[Healeys] Leaf spring parts

[Bert Van Brande]

I am restoring my springs for my BN2 as new ones currently available are reported to sag after 1-2 years.  I finished 1 spring about month ago and I am close to finish the second one.  At the same time I am also re-arching using the hotrodders method.

Following link was inspriring: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90824

If there's interest I can write up a little how-to, I took some pictures along the way.  But in short: I traced the spring arch on paper and measured the camber.  I needed about 1 1/8" more camber (arch)   I marked every 2 inch on the main spring with a chalk.  With the leaf spring on the vise opened 4" I started hammering on the marks centered inbetween the vise jaws and coming back hammering in between the marks.  Important to keep the force consistent, not too hard and hammer in the middle of the leaf as not to warp the spring.  I used ear plugs as these spring leafs are quite "musical".  If I had a shop press as in the above forum post I would have used it instead of hammering.

When 1 "corner" was not touching the vise I moved the hammering target a little in the direction of the side that was not touching the vise.  I avoided hammering in the middle of the spring where the bolt goes through.  

After each round I would hold the spring against the original trace and check progress and symmetry.  It was remarkable how fast the spring gained 1/4" of camber after just 1 round of hammering.   The hammering is the shorted part of the whole process, probably about 1.5 hours on the first spring and 1 hour on the second one.   Getting the bushes out was actually harder.  After that cleaning with a wire wheel, metal etch, priming, some sanding and painting.  I added teflon tape between the leaves, Steve Gerow helped me to a roll.  The clamps were cleaned up and re-used.  The whole process took about 1.5 days for the first spring and the second one will be under a day, I just need to paint and assemble it.

I know the proof is in the pudding and it will take a couple years before I can really say if it was worth it.  But after talking with practically all vendors and emails back and forth with Rich this seemed the only route.  I am very happy with how good the springs looked after this treatment.  My car will be on it's wheels in a couple weeks and hopefully under load in a couple months.  I'll know then if the ride height is what it needs to be.  If not, I now know how to tweak this.  And BTW, the original part # is still nicely visible stamped on the small leaf.

Bert