[TR] Spitfire rear swing spring - current replacement spring w/ thicker leaves - ride/handling?

[aribert neumann]

Greetings all:

The stock '78 Spitfire swing spring had a 0.25 thick eye and loop leaves
(these are the two full length leaves).  The new replacement spring sourced
from TRF  has a 0.315 (8mm)  thick material for the eye  leaf and a
whopping 0.402 or 10.2mm thick stock for the loop leaf.  The .315 eye leaf
is the fixed leaf - a material increase would stiffen the spring asm w/o
affecting roll stiffness - in my opinion a good thing since the stock Spit
spring yields to much/ too soon in use.  The .402 loop leaf is the first
pivoting leaf.  I would expect that this leaf will significantly affect
roll stiffness.

For any of you that have installed a new Spitfire rear swing spring, how do
you like the ride / handling?  Do you like it more or less that the
original spring?  If you like it less, would you have been happy w/ a
stiffness somewhere in between the stock original spring and the new
replacement?   I ask all these questions because I am suddenly concerned
that the rear end of the car will be too stiff and handling will be
different and that I might not like it.  I am seriously considering to
dismantle my new spring and replace the 0.402 inch thick loop leaf w/ the
0.25 inch thick original loop leaf (keeping the thicker eye leaf - so the
net result would be a slightly stiffer than stock '78 swing spring).  My
car is a Spit bodied '71 GT6 and I did **not** like the handling of the car
w/ the original rigid leaf spring so I upgraded to the '78 swing spring
when I did the body swap in the early '90s.   I need to make a decision as
to whether I should use the spring asm as is or make a custom spring my
using a part from my existing spring by about midday tomorrow.

The reason for installing a new rear swing spring is that my existing one
had the 3rd and 4th (counting from the bottom up) leaves fractured at the
pivot bump.   TIA for any responses.
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