Correct finish for leaf springs

Yesterday I started stripping off the black paint on the 3400044 leaf springs I just picked up for my 1971 Cuda and found that someone had painted them white at one time and under that was bare metal. I have read they came either painted black or bare steel. I soaked the front eyelet in Evaporust overnight and it brought out the paint marks...looks like a yellow and white swipe on each, I love finding factory paint marks !!!
My question is: What finish looks closest to a bare/natural finish set of leaf springs? I had some parts powder coated in cast steel but it doesn't look like close enough to an OEM finish for my taste.

The black paint used on leaf springs was usually very thin. They were dipped as a completed unit all at once, are you sure they weren't painted black? Sure looks like little specs of black paint in your pics?

Scott,
When I stripped the top coat of Black paint off there was a heavy coat of White paint that looked brushed on, once I stripped that off it was bare metal, I see the specks of black your referring too but I assume those are left over paint on the white because there wasn't any large patches of OEM black visable. Were they always black ?

No they weren't always black, but a lot were and the paint was so thin and low quality most wore off in short order so you really need to have a keen eye to spot remnants on a car that's seen a lot of miles or weather.

Shouldn't the part numbers be one even and one odd at the end (44) . . . left & right ??

Wonder if that white is pastel pink? Seen that color on them.

Likely a none axle package Cuda with an automatic.

Black or bare.

The other colors were for the 'parts pickers' at the plant as a quick visual ID to get the parts they needed.

Close...its just a standard 3.23 S/G with a 4 speed.

Here's a couple pics of an original T/A's leaf springs

I will try to research that a little more I don't have the greatest original marks to go off of and had to up the saturation levels of the color to pull what I have out...I'm just happy I found something to use but I do want to accurately reapply them. I know it's not what the original post should be but does anyone have a better picture of what the paint marks should be ?

I took the leaf springs apart today to look for more evidence of original black paint between the leafs, I found nothing to indicate they were black from the factory. So I'm back to my original question: What is the best way to get the bare metal look? I did some searching and there was an article on Mopar Connection magazine from a few years back it recommended using RPM or Seymour's Stainless Steel paint, Has anybody tried this? Since they are getting sandblasted I would think that the RPM coating won't be an option.

http://moparconnectionmagazine.com/gallery-get-sprung-restoring-your-leaf-springs/

Since they were painted as an assembly there will be very little black paint between the leaves. Either way, skip sand blasting them and soak them in a PVC pipe full of Evaporust. Once dipped any remaining black paint (if any) will be much easier to spot as the Evaporust won't remove it. Scrub off any remaining residue with a scotch brite pad and rinse them in thinner as opposed to water to clean up the residue. Once done you should have a nice natural bare steel. Originals that were unpainted had nothing on them, so anything you paint them with will be considered "wrong" at the O.E. level. If you don't care about that then there are tons of paint choices, use your eye to best match the natural color of the clean metal.
.02

Thanks Scott

Evaporust can & will remove paint if the parts are left in too long.

Been there, done that.

So for marks / paint research, I learned to soak for an hour, check, photograph.

Check again in an hour, inspect, photograph, etc.

Repeat as needed.

The more rust removed, go with shorter times in between to soak, inspect & photograph.

It is amazing what details can be seen if caught at the right time.

Make sure that any parts are degreased first too, so the ER can work on the rust without fighting any residue.

(Doesn't hold-up...

Those weren't the OP's pics they were examples of black springs. There was someone on here who refinished "bare" springs using some gun bluing? They looked very nice and I would like to see them again with the process as I am planning on refinishing mine. Anyone? Ditto on the Seymoure's paint as well. Looks good, but I wouldn't use it unless on small brackets or with some serious primer underneath.

Really? I have a road runner convertible I did the springs with this paint 20 years ago. They still look great.

If we're talking Seymour rattle-can SS paint, absolutely nothing I sprayed it on held-up...

Even a clean, primed license-plate bracket bled through with rust...

I'd never use it again...


Got road time on this RR drop-top???


I got 23 years of road time on this car...

My springs are sprayed black...


Got to touch 'em up pretty much every year...

I agree. Instead of paint, before assembly I put RPM on on each leaf. They still look great after 2 years.

BTW - I'm working on the set of springs I purchased from you back in November. Currently soaking in ER.

