810 Front spring assembly deflection

Josh and Balinwire- I recounted my leaves- there are 13. The top 5 are tapered and rounded on the ends; the sixth is .235" flat stock (arched) with the spring yokes riveted at the ends of this leaf; 7 thru 11 are again tapered and rounded at the ends, #'s 12 and 13 are the main leaves, .235" thick, not tapered and more or less square on the ends with the holes for the donut support flanges. The spring hanger rods are 12" long. The dimension you requested from the floor of 14 1/2" is to the center of the bumper bolt, as someone told me how to measure the car front height. This spring came off the car originally, and for all intents and purposes looks like the original spring.

Any help most appreciated!

Thanks,
Pete Rhoads
....Still under 2241H

Tell us again where it measures 14 1/2". From the floor to exactly where?

Could the original suspension bolts have been replaced with ones that were to shorter in length?

Pete --- do you believe this to be an original spring? Can you measure the exact thickness of each main leaf? Are the other leaves rolled and tapered? THat is, do they get narrower (looked at from the top) at the ends, and do they get thinner (looked at from the edge) at the ends?

Josh- Thanks for the quick response! I have 13 leaves, including two main leaves with the holes. The leaves are epoxy painted and are smooth so I don't think the leaves are resisting slipping over one another- very little pitting on the leaves since this car probably was a smoker and a dripper.

I did put a 2"x 12"x 1/8" metal plate in the frame groove to distribute the load transmitted by the spring- the frame groove was split here and there and was rewelded and ground, so the plate would contribute 1/8" increase in the car height. This problem confounds even my mentor Carleton Zeigler!

Thanks much for any help.

Somewhere under 2241H,

Pete Rhoads

How many leaves do you have? (Count the little one at the top as a leaf, even tho it is really just a block.) Are there two "main" leaves? (The ones with the holes in them.)

Gents- I'm restoringCord Phaeton 2241H and I'm having trouble with the front spring. I can't compress it with the weight of the engine and transmission in place, even with two of my rather rotund friends standing on top of the tranny/frame. I can't get the lower Dagmar snubbers in place, barely the cast supports. The engine/tranny are in the frame, attached to the body, two wheels on the ground in back. I try jacking one side up from the kingpin, but I get only 1/4" max. deflection.

When I got this car it did sit a little high in the front and the front spring assembly had been mickeymoused a little. I took the spring apart, bead blasted and epoxy primed the leaves and reassembled it, putting it in the frame pocket and attaching it with the U bolts through the front engine mount.

Does anyone know the spring rating of a Cord in pounds/inch, and if so maybe I can go to my friendly spring repair shop and have them test this assembly. If the reading is too high do I have them cold bend the two main leaves a bit? Does anyone know the dimension at the center of the unloaded assembly arc if the ends were sitting on a flat surface?

BTW, presently it measures about 14 1/2" from the floor to the middle of the front spring bolt, which I understand should be around 12"

Any help would be appreciated!

From somewhere under 2241H,

Pete Rhoads