Greetings Wordly Scions,
Well it's the weekend and B/W is down so....
I remembered reading something about the metal tag
denoting "front" on Spit rear springs. I checked some
back issues of the TSSC Courier ( a gold mine of tech.
info.). Issue 167 May 1994 deals with this question.
According to John Thomason: It remains somewhat
of a mystery. It was originally thought to be associated
with the edge of the main spring leaf which is ground
back on one side of the center of the spring. This was
to accomodate tolerances as Charlie B. pointed out
to this list recently. The "original" springs were made
from flat steel stock of nominal 1 3/4" width which didn't
always quite fit into the recess at the top of the diff, so one
edge was ground back. The replacement springs are
made from a slightly narrower (metric?) stock and fit
without grinding any of the leaf away. Tony Robinson
advanced a very plausible theory as well (one side of
the sping being a little stronger). as a side note it also
appears that the re-manufactured springs do not have the
tapered ends on the leafs nor provision for the rubber
buttons between the leaves. These springs can be
installed either way round. I like the idea of "reversing"
them periodically to even out the wear!
wrt to Spits sagging on one side (same courier article):
John Thomason advises; before replacing your rear
spring to cure a lop-sided car, check the condition of the
rubber pad which sits in the clamp box. This pad wears
predominantly on one (drivers) side typically. On some
cars it wears away completely causing the spring to rub
directly on the underside of the clamp box. A worn pad
can cause (or at least contribute signifcantly to) a lop-
sided car. This point is illustrated quite well with photos
and diagrams. One last point: If replacing this pad, make
sure you use something with the rubber "button" on top.
This locates the pad and prevents it from moving around
in use. It will slide out of position due to the motion of the
swing spring design.
Hope this helps,
Bob Sykes (s1500@aol.com) - - - __,@_\____
'78 Spitfires - -- }-0-----0->
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