Leaf Spring Painting

[ferricsteed]

Hello group from sultry Louisiana. I have dismantled the differential, springs etc. for cleaning, seal replacement, new C&P and painting. Question is one of aesthetics (and possible ride concerns???). I plan to paint the leaf springs. Should each leaf be painted complete or should the leaves be assembled then painted? I plan to install anti friction tape between the leaves. I will tape off the bare metal that slides in the trunnions (TA and TB type). Any advice will be welcomed and considered.

Next question but has been discussed before in this forum. Can the trunnion bearings be shimmed with sheet metal? The shim would be against the convex surface of the trunnion and inside the concave of the fixed tube attached to the chassis. Others have had trunnions made by their local machinist. I suspect that is the best solution but I am still asking for a Rube Goldberg idea that others have used successfully. I have hand filed the spring surfaces and the trunnion surfaces but they are too loose a fit in the tube, ~3mm clearance.

Another question on spring surfaces: the sides of the springs rub against hard faced round discs to control lateral movement. I have one surface on the inboard side that is inside the chassis tube that is worn. Can this disc be removed and replaced (and how this is accomplished)? The outboard discs come out with the securing nut so are easy to file smooth again.

Other information, the car has Woodhead Monroe Patented tube shocks installed, in the early '60s is my guess. I am simply going to strip and repaint them. All attempts to find Luvax or TC style dampeners is an epistle onto itself. Monroe R1064 units are not carried by Monroe in the States but can be bought from the UK and of course from "Down Under".

High Regards to All,
Tim Bloomfield
TB0613
Louisiana

[antijam]

.... I plan to paint the leaf springs. Should each leaf be painted complete or should the leaves be assembled then painted? I plan to install anti friction tape between the leaves. I will tape off the bare metal that slides in the trunnions (TA and TB type). Any advice will be welcomed and considered.

Eaton say paint them assembled.

[Steve Simmons]

On my '39 Ford, I stripped and then painted with POR15 before reassembly. I used spring liners in hopes that the paint won't be worn off so fast. The POR15 will prevent further rust and corrosion of the springs, and it's tough as nails. I'll probably do this with the TC when the time comes.

[SteveW]

I separated the leafs and painted mine with POR15 as well. There was surface rust on the inside faces that would only have got worse, so I think that it was the right thing to do. Rather than using spring liners I lubricated between the leafs with a mix of silicone grease and graphite powder.

Separating the leafs and putting them back together again wasn't as hard as I thought that it would be.

[Tim Jackson]

an old post on this topic
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=253

[Duncan M]

Another take on the leaf spring treatment here:
http://ttypes.org/ttt2/?s=front+leaf+sp ... mit=Search
First part is about a problem with certain new springs roundness, so skip down to the cleaning up the sharp edges on the ends of each leaf with grinder, then painting with "galvafroid" which I replaced with a paint-on Rustoleum 95% Zinc paint.
https://www.zoro.com/rust-oleum-cold-ga ... lsrc=aw.ds
and also a standard tube of silicone grease (actual silicone base is not easy to find) that will do one axle:
https://www.zoro.com/super-lube-silicon ... /G5121767/
or
https://www.zoro.com/jet-lube-dielectri ... /G0503876/
into which is mixed graphite powder as per ttypes.org article, as I don't like the anti-friction strips.