Painting Springs?

[RupertW]

Hello all, 

I'm tidying up a chassis and wondering whether or not I should paint the road springs? I've seen plenty with painted springs but I'm wondering if paint gets between the leaves will it effect their operation or will it wear off fairly rapidly?

Opinions welcome!

[Hedd_Jones]

i paint mine when I fit them, but I dont go mad. the more you put on the more likely it is to flake off. 

In maintainance terms, i now just paint them with whatever product you use to protect the underside of the car. For me ankorwax. 

I do not lubricate them however, just coat them.

[David Stepney]

My RP's handbook recommends that the road springs be lubricated with penetrating oil. Working on the basis that the factory knew what it was doing, I use old engine oil, making sure that the weight is off the springs so that the oil gets between the leaves. It makes the suspension reasonably soft and cures a multitude of squeaks.

[Nick Turley]

Over the years. I have always painted the springs before fitting them. 
Starting with new springs (obtained from Ian Dunford)  is always a nice start.

Then I always fit leather spring gaiters then I can fill the gaiter with grease.
What caused me to think this way was I stripped a Phantom 2 chassis and removed the spring gaiters and literally the original springs were like new !

So all my cars now have them.
More upmarket cars had gaiters fitted as standard in the day. 
They were a much used accessory for Austin sevens.

[bob46320]

Don't use undercoat, keep the paint thickness on the thinner side of things. Don't worry about paint between the leaves - that is the least of your problems.

[Bob Culver]

My father used to recount that a springmaker told him in the early 50s that the main reason springs broke was persons oiling them!. However if the deflections do not increase it does help protect from fatigue. But on RPs the s.a control is  inadequate. Possibly oiling does not greatly affect the rebound conditon. Gaiters are fine if fully maintained but if water enters are very detrimental. I have always oiled the springs on my 1960s car but with no other attention, it does over 40 years and 150000 miles eventually make for a mess.

[Duncan Grimmond]

Nick makes a very good point. I painted the outside of my springs and a oiled them when the paint was dry. Several months on the edges and exposed ends show thin, fine rusty oil coming out from between the leaves. I am now dosing them regularly with grease, old oil and the drips from the catch tray below and take the weight off as mentioned above to allow capillary action to suck some oil in. If I ever get round to taking them off I'll make gaiters and fill them with grease.

[Andy Bennett]

I greased my new springs and then wrapped in denso tape about 5 years ago now and all look good and appear rust free, although of course I can't see behind the tape and appreciate some have said they had bad experience with denso.

[Howard Wright]

Hi All

I replaced the springs on my RK a year ago.  The ones that came off had led a hard life but I’m guessing they had been on the car for at least 30 years.  At my age (nearly 70) I doubt I shall need to replace them again even if don’t paint them.  So painting spring as far as I’m concerned is just for cosmetic reasons  .

Cheers

Howard

[RupertW]

Thanks all, some really useful comments. From a purely cosmetic perspective I'd like to both paint and wrap the springs, but can certainly appreciate the concerns around wrapping hiding corrosion or broken springs