I am installing a 8.5 10-bolt from a Nova in my 67. The car has multi leaf springs which I know were not originial to the car. The car was actually my mom's and was restored about 13 years ago by my dad. I remember the rear sagging really bad before the resto which is why leafs were added. The springs made it to where the shocks were about 4-5 inches too short and extensions need to be added. The rear is so stiff it doesn't hardly move when I sit on the rear bumper and I'm like 230lbs. In the process of installing the new rear I noticed that there isn't really anyway for me to exactly locate the position of the rear. Is the bolt going through the springs supposed to stick up far enough to stick into the holes in the perches? It barely sticks up above the rubber pad, its the original rubber and is pretty much smashed. The car originally had mono leafs. So did someone just add leafs and not use a longer bolt? Sorry for the long post. Just looking for some help.

It does sound like someone has added a leaf, which if it is that stiff. In my opinion i would take out a leaf, but yes the bolt should line up and rest in the perch. Also the weight of the car should be on the ground before you torque down all bolts.

Is it the springs ot shocks? Disconnect the lower shock mounts and set the car back down on the ground bounce it...

When you put multi-leafs in a mono-leaf perch there is no hole for the spring stack bolt to fit in (its in a different place for the monos) so the bolt head may have been modified or replaces with one that is flatter. You do need the alignment pin to fit into the pocket in the pad and the pad to fit into the hole in the perch.

When the car is jacked up with the rear end hanging from the suspension the shocks should be a bit short of bolting up when fully extended, even with shock extensions.

The car was restored this way about 12 years ago. To this day with the wheels on the ground and all the weight of the vehicle on the wheels the shocks are about 4 inches short. And with the shock extensions they are still almost fully extended. Luckily it only had a six banger in it and my mom drove slow. if you hit a bump in a curve your in dep "S" if you know what i mean. it will lift the rear off the ground if you break too hard also and I don't mean heavy braking....So can I go to NAPA or something and get a longer pin for the springs? the new rearend is for multi-leaf.

The car was restored this way about 12 years ago. To this day with the wheels on the ground and all the weight of the vehicle on the wheels the shocks are about 4 inches short. And with the shock extensions they are still almost fully extended.

That's your problem right there! The only time the shocks should be to short to fit on is when the rear of the car is jacked up and on stands and the rear end is hanging under the car by the suspension with the wheels just off the ground. The right shock will be about 2" short when fully extended, you jack up the rear end just a little to attach the shocks.

I'm gonna remove some leafs and see where I end up. Apprarantly I'm not the only person who has had this problem.

I'm gonna remove some leafs and see where I end up. Apprarantly I'm not the only person who has had this problem.


You can remove all the leafs you want but it won't help if you have shocks that are too short like you describe!

You can remove all the leafs you want but it won't help if you have shocks that are too short like you describe!

I know that before the 4 extra springs were added, the car had a tire rubbing problem. I'm assuming that means the car was sitting lower. If I remove some of the "helper" springs would this not lower the car via the springs having less tension? I was told that helper springs were just added to the original mono leaf.

I took off the driver side leaf springs and removed the 2 lower leafs. I haven't got it back on the car yet but before I took the spring apart it wouldn't hardly budge with my weight on it (230lbs). After the leafs were removed the spring flexed quite a bit. Maybe this will fix my problem. There are still 2 more leafs on there than the car originally had.

Hmm...4" eh. sounds like the diameter of an axle!

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