cracked cross member. I use moly filled Delrin shackle bushings because they have almost no friction and they never wear out. No tools required to install them also. It is NOT recommended to remove the second leaf to adjust the ride. Play with alternate ones above that.
I have an old can of black graphite grease and use it, don't know about the spray graphite. After I reassemble them I wipe them down with lacquer thinner and paint then.
OK, so I had the spring sandblasted (after disassembly of course) & painted all the leafs. Got new shackles & teflon liner from Speedway. Was unclear about which way it goes in, but the lip hanging down seemed to make more sense. It shouldn't hold as much crap in there that way. Had intended to use the original center bolt to hold the spring pack together, but it was too short now. I guess all those teflon layers add up. Used a gr8 bolt with the head ground enough to fit in the crossmember hole. Put it all together with my home made overkill spring spreader. Now I find the center bolt, is off center. Not sure how clear that is in the pics: After a bunch of measuring, I find the spring hangers are not the same distance from the backing plates on both sides. About 1/2" on left & 11/16" on right. I assume this is just Henry's close enough tolerances, & it has always been this way. Just never noticed before. Do I need to worry? I'm thinking I should ignore it. Here's a pic of my spring spreader with 1 1/8" threaded rod/nuts:
I changed the title & added to this, rather than making a new thread. Trying to put the hand brake back into my '39 banjo. I can't find much for pics/diagrams for what I'm missing inside the brake drum. Brakes are all pretty new, but ALL of the hand brake stuff is gone. I have new cables, just need to attach them to something. Some kind of lever/pivot to push on the shoes?
this thread has a photo of a greasy old hub showing the parts you are missing. they can get expensive when you buy it one piece at a time. remember there are rights, and lefts, and the special pins to hold it down. https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289144&page=6
Van Pelt Sales has drawings of all this stuff on-line... http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/FH_images/FH_brakes-pics/Flathead_Brakes_system_1939to42.jpg
@rusty valley & @warbird1 Thanks guys, VERY helpful. I've been searching my shop & can't locate those parts, so not sure I ever had them. The old cables are blocking the "tubes" & I will probably have to replace those as well. Pretty sure somebody repops those.
Could you incorporate the trans ebrake from the pickups ? I know I have a 3 speed out of a 36 pickup that has the ebrake hand lever, and some type of drum on the tranny area out back. No clue of differences or change ability
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