Rear Leaf Springs

[JMitch19]

Looking the experience of others. My 1968 camaro is the second first gen that I have done leafs on. Both cars that I have worked on I have had to cut holes in the floor to gain access to at least half of the bolts that hold the front spring mount in. It seems that the nuts are just pressed in and not tack welded at all. Which doesn't seem like the best set up to me, but who am I to judge GM's design.



I'll get to the point. Am I doing something wrong here? Is there a secret to getting those three bolts out without having to cut up my floor? I have the drivers side done and I used a hole saw in two spots to gain access. If there is a better way to go about this I would like to know it before I tackle the passenger side. Any help would be great.

Thanks,

[6'9"Witha69]

These are simply blind clips which slip in from the underside of the car (at least they are on my '69). I ordered new ones and they were listed for 67-69. You should not have to cut anything.

[JMitch19]

Yep your are right, but what I'm having trouble with is that 3 out of the 6 bolts the nut came out of the bind clip and it just spins. The only way I could think of to hold the nut from spinning was to make an access hole in the floor so I could hold the nut form the top and turn the bolt out from the bottom. If there is another way to get to the bolt to hold it I am all ears, and I wish I would have known before cutting holes in the drivers side.

[astroracer]

You did what you had to do Jason. The J-clips are spring steel and rust very quickly. Once the bolts get "locked" into the threaded portion with rust all you will do is spin the J-clip apart when you put any kind of torque on the bolt.
I would suggest cleaning up your access holes and making a cover for them. Use stainless fasteners to bolt the pockets back in and, if you need to take them back out, simply pull the covers and unbolt them...
Mark

[CAMAROBOY69]

Yes Jason you did exactly what most people have to do when these break and just start spinning. Some people cut a notch in the frame others cut a hole in the floor. Mark (astroracer)had some great advice too about plugging the hole and using stainless fasteners.

[JMitch19]

Adam, I think Mark's idea of using a plug is a very good idea. I will probably do that for the one hole, but the other is right where the floor drops down from the seat area to the floor. I'll probably just weld a patch for that one. That least it's not in an area that is visible.

It's to bad I had to cut up the floor on the 1968. The floor on this car has no rust at all. On my 69 I didn't care. The whole floor was junk.

I'll try to get some pics up when I'm done. I'm thinking my DSE 3" drops will sit about the same height of my totally wore out mono leafs. I also finally got my budnik wheels(no tires) but I'll bolt them on anyway.

[CarlC]

You may also be able to grind the head of the bolt off, drop the spring, and re-install new hardware. I would not suggest stainless hardware in a suspension application.

[mr5231]

Jason, I just had the same thing happen to me. My floor and underside has no rust at all. It's very frustrating to have to deal with these rusty clips. Do you have any pics of the holes you cut to access the clips/nuts?

Thanks
Mike

[mr5231]

You may also be able to grind the head of the bolt off, drop the spring, and re-install new hardware. I would not suggest stainless hardware in a suspension application.

Now that sounds like a good idea. I think I can grind off the head of the bolt.

[JMitch19]

I was going to just grind the bolt head off, but then I figured I would still have cut a hole to gain access for the new nut and bolt. I'll get some pics up hopefully later night.
Does away one sell a stainless bolt kit for the leafs, or should I just check out the local hardware store?

[astroracer]

Jason, don't use stainless for "suspension" fasteners. Use Grade 8 hardware. I recommended stainless for the "pocket to body bolts" as they will work just fine in that application.
As far as covers go for the access holes you mentioned welding one in. IF you have to take the pockets back out that means you will have to cut another hole to gain access to the bolt/nut again. Make a panel that you can screw in to cover the hole/s. Seal it up with bodyshutz when you screw it to the floor with some short self tapping screws.
Mark

[NovaPwr]

I just used a cutting wheel on my grinder and ground off the heads of the stuck fasteners. Fished out the old pcs after I dropped the plate down, and reinstalled new clip nuts from under the car. What am I missing here? Seems like a lot of extra work to drill and plug holes. I'm just askin now, not tryin to offend anyone.

[CarlC]

You did it correctly. The access panels are only needed if the heads of the bolts could not be removed.

Ditto again on stainless fasteners. They are not intended for structural applications.

[z06fromhell]

chopped of the heads and fished out the remains on my 69. p.i.t.a. gotta be a better design for when i go back together with this thing......