Front spring clamp question

wrndln

Well-known member
First I am a model A fellow, so please be easy on me.
A friend recently gave me a front spring he replaced with a new spring. It looked like an original Ford spring (clipped leaves), which came off an early 28 sport coupe - first half of the 28. The coupe hadn't been driven for decades. The spring clamps I removed looked odd to me. As you can see in the pictures, the ends aren't clipped like all the original model A clamps I have seen. In addition, the indentation that keeps the clamp in place also looks unusual. At first I thought they were old aftermarket clamps, but after beadblasting, them I could see a Ford script lightly stamped on the top of each clamp - lower area in the second picture. I tried to use some chalk to highlight the script, but it didn't help much, as the script was lightly stamped. A regular clamp is on the left with the unusual clamp on the right. Next, I though maybe the clamps were carry overs from late model T's. The clamps fit model A springs. I thought that model T parts were usually a little smaller than model A parts. The clamps in question are 1 13/16" for the inside (there the spring goes) measurement. I was hoping you model T fellows might shed some light on the clamps.
Thanks

Rusty Nelson
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  • Ft spring clip comparison 1.jpg
    Ft spring clip comparison 1.jpg
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  • Ft spring clip comparison 2.jpg
    Ft spring clip comparison 2.jpg
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The front springs on Model T's was not a wide as the spring on Model A's so the clamp wouldn't fit on the A spring. I don't know a lot about the Model TT trucks, but that clipped clamp looks like the repro front TT clamp that vendors sells. I wonder if the spring on the TT was Model A sized, and then it could possibly be that Ford used leftover TT clamps on early A's.
 
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