My restorer is putting my 8.5 Nova rear under my 68. The rear has multileaf perches and I bought Hotchkis 3 leaf 2407C and correct multi leaf shock plates. I added the extra little metal pad for thickness purpose. He just called and said the bushings that come with the kit don't fit around the bolt heads and the heads are a little loose in the opening in the urethane pads w/o them. He thought maybe we should leave the urethane pad out of the top but we both think that will not be thick enough to draw it all up tight. So where we are now is he are using both pads, no bushings and hoping the hole thing smashes together sufficiently to not squirm.

Any other recommendations?

I've got a hotchkis on my 67.it was a single leaf but I did not add the multi leaf perches. I need a little more info to understand whats going on. Where exactly does the bushing go? The bolts,and i assume you mean the U clamps that go over the axle tube are loose at the urethane pad? are they loose on the shock mount plate? how loose? I dont think you're gonna be able to leave the pads out

The bolt I'm referring to is the one that goes through the hole in the center of each leaf and is used to center the entire spring in the perch. On multileaf perches there is a hole in the center of the perch just under the axle where that bolt's head should fit into so the entire spring is centered correctly. The urethane pads are 1/2 inch thick and also have a hole that the bolt head goes into. It doesn't fit real tight. Hotchkis also gives you 4 bushings that presumably can slip over the head of that centering bolt and then into the urethane pad but the inner diameter is too small to fit over the centering bolt head so we left the bushings off. I'm pretty sure I read other threads here where others have left those off but I haven't found one yet.

That should be fine as long as you don't hear the leaf squeaking from not having the rubber pad... The main thing is to have the bolt from the leaf go in the perch to keep it centered..

They left both upper and lower pads in. The pads have a raised centering section that goes into a hole in the perch, then the head of the bolt going thru the springs fits into that hole. It just doesn't fit real snug in there.

Winch - I tried to install mine with the upper pad and the bushing but crushed the bushing doing so. Then I had the hole for the locating pin (bolt that holds the spring stack together) filled and carefully drilled so as not to drill through the axle tube and to allow the pin to fit and keep the rear end in proper alignment. I didn't use the upper pad and had Hotchkis send me a couple extra spacer plates and have 2 installed on each side under the spring. I did this because when I had the springs installed in mono perches the rear end shifted on me leaving the tires not centered in the wheel wells and I didn't want to risk the pin floating in the alingment hole like it did with no hole...

Dennis, The problem you had probably had to do with mono leaf perches. They don't have as deep a hole as do multileaf perches. The pad bump fits all the way in on multileaf.

UPDATE: I finally found the thread that addressed leaving the little bushing out: http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=85143&highlight=2407C

Dennis, The problem you had probably had to do with mono leaf perches. They don't have as deep a hole as do multileaf perches. The pad bump fits all the way in on multileaf.

UPDATE: I finally found the thread that addressed leaving the little bushing out: http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=85143&highlight=2407C

On my 12 bolt the mono perches didn't have a centering hole, it's way over to the side and end so there is no place for the pin to locate at all. I'm sure that is what caused or allowed the movement. When I decided not to run the pad and shim I figured the pin could move as much as 1/4" in the hole and didn't want to risk having any movement. The pad cushions but also acts as a gasket once compressed, without it I figured metal to metal might slip and leave the tire not centered in the wheel well. Even if it were just a little I didn't want it. I had a lot of trust in the guy that welded in the locating hole and drilled it out to just fit the pin head....

The Hotchkis center bolt is just a bolt, not a special spring bolt with taller head like a factory spring. This makes it much more likely to slip in the upper pad since it isn't sticking up very much. The lower end has the nut but I've seen that slip past the hole if the car has much power. The pads also allow the rear axle to rock on the leaf, which was pretty easy to see when we put the car on the chassis dyno, also a guy stopped me wile in line at an autox and told me he saw the housing rocking as I moved the car up in line.

For those reasons, I like to leave the pads out and use steel or aluminum spacer blocks to clamp the spring tightly.

Be sure and check your pinion angle, I had to use wedge shims on top of the leaf to correct it.
David

The shop said it's in and bolted up tight with no problems. He said it sits considerably lower in the rear now. We don't have rear shocks on it yet. Will that make a difference? These are Hotchkis 2407C 1 1/2 - 2 " lowering springs. I was afraid that would be a problem especially since the car has the original 6 cyl front springs but now has a 350 with aluminum heads, intake and headers. I thought I have read that a 6 cyl weighs more than an 8 but according to the book it's 151 lbs less so I don't know with my set up how the weight compares. I need to read up on cutting the springs down or lowering springs or drop spindles etc. Then again if I remove the top pad which it sounds like maybe I should, I'll gain back about 1/2 inch. Or I might even consider switching to standard arch leaf springs, maybe 4 or 5 leaf this time.

Let me also ask this: If I decide to bail on these Hotchkis springs, what is the difference in 4 or 5 leaf spring (height, ride etc). And why are 5 leafs always less expensive the 4 which is less than 3??

My .02:

The shocks won't change ride height.
I'm not sure what you are asking. Didn't you get the Hotchkis springs to lower the car?
I have these in my 69 and it still was a bit too high for my tastes. I added 1 inch lowering blocks to get the back in a bit lower. The 1 inch block lowered it about 1/2 inch.

Is the front too high now?
Stay away from drop spindles. use different springs or coil overs. You can cut the stock springs, but it is trial and error.
I ended up with coil overs so I could dial it in.

joe

I knew I needed new springs and bought the Hotchkis about 5 years ago when I caught a great sale they were having and everyone seemed to be recommending them. I didn't know much about lowering the car or even if I wanted to. I just want it to look good and handle nice. I think I'm only going to be about an inch higher in the front than the back and maybe even only a 1/2 after I remove the top urethane pad in the back. I have decided for now to wait until it is all together to decide what to do and then I'll probably start with cutting the coils that are in it. It doesn't appear to be that big a job.

Thanks for the advice

I knew I needed new springs and bought the Hotchkis about 5 years ago when I caught a great sale they were having and everyone seemed to be recommending them. I didn't know much about lowering the car or even if I wanted to. I just want it to look good and handle nice. I think I'm only going to be about an inch higher in the front than the back and maybe even only a 1/2 after I remove the top urethane pad in the back. I have decided for now to wait until it is all together to decide what to do and then I'll probably start with cutting the coils that are in it. It doesn't appear to be that big a job.

Thanks for the advice Just my 2-cents... But if the front springs are new and the car hasn't been driven yet to absorb the up/down/side to side motion then they may not be settled in yet. Also as you must know by now is the weight of the car should be on the ground and after bouncing it up and down a few times, even roll it back and forth to get the tires/front end back aligned THEN tighten the front end up.

Front springs are the original 6 cyl springs and have never been removed. Rear were replaced with Hotchkis 2407C as start of restore. When it's all done and back from the shop I'll measure and decide how to proceed