Spring & Shock advice

[cwerve74]

I am on the assembly side of my C3 project and am at the point where I need to make some decisions about the rear spring & shocks. I have restored everything aft of the drivers seat.
The front is still original and a next year project. What I want is a good driving machine but not a high performance beast. I don't drive particularly aggressive but do like to take a hard corner from time to time. I need to replace the rear spring and shocks on this 74 conv BB 4sp. There is too much hype in the catalogs for me to pick the replacement parts. I don't have the experience to make a good choice.

I see good words about carbon fiber springs and gas shock with at least 5 different grades/prices. Is all of this hype? What I need is some practical advice. Also there seems to me that there is a balance / relationship between all of these suspension parts Shock/sway bar/spring-- front vs back. I don't want to experiment to find this balance. I could just put in a replacement 9 leaf spring and original shock and leave the sway bar. Seems safe but on the other hand I have an opportunity (since I am replacing most of the parts) to put in better engineering. Your thoughts please...

 

[Copdogcorvettes]

A good gas shock is one of the easiest and best things you can do to restore or improve the ride and handling. I removed the composite rear spring on my 78 and went back to the steel one. The only big thing I have against these new style springs is, Heat breaks them down and wears them out much faster an any steel one. With the exhuast running right next to them, as it does unless you have side pipes, these springs well need to be replaced in a few years. They cost three times as much as the steel one and will have to be replaced more often.

Now if you have the side pipes, that would keep the heat away from them and they would last much longer. You can fine tone your ride much easier with the composite springs. They wiegh a lot less and look cool too.

If you have the side pipes or don't mind replacing the spring every few years, they are an easy way to tune up the ride and handling. Good shocks on the other hand is always a good choice and can do as much for the ride and handling as anything you can do.

This is just my .02 worth and I hope it helps in some way.

Gary

 

[Roy]

KYB Shocks

If you want excellent shocks for your Vette that will last forever and cost a reasonable amount ... buy KYB GR-2 gas shocks. They work great on my 78. Price is about $28 each with a life-time replacement warranty.