From what I have observed on unrestored/survivor cars, if it was equipped with a Dana 60, the leaf springs were painted black. Cars equipped with an 8-3/4 rear end could have come either black or natural, but I've seen more unrestored/survivor 8-3/4 cars with black springs than natural.

My car is a Dana 60 car and the leaf springs were definitely black from the factory. When I disassembled them for restoration, there was no black paint in-between the leafs, as Scott Smith stated. The tolerancing was too tight to allow the paint to flow between the leafs. Evaporust is the best method to strip the springs. It takes a little longer depending on how much rust is present, but the results are outstanding.

I have decided to powder coat my leaf springs, my Powder Coater showed my some parts he did in a color called "Black Jack" and since I'm not 100% certain they were bare, since there are some small flakes of black I think this will be a good maintenance free choice. I'm not going for O.E. concourse but do want thing to resemble factory somewhat. Thanks for all the help and advice.

Natural finish on springs:

Spring leaves are a hot rolled steel product usually with intact mill scale when relatively new. After being produced at a steel mill as a flat bar, leaf springs are further hot worked to taper the thickness and heat treated to obtain desired properties. The end result is mill scale on the surfaces, an oxide of iron, usually almost black or very dark blue.

At any Home Depot, Lowe's or other building materials emporium, look at the hot rolled steel concrete reinforcing bar, square tubing, flat bars, angles, etc. All these hot rolled steel items have a very dark range of colors, such as dark gray or very dark blue. Not silver, not anything like Seymour's Stainless Steel paint.

What you are looking at is intact mill scale. Natural finish steel springs should be the same color as front suspension forgings, another hot worked steel part with mill scale.

The best way I know to duplicate the look of black or dark blue mill scale on spring leaves is gun bluing after rust removal with Evapo-Rust. As said above, wash off the Evapo-rust with mineral spirits, then apply gun bluing according to the bluing directions.

Notice the blue color of hot rolled steel in the bottom photos.

As said in the link below, mill scale, a combination of FeO, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4, is "bluish black in color".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_scale

This photo from the link is loose mill scale pieces from hammering on red hot steel on an anvil. Mill scale on a relatively new and un-weathered spring leaf will be intact and tightly adhering.

Just dipped these drums in Evaporust (one at a time overnight) both look like the one on the right now. I'm doing these up like seasoning a new frying pan. Got some lard from my butcher (bacon grease works too) and smeared it all over the bare surfaces and baked in the oven at 250 for a couple hours. Leaves a slightly darker color with a dull sheen and should stave off rust for a good long while in dry weather driving.....We'll see, I'll post pics in the fall to see how well it works or not.

*BTW, that's the original red factory paint, the Evaporust didn't affect it in the least bit

Scott you should try toilet ring wax ,it wicks into the metal pores and stands up really well.
I learnt this trick from Mustie1 on YouTube

I tried that with my frying pans but my scrambled eggs started tasting like Sh*t.

😂

Seriously though, Ive seen that. The Linseed Oil is the key to his mix, its a well known rust inhibitor, the wax he mixes it with is just a carrier/sealer.

LMAO...

(Only thing I've used that for is to 'cut' primer for paint going on 'old' wood...

I'm not inclined to use that on my wood

I stopped by powder coating guys house last week and he showed me a clutch inspection cover that he sand blasted and coated in a Matte powder and it looked like great so that's the direction I'm going now along with other front and rear suspension parts. I'll post pictures once I get them back.

Great!! Now I can't eat eggs.!!!

Nuttn' but bacon grease on these. Couple hours in the oven today and they look like this. I'll post some more pics this fall after some summer driving, we'll see how they hold up.

*One thing to note since these are brake drums, the area inside where the shoes contact was not coated and the entire inside was de-greased with brake cleaner before installation.

that looks really good ! nice job !

I thought I would post a finished example of my restored leaf springs, after much deliberation and trial and errors with my powder coater I went with a natural finish. After I soaked them in Evaporust We decided to glass bead them and coat them in a Matte Clear powder for durability. I'm happy with the finished results and I reapplied the paint Daubs I found after the Evaporust did it's job.

That was the case with 440 and Hemi cars...

My broadcast sheet shows "044" for both left and right leaf springs for my 71' 340 Cuda but you are correct that most leaf springs seem to be different numbers.

Unfortunately the entire spring would have been dipped in the black paint. I left my leaf separators and spring clamps Zinc colored as well. Couldn't make myself scuff and paint them.

044 is correct and it looks like you did a great job on your springs.