34 Roadster versus Sedan Springs

R

Research

Junior Member
I have read that the 34 roadster and coupe has one less rear spring leaf than the sedan. I have a sedan spring and need to know if it top leaf removed or the bottom leaf above the one with the rolled ends that shackles mount. So what is the length of the top leaf along the arc versus the bottom leaf above the leaf with the rolled ends. If someone with an orginal roadster or coupe spring could measure this it would be a big help. Thanks!!!!
 
Hi Thanks . A sedan has between 11 &12 springs ,I just removed 4 out of a sedan because its over sprung for our roads, with a Roadster you should do the same No 3 from the bottom then # 5 then 7 maybe 8 If it has no rumble seat , Grease the spring .Then run good ,not to hard shocks ,T
 
It is the rear spring only ...and according tothe V8 club restoration manuel it has one less leaf for a roadster or coupe versus a sedan .....I am just trying to determine which leaf is removed.
 
If you have the green Ford parts book, it will tell you the combination of leaves for each body style. It does not give you the length of each, but you can get an idea of which leaves are common for each body style and this will give you a guide for which leaf to eliminate from a heavy spring.
 
A Roadster in 33 had Nine Apr 33 to jan 34 10. Fordor tudor had 11 sedan delivery.12 .I am not sure what they removed at Ford for a Roadster . I removed them from the rear ,I had a spring made for the front and it was far to stiff so i removed about three .On a stock spring you may take one . If your spring is sagged then non.! it determines how strong you current spring is ,
This all has to be balanced with your shocks ,if you removed the shocks the spring should work like any coil spring ( you can jump on the car to test it )then you stiffen it up by adding shocks .Shocks are important to stop body roll .If you cannot get good stock shocks I would put on telly's ,not to stiff. I used 4 small tellys from a little hatch back 80s Mitsi .
 
Removing leaves will certainly reduce the spring rate. However if you want to do it correctly, you need the leaves that make up the proper spring. The leaves are made in three different thichnesses (Gauge) and a variety of lengths and arcs. Removing a leaf from a ten leaf spring does not equal any of the production 9 leaf springs. I just went through trying to put together a 9 leaf roadster spring for a 32. I started with a 13 leaf commercial spring, a 10 leaf sedan spring and a 9 leaf coupe spring with a broken leaf. Even with all of these, you can not build a "correct" roadster spring. Actually, the commercial spring had more common leaves than the others, maybe 3. The chassis parts details the spring leaves and you will see from part numbers that very few leaves carry from one spring to another. Henry and his group actually knew what they were doing.
Thanks
 
The car we removed springs from had about 10" above the wheel Fender ( gap) .after we finished it sat with about 2" .If you plan on carrying three large people in the rear then you may want take less out ,The roads these cars were made for in the 30s were far different than now ,I have a frame that came from Sth America most likly Argentina and the two forged arm s that the spring was attached to has been broken off due to stress and re welded and the spring is far heaver than it should be . If you are looking to build a concourse judged car then its a different story .
 
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