I am getting ready to replace my sagging monoleafs on my 68 camaro plain jane 327/275 with THM350. After reading some posts it appears the 3 leaf mono replacements for 68 nova from JC Whitney will work. Is this a straight bolt in replacement or is there some modification neccesary?

Bolt them in!

They are on my car now, but you will have to trim the pad lips off CAREFULLY using a boxknife!!

I am running poly pads and was real careful trimming the lips off b/c you can cut h-ll outta yourself if not CAREFUL!!

This is b/c the mono's are dual tapered wide and thin at each end and narrow and thick at the pads.. Whereas ALL other springs are the same size end to end..

Oh, and replace your stock, "T"-bolts if they are used with four (4) "U"-bolts... OR at the min, one (1) "U"-bolt per side!! This is b/c the little "T"-bolts have been known to break off and there goes your rearend wherever it wants ta go...

pdq67

Thanks for the quick reply pdq67 Those 3 leafs look good for the money. To do mono - nova 3 leaf upgrade will all I need is : new shackles for rear spring mount, 4 U bolts as you mentioned (what P/N would I get?) do the springs come with front bushings already? I dont quite understand about trimming pads is this something that comes with the new springs? I am in unfamiliar territory here.

Sorry, can't help you with a PN for "U"-bolts b/c mine are Boneyard parts circa '69 or so??.. I think that maybe a search here will turn up a PN for "U"-bolts but it's been a while so really don't know??

You really don't need new rear shackles b/c you can clean your stock ones up and reuse them..

As for poly pads, you have to order them.. Jegs I think or Summit??

What I am saying about new pads is that the stock mono's fit, but the three leaf mono replacements are too wide, so you will have to cut the side lips off both sides so they are flat so the three leaf replacement springs will fit unto the new poly or new stock rubber pads is all.. No big deal at all sorta deal.......

Almost forgot, but you really should do a search for "clip-nuts" or "clipnuts" here b/c they tend to break off at the front leaf spring mount location and you need to be prepared with dealing with this very common problem!! I bought new clipnuts so was prepared!! AND a handy-dandy, 4.5" el-cheapo angle grinder makes short work of cutting the bolt heads off spinning/broken stock clipnuts so you can remove the front spring hanger mounts!! Use my pdq67 handle for the clipnut search if you want to b/c it's all here somewhere...

pdq67

Another option is to leave out the rubber or polly pads and fill in with a spacer plate if you need to.

That will eliminate having to carve on your spring perch, because the mono perch will accept the three leaf spring if the pads are left off.
David

Quick question David. How much noise/vibration will be transmitted by leaving out the poly pads?

I ordered the 3 leaf/mono replacements today from JCW do the leaf springs come with front bushings already? I also am confused about install hardware is the kit # c-7454-05K from NPD the correct kit for these 3 leaf springs? I am also trying to figure out from other posts what front mount fasteners to use are NPD brand ok?

Yes, they come with stock type front rubber bushings. And order bushings and pads for a mono leaf..

First thing I did was burn the new rubber bushings out, beat the cans out and then installed all new poly!! Front and rear...

pdq67

do these springs lower the car like the hotchkis springs? The hotchkis are 3 leaf also right? If so what is the JCW part number and how much are they?

Thanks
Joe

[ 11-29-2004, 09:33 PM: Message edited by: Joe Harrison ]

I think I posted my car's rear height with them on while I had it down on the ground before I installed two extra leafs in them for more rate??

Might try doing a search under my handle to see...

But I gotta sneaking feeling that they are the same springs b/c I thought mine was a schosh low, but then again, my car has always been up in the air in the back so its hard for me to really tell on mine at least..

pdq67

After reviewing other posts I have come up with the following to upgrade the mono to 3leaf JCW springs Frt. leaf mtg kit(6 bolts/jnuts clips), new frt eye bolts (2), new rear shackles (2), new pads (4) leafspring multi top/bottom, and (4) ubolts 7/16Thread x3 1/16wide x 6 3/4long do I need to be concerned when torquing u bolts in any axle tube distortion. I was trying to figure out why they used T bolts instead of U bolts in this application. I strongly agree that the U bolt fastener seems like a better solution. I am also changing body mount bushings while Im under there also and shocks. Thanks again to all for the excellent discussion.

I put the JCW 3 leaf springs on my 68 monoleaf car. I bought the multileaf install kit(because it has u-bolts instead of t-bolts) and trimmed the rubber pads and only used 1 on each side. I also got new shackles and I'm glad I did, I had to cut apart the originals to get the old springs out. If you have a JCW catalog, you can get the 10-15% off on the springs as well. It raised the rear of my car back up 1-1/2 to 2" compared to the sagging monoleafs. I sold the car so I can't give any measurements though. Check here for some pictures of how the car sat.
68 LT1 Camaro (http://cjcfo.fbody.com/members/jeffhansbury@comcast.net/68LT1/)

Jeff, Thats exactly the height I am looking for, I currently sit forward in my seat when driving because it feels like I am leaning back to far. Someone else mentioned having to make a spacer between lower shock plate and upper mount is this why you only used 1 rubber pad per side? I ordered the springs online and got free shipping and deffered payment. I think thats a great deal!

Obviously the 3 leaf replacements are thicker than the monoleaf so if you were to put both rubber pads in then the lower shock plate would be sticking pretty far down. I didn't have any problems with what I did. My car handled great with the new springs, new shocks and 255/50/16 tires in the back and 245/50/16 tires in the front.

Yup,

I have the JCW 3 leafs installed too! They seem like a good spring for the money and did raise my rear height about 1" over the sagging monoleafs. Now my car sits level.

I have attached some pics if anyone is interested.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-6/238845/Dsc01134.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-6/238845/Dsc01137.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-6/238845/Dsc01138.jpg

- Mark