leaf spring finish for '68 Charger

[hemi68charger]

Hey gang.....
I know this has probably been discussed before, but I'd like a fresh perspective... I'm about to restore my original leaf springs on my '68 Hemi Charger R/T.. I have the rebuilt kit. But, should they be natural all the way, the leaf's painted black individually and then all the hardware left natural or everything put together and then the complete assemblies painted black?

I didn't see any evidence of black paint on the leaf springs when I started cleaning them up this past week....

Thanks..

[resq302]

I painted mine a dark cast iron gray to simulate the heat treated steel.  Might have a dark bluish-black color to it  with mainly a cast iron color shade.

[Ghoste]

I thought they were all unpainted originally so Brians suggestion is probably the best.  I've also seen more than one restoration article claim that semi gloss black is correct but I only noticed a lot of cars painting them black in more recent times. 

[resq302]

Probably your best bet would be to if you are rebuilding your old springs to remove them and inspect in between the leafs to see if there is any black paint in there.  If they were black originally, you would see it on a protected area such as under the shock mount plate or in between the leafs closer to the pin that holds all the leafs together.

[Rolling_Thunder]

I've heard that some came through black and others came through natural   

[Ghoste]

Here's another question, if some came through black, were they painted as an assembled unit or were the leaves painted black and the interliners left natural?

[resq302]

Assuming they would do it the cheapest way possible, I would have to say they assembled it and then painted it like the master cyl and power booster for disc brake cars.

[Ghoste]

And that has been my argument too but I have heard some people say the correct way is all black and others say natural interliners.

[resq302]

Basically it all comes down to who the suplier was and what they had on hand the day the car was being built.

[69ISFINALLYMINE]

First of all I don't know the answer on weather they were painted or left bare, but I do have a comment as a restorer. There is a limit to doing things "just how the factory did it" (here me out, because I am a restoration nut myself).  If you are restoring the car and if you decide to paint the spring packs, my advice would be to paint each leaf individually prior to assembly. The reason for the pre-paint is that the paint between each leaf will keep the inevitable rust away for much longer than if you just paint them as an assembly.  No one will know that they are painted between each leaf and they will look good for many years beyond others. 

As a question for the painted or natural finish debate, is it possible that the springs on these cars were oil-dipped after arching?  That is done a lot to quench heat treated steel and it provides a protective black finish as a by-product of the process. 

Doc

[Ghoste]

Hmmm, that's a very real possibility. 

[hemi68charger]

Thanks everyone........

I think I'm going to go with a semi-gloss finish on them.. I have the rebuild kit now and waiting on the shackles... I don't want to turn this into a major project in itself. I'll rebuild the springs, smooth them out, paint them semi-gloss and leave the shackles and hangers natural. I'll paint the shock plate semi-gloss as well....... It'll still look real nice and OEM.....

Troy