pedec

Planning on replacing rear spring on my 69 427 with new fiberglass or composite rear spring to help smooth out ride any recommendations would be great as to which weight, 315,340,355lbs? I want nice soft ride over better cornering performance. Seems car ride is harsh and I guess normal for this car. Thanks

rponfick

I don't recall seeing the spring ends bend upward at rest. I have a '69 BB and the spring ends bend downward about as much as your's bend upward. The spring may be worn out and the cause of your concerns. But, sounds like you are going to address issue.

Ralph

Alan 71

Hi p,
It appears from your picture that your car may have a replacement spring of some sort on it now. That may or may not be contributing to it's present appearance and your car's ride characteristics.
On original springs the leafs had a taper cut on the end, and the end of each leaf was flared up slightly.
People do report that the composite and fiberglass aftermarket springs do improve ride characteristics but sometimes cause ride height challenges.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

pedec

Alan71 you are correct after looking at old service record spring was replaced in 86 does not say brand or weight. Is that a fiberglass spring and how do you like it. My car seems to have good ride height I think. I am hoping somebody on this forum might have one on there 427 vette and give me some advice on what weight and brand is best to buy to get best ride height and comfort. From picture does ride height look ok.

Alan 71

Hi pd,
The spring in your picture isn't fiberglass. It appears to be a typical steel replacement spring.
I can't tell if it has the black plastic leaf liners between each leaf or not. Not having them would certainly affect the spring's function and the car's ride.
From the last picture the ride height appears to be pretty normal, maybe even a bit high.
You can measure from the ground to the center of the rear wheel opening... it was typically around 28" with tires close to the original height of 27".
Regards,
Alan

DAVID SLUDER

I have the VBP 330 fiberglass spring in my 69 BB vette and it rides and handles very nice not to soft not to hard

roscobbc

Is the spring a stock but lower rated 9 leaf spring or F41 7 leaf gymkana higher rated.
Big block really needs this. Yes the ride is harsh at lower speeds on poor surfaces but improves significantly at speed. Try it with 18" wheels and low profiles if you want a really poor ride on bad surfaces.

1wicked55

Stock spring on my 69 427

mysixtynine

Same here 330 vbp. 69 BB convertible Rides very nice.

zwede

I tried fiberglass springs (330 & 360) on my '71 454. Didn't like them, way too bouncy. Tried different shocks including the re-valved KYBs that were supposed to cure the bounce but didn't.

Switched to a used late C3 steel spring. It's a little wider so I had to grind "channels" where the bolts go. This spring with bilstein shocks works well.

lolk de liffiac

I tried fiberglass springs (340 and 360) on my 454 1971. The 340 vas good the 360 too stiff and riding too high even with much longer bolts.
Regards
Erik

pedec

Thanks