The following is from Barry Cook on the mg-tabc group on 20th July 2016.
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Before re-assembling the leaves and painting them, I would highly recommend doing the following. Since the leaves are sheared off to size at the factory, they have a sharp edge that has a tendency to eat or grind away into the adjacent leaf. The main leaf that is attached to the frame is the one to be concerned about since that has a tendency to break near the point of attachment because of the grinding away by the adjacent leaf. To prevent, or minimize breakage while your springs are apart, take the two leaves adjacent to this main leaf and slightly round off the sharp ends with either a belt sander, file, or disc grinder. I had a spring that was worn through about 20% from this back and forth action of the adjacent spring. I bead blasted all my leaves and sprayed them with Por15 covering all surfaces. I let them set for a couple of weeks to fully cure before re-assembling them. I then painted on a graphite solution from Mcmaster Carr on one side of each leaf that comes into contact with the other. It dries out and doesn't leave a greasy mess. The Teflon tape is probably an excellent choice also. I made my own stainless furrows to the exact size as the original steel ones to bolt the springs back together with stainless steel carriage bolts.
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Return to Notebook© David James 2016 Last updated: 27th July 2016