I take it you're not set up to do the R&R yourself.
It's not that big a job but you need a place and a floor jack and a couple of jack stands.

 

That is the case, at this time I need to thin out the heard so I can regain space to do such R&R.

 

https://camaroforums.com/forum/67-69...oo-high-82095/


Funny they say they follow the GM blue print. Spring steels have changed dramatically over the last 50 years. There are stories on how long GM experimented to get the mono leaf right, it was a lot. You change the material and yes it is a redo. Also have a general rule blue prints do not have manufacturing process on them. Just dimensions. Two springs can look identical and even be the same material but react differently based on the heat treat and forging procedures used. My guess is they are not load testing these springs. The ride heights are probably all over the place. Re arcing the spring is you best bet assuming you can find someone that is ok doing it on a mono leaf. Course you could also do that with your original springs also. The new steels have more control on variation and should be less likely to crack in the future but the orginal spring will most likely be a once and done. Your new springs may need to go in a out a couple of times to get them right.

 

I am dropping off the car in the morning going back to the original springs. I will return these springs as they are clearly not the right ones for my car. While I blame myself for selecting the wrong ones, its difficult to select the right item if the 2 items that they show and list have the exact same description and same price. Live and learn I guess.

 

Well based on the above post, there are two options Convertible and Coupe. The Convertible need the larger arc of the two as it is heaver in the back. So if the springs where right and you picked the wrong one then the car should be too low not too high. Sure sounds to me like the springs are miss manufactured. I say that because you are not the first person on this website to have the issue. If there are two people on this site that have had the issue then chances are there are dozens out there. Also keep in mind most people that are restoring a original car would only replace a part like this with an OEM used and re-arched spring and most people going for a non-correct restoration are getting the multi leaf setup for anything over 250hp.

The guy that restored mine allowed for three none original upgrade. He added power steering, the fin in the back and Multi leaf suspension.

 

That makes sense. By the time I got the car there have only been a few things to do here and there and I thought maybe its time to replace the leaf springs in hopes of getting rid of all the extra rattling due to the missing rubber in the front and rear supports of the leafs. Car is a 350 with about 325hp 4 spd and my take is that the previous owner diid enough for the car and enjoyed it for 15 years, so a few things need to be done now. Already did the front wilwoods which was a drastic change in the stopping power and reliability. Replaced the engine wiring harness, put in a new clutch, new tubular A arms and bushings, Bilstein shocks all the way around and new stock V8 springs up front. Everything else needs to be as factory as possible as I like the feel, sound, look and all the other characteristics of the car. I am even going as far as not replacing the radio, but want to install a glovebox insert and add a mini iPad as a head unit with some under the seat wireless speakers. When I drove the car to the shop this morning I noticed she felt tight and it seemed 85% of the loose noises were gone, the rest is in the doors and the top. I will not be able to quiet all of the noises but I will do what I can.

 

Maybe on your next upgrade It would be logical to drop the mono leaf springs all together. Even GM admitted they where a mistake. After 67 all SS’s got multi leaf springs. Mid-year GM changed the shock mounts on the rear to reduce wheel hop. The Big blocks did not come out till mid-year. So the only 67 camaro that had both the weak springs and the poor spring placement in a SS car was the early SS-350. The complaint from those cars is the reason the shocks got moved. Wheel hop was really bad once you put a radial on there.

I believe what you are hearing is normal flexing. The only way to get rid of that is a full frame upgrade. These cars are very flimsy and it will never be a race car without the full frame upgrade. I can remember 3rd gen owners complaining about creaking when those cars where new and that is a way more ridged platform.

How flimsy? Jack the car up from under a lower and see how far it goes up before the second tire leaves the ground. When they install a new top on of the things they have to check is how much the door gap changes. The Tips book I had said do not let it change the door gap more then 1/8”. So I would not waste a lot of money on the front suspension since you are going around a corner on 3 wheels anyway. GM engineers refused to put the Z28 suspension on a convertible, they said one, it would not improve anything except maybe feel at slower speeds, two the stiffer suspension could cause a permanent twist on the body within the warranty period.

 

Well, she rides nice and way better than when I first purchased her last year. This by no means will ever be a race car, nor will I be taking her to the track. I will enjoy her for a couple years before passing her on to someone else. The suspension is definitely 80% better and that is more than what I was hoping to get as a result of replacing the leaf rubber and the front end. My next to do's on her is aligning/rebuilding the windows (all 4) as there gaps are too big and in some cases the window bows out. Then get rid of the delux door panels (still unsure how to remove the inside door handle from the inside as there is the standard clip that holds the handle in AND has a screw on the front of the handle, yet there is no room to get a screwdriver inside of the handle cup. Lastly I need to electrify my hideaways. These I know are tinkering things that should not take long and maybe for the windows a body shop may be the better option versus a few hours of frustration and cursing. Thanks again for the sound advice and background on Camaros.

 

Nice to hear it's coming along,you might try searching youtube for how to videos,I've found that very helpful at times when I was scratching my head on how to do this or that on cars and trucks. I learned a trick years ago for getting the clip off the back of the handle using a shop towel. See the video in the link.

 

HA! never seen that method. Getting that clip off is the easy part my challenge is that there is a screw that is holding down the handle and there is no way to get a screwdriver to remove the screw, there is no access, no space to even use a screwdriver head from a ratcheting screwdriver or anything like that. I am at the point of almost drilling through the deluxe door panel to be able to get access to the screw head. I think I need to take a picture to post. I posed the question to NPD, Ecklers and another camaro parts outlet and everyone just scratched their head. I figured, OK I have other things to work on and I will get to the interior at some point.... thanks for the towel method, I now have another method in the event the tools fail.