Front Leaf Spring Covering?????

werthie · #1 (**permalink**) 08-24-2003, 09:55 PM

Hey Guys, what is that oily/waxy cheese cloth stuff that's wrapped around the front leaf spring on the 289 Cobras?? It was hanging off in rags so I pulled it all off and threw it away. I'd like to restore the front spring back to "original".
What do you recommend?
Many thanks for the help,
Alan in So.Cal.

Excaliber · #2 (**permalink**) 08-24-2003, 10:21 PM

CSX number is?

werthie · #3 (**permalink**) 08-24-2003, 11:56 PM

Excalibur,
I'm working on a very late 65 289. There's cloth around the springs on all the 289's I've seen, including CSX2006, which was the first Cobra sold to a member of the public.
Let me know if you have any advice on how to duplicate this stuff.
Thanks,
Alan

Mark IV · #4 (**permalink**) 08-25-2003, 06:38 AM

The impregnated (I didn't do it..) wrap is available. AC still buys it in the UK, you may be able to source it here as it is similar to wrap used on many antique cars. Try Restoration Specialties in Windber, PA. or search the web.

It is messy stuff...

Rick

computerworks · #5 (**permalink**) 08-25-2003, 06:43 AM

Send a message to user Jim Maxwell. He recently redid the leaf spring coverings on his 289 restoration project.

Specialk · #6 (**permalink**) 08-25-2003, 09:19 AM

werthie

If you find a source, please let us know. I would like to know were to get it also.

Jim Maxwell · #7 (**permalink**) 08-25-2003, 10:00 AM

I recently redid the original spring wrap on the front and rear springs of CSX 2149. The tape is available as Denso tape (also known as Drevo tape). The stuff comes in rolls and I found that one roll will do one spring. You might want to buy one extra roll for the entire job (three rolls total) to be sure. Piecing the wrap is not a problem, although I managed to not have to do that on each half. (The spring is wrapped on each end, but not across the middle where the spring shackles are).
I removed the old tape by cutting it off with a utility knife-just sliced along the top of the length of the spring and pulled it off. Pay attention to where the tape begins and ends on the spring so that when you re-cover it you will tape the same areas. I have photos of the wrap before removal if its too late for that for you.
We mucked up the original tape when we stripped the paint with baking soda blasting. That grease turned an ugly shade of dark barf green when coated with baking soda!

The question of how you get the stuff tied off at the end was one I had as well. The stuff is so darned sticky that you just massage it a little and it blends in to the adjacent tape and won't come undone, no fixation required. You can wrap the springs without removing them from the car. It helps if the engine is out and if the interior is out and you can wrap from the cockpit. It would be a struggle to wrap the rear from below!

I purchased the Denso tape, which is exactly like the stuff that came off of 2149, from The Complete Automobilist, in England.
http://www.completeautomobilist.co.u...e/itm00182.htm
There may be somewhere here in the US you can get it, but I couldn't find it. If anywhere has it, L.A. should. I'll try to get a manufacturer's name off the packaging. The stuff is at my partner's home where the restoration is being done, so I can't get to it immediately, but I'll ask him to look.
I have seen restored 289's with a white or off-white wrap on the springs, but I don't think that is the way they looked new. This Denso stuff looks right to me.
It is really messy and awkward to get around the spring, but you can do it. Wrap it with the wheels on the floor. If its "hanging" on jack stands, the springs are pulled down and its harder to get the tape around the spring at several points.
A single overlapped layer of Denso is all that was on the car originally, so that's what I put back on.
Let me know any other questions you have and I'll try to answer them.

Jim Maxwell · #8 (**permalink**) 08-25-2003, 10:34 AM

There is a Denso North America in Houston, but they sell by the case, at $367, per case, enough to do the entire original Cobra production run! Plus, I'm not sure any of the US products are the correct stuff, from talking to the gentleman there. An industrial Pipe company might carry it, but I think the time you spend trying to find it makes it worthwhile just to order it from England.

Andy FIA · #9 (**permalink**) 08-26-2003, 06:40 PM

Jim - We use Denso tape quite a lot in the oil industry over here for corrosion protection of all types of machinery in a marine environment. It should be available in smaller quantities than a crate, I think the boxes that we are supplied with contain about 9 or 12 rolls. Denso tape is horrible stuff to work with, but I don't think any other product comes close when it comes to "sticktion". I can't decide whether to tape up the springs on my car or just leave them naked!

Andy

werthie · #10 (**permalink**) 08-26-2003, 07:29 PM

Many thanks to Jim Maxwell for his excellent post and the link to Denso/Devro tape. I'm hoping Jim will post a few pictures, so we can all see (i) where the wrapping ends, (ii) the amount of overlap, and (iii) the direction of the wrapping (out from the middle, or in from the ends?).
Andy, how about sending few rolls to the colonies? How "horrible" is it? What do you use to clean up the sticky/greasy mess that will certainly get all over my nice clean engine compartment?
I love this forum . . . .
Alan

Jim Maxwell · #11 (**permalink**) 08-26-2003, 07:54 PM

Alan, I am looking for pics of the springs. I must have left them in Davidson, NC where the car is. I have found pics of the wrap on Bill Lawrence's one owner 289, but the detail is such that I haven't decided whether its wrapped in to out of out to in! The wrap on my 2401 is very disintegrated, but looks out to in, but may not be original. I feel certain that 2149 had original wrap , so I'll check that as soon as I find the photos.
While the stuff is messy, it doesn't drip grease. Your hands will be slimy, but I don't think you will ruin much else.