Leaf spring perches and energy suspension spring pads

[trick72nova]

So I finally have got to the point of reinstalling my 8.5" ten bolt in my 1970 chevy nova, after having all the bearings and seals replaced.
I bought the car with mono leaf springs, and am going to multi leafs, There were thick metal plates wedged in the perches which allowed for the monoleafs, the rearend is from a multileaf car originally .
My question is twofold, first, are there different versions of the multileaf spring perch for the nova; I know the car came factory with either 4leaf or 5leaf spring, so did these also have different perches? I ask this because of the difficulty I have in installing the U-bolts with the spring pads in place. The original u bolts are not long enough to reach the bottom plate and be threaded easily with the energy suspension pads in place, I have a pair of u bolts which are a half inch longer than stock which I used to mount the spring as pictured below.

As is seen, the plate still is a 1/4 inch away from being flush with the perch but the spring pads are compressed significantly with the lower plate beginning to bulge down from the pressure. On another forum, I was told that I have already overtightened it, and need to straighten the plate before reinstalling it, and that the plate dosen't have to touch the perch.
In the following thread, the picture of an identical setup shows the spring pads not nearly as compressed with the plate sitting up against the perch.
http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums...d.php?t=132409
(the picture stolen from said thread)

Could somebody please tell me what I am doing wrong?
The second question is in regards to the other side. Can anybody suggest how to use the shorter U bolts? (maybe even removing and replacing the longer U bolts from this side with the stock length ones [one at a time] and using them on the other side.)
Any help is greatly appreciated...
One more relevant image stolen from http://www.novas.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8625

[EnergyGeek]

Thanks for the detailed explanation and photos, it does help.

To answer your question about whether the factory designed different perches for the different leaves, I don't know.  I can state for a fact that our pads only come in one size for the multileaves which is most likely the size your using.  My question to you is whether or not the new mult-springs your using are factory or aftermarket?  If so tolerances are going to vary.  Looking at your image of the perch and the pads, I wouldn't be concerned with that small amount of clearance.  Also remember that those u-bolts are designed to stretch a bit so keep an eye on them and re-torque them every once in a while like you would head bolts.  Also if there is a center dowel on the spring make sure that is lined up as well.  If you really do not want that space in between the perch you could always shim it with washers as well.

I don't believe you are going to be able to use the shorter bolts in this application with the multi-springs, their just not long enough.

EnergyGeek

[trick72nova]

Actually, I was able to use a set of c-clamps to remove the longer u-bolts one at a time and replace them with shorter ones...Once the pads were compressed far enough, it worked!:D

I do thank you for the reply, tho.

On the other hand, I feel that you all should look into the rear shackle bushings for these cars... check out the photos I posted on the posting of the 1967 camaro...
I was able to machine the bolts down on a lathe... but most people probably don't have access to such tools...

[liufang898186]

A very good post and certainly these are points really useful.