VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood 38 rear covered spring resto

Does anyone have any good experience with covered rear spring cosmetic restoration. The covers look like they have a rust resistant zinc or tin type of steel and should clean up. I am wary of chemical or media stripping as grit or chem residue could be left in the leaves under the covers. I do not want to leave them as is because they would look old on a refinished frame under a restored car. I will most likely use an epoxy or similar finish on frame and suspension that will be more durable than 1938 paints as this car will be a driver and I want the resto to last over the years. Original color match is my goal, but will over restore as to quality of finish to produce a more durable and nicer looking result. I would try exact match of materials and finish quality only if this car were to become a trailer queen or museum lump. Thanks for any guidance.

The spring cover material is "thin gauge terne plate" acording to the 1934 description (the first year to have metal covers as standard eqp.)When new it looks like zinc or lead.They were a gray color and not shiney when new.If the old ones need "recoloring" some kind of silver-gray slight metalic paint would be about as close as you could get for color.

I was thinking of steel wool cleaning and clear non gloss urathane. the exposed spring portions I could electric wire brush to remove any suface rust before the non gloss urathane. I take it that lubrication of the springs is not recommended. Do you know if the spring shackles and shock links were black like the frame?

I see no reason why you couldn't do that to the covers-if they are in that good condition.The shackles and links were black-the bolt thru the shackles and grease fittings are unpainted.Most bolts never got painted-the were not silver but the gray treated (black oxide) look.The rear spring covers should be packed with grease.There was a tool for that but try to fing one.I install a small grease fitting in the existing holes.Requires enlarging hole slightly with a drill and drilling thru the cloth wraping.Pump full of grease-it can get messy-On my cars I drilled another hole midway between the existing one and the end of the spring to get more grease into the working area.Keep paper under the springs for a few days as some grease will squeeze out.If you can't find greasing holes in your springs you may need to drill them-some cars had no holes.They ride much nicer after greasing.

Gene, is this the special rear spring greasing tool you were refering to?
-Bob

I have one of those! That is one cool tool for greasing the rear springs with the metal covers.

Thats not quite the same as the GM Kent Moore #595 that I used but very close.Am I being too pickey?...It belonged to a friend and when he mover away I had to devise a new way....Kent Moore stills supplies the special tools for GM (and Harley-Davidson)

I've got to get me one of those.

Ya, both the "Lubroclamp" and the Kent Moore #595 work great! I've had my "Lubroclamp" for at least 25 years, and it even looks cool just laying around on the work bench. And, it's a good conversation item as well, since most dudes that see it have no idea as to what it is or what it does. :eek: :eek:

Let me carry this topic one step further if I may.
What are my options to repair/replace damaged and missing cover pieces? Does someone still make them or do I need to make me a set of bending jigs for sheet metal and fabricate my own?

Gene,
I've looked & looked for those holes, but never could fine any. Where should the hole(s) be located and what size are they?
Thanks,
-Bob

I have never seen a cover without holes but I know that the shop manual mentions it may be necessary to drill the holes.My '39 had holes and the NOS springs I installed on my '34 had them.The factory cover holes were midway (front to back on the cover)on the bottom of the spring.I drill another hole midway between that and the end of the cover as the grease dosen't always flow to freely thru the old wrapping inside the covers.I use a 7/64" drill to enlarge the existing hole so the grease fitting threads in.It enlarges the hole very slightly-perhaps a 1/64" of an inch.Car must be jacked up with wheels hanging free -Takes a bit of pumping with a hand grease gun but seems to use less than a half a tube of grease.I use moly grease......As another leaf spring greaseing device-I have a C clamp with a V wedge on screw end.It was used to spread the leaves on uncovered springs so they could get grease between the leaves.It came from my father-in-laws tool collection.I'm sure that it was from the teens or twentys......Project48-I know of no way covers could be made so they would be flexible etc.at least no practile way.

Once again, thanks, Gene. I'll take another look for 'em!
-Bob

The spring tool shown is broken, the original has a sharp extended point to fit into the holes in the spring wrap. I looked for one of these for 4 years, and was talking to a friend at a recent swap meet and he told me there was one in a box of tools two tables down. Actually there were two one looked like the photo and the other looked like new. Guess which one I paid $5.00 for!

Hummm.........the broken one?? Ha ha! :eek:

Well now that there is a picture I wil just have to make one of those out of a old "C" clamp, before I just drilled a hole and threaded a Zerk fitting into the cover, I guess that is the shade tree way? Eh?

Ya, but ya gotta have the shade tree first! :cool2: :eek: :eek:

JYD, I made sure of having a shadetree, I planted 7 of them when I first bought the property, I didn't even think about building a shop building back then, just knew I would need a place to work on my old cars and a limb to hang a chain hoist on! YEAh! ARF! ARF!

Ya, that should work. But, if you are like me, you probably planted those seven shade trees right smack dab in the middle of an area where a shop could go, so if ya ever built the shop ya gotta cut them there shade trees down! Been there and done that! :( :( :( :( :(

Glyn, There must be different designs of these tools, as the end of the Lubriclamp tool I have isn't broken. It has a threaded end that threads itself into the hole in the spring cover, kind of like a sheet metal screw. It isn't shown, as it's retracted into the head in the pic. For $5 each, maybe you should have bought both of the ones you saw!
-Bob

No JYD, I wasn't that smart, I planted two Pecan trees right where the shop was built ( of course a few years after the Pecan trees started to produce a goodly amount of nuts!) the trees made some pretty good meat smoking wood after they were cut down!

Bowtie Bob is correct, the clamp shown in the above photo is not broken. I just dug out one of mine that looks exactly like the one in the photo. As you will notice in the photo you can see a shaft between two knurled knobs. That shaft is internally spring loaded, so if the shaft with the zerk fitting is pushed in towards the inside of the clamp, the pointed end that goes into the spring cover hole extends out from the base of the clamp. When not in use, the internal spring retracts the pointed end into the clamp body to protect it.

DUUUUUH, Say dere JYD would you splain dat again the.......As you will notice in the photo you can see a shaft between the two knurled knobs. That shaft is internally spring loaded, so if the shaft with the zerk fitting is pushed in towards the inside of the clamp, the pointed end that goes into the spring cover hole extends out from the base of the clamp..... When not in use, the internal spring retracts..... the pointed end ....into the clamp body to protect it. shaft is between.....and the knurleey knobs are .......?????

:confused: :confused:

A picture is worth a thousand words....here's 2,000 worth!!

Here the Lubroclamp with the tip extended:



and here it is with the tip screwed into a piece of sheet metal as it would be into the spring cover (spring's eye view):



-Bob

The two knurley knobs are on the shaft as seen in the photo, and the shaft is also between the two knurely knob thingys! DAH!! :eek: :eek:

Thanks Bowtie Bob! Those photos helped a lot, especially when trying to 'splain somethin' to the dude in Texas. Great photos my friend!! Ya!