What color were stock 240Z springs?

[bacarl]

I thought for sure that my car had stock springs but tonight I was sandblasting and found blue paint under the rust and crud. I was expecting simple black paint or plain e-coat. The blue blasts off easily and there is a very tough black layer underneath. The car is almost completely original; I bought it from its first owner who kept everything from the original worn out tires when he replaced them, to the original sealed beams when he had the car painted. So I was expecting stock springs. The car did have Koni inserts installed in 1975, so perhaps new springs were installed along with the gas shocks?

Does anyone recognize these? They look pretty similar to Jetaway's springs in this thread.

Edited September 14, 2013 by bacarl

[AZ-240z]

Brian,

The springs could very well be stock. The correct color would have been a semi-gloss black, but depending on the location, each spring was coded with

a splash of color. The rear springs had a white dab of paint, the right front had a white dab of paint, and the left front had both a red and a blue dab of paint.

Do a search on stock springs and I am sure you will find a nice picture and explanation of what you need.

Dan

[26th-Z]

I completely agree considering the picture you posted, Brian.

[240260280z]

Springs were same L&R spring constants in front and in back but one spring was longer (+ more coil count) in the front to compensate for motor location weight bias. Look in FSM under suspension specs at end of each chapter to see this.

Edited September 14, 2013 by Blue

[AZ-240z]

Brian,

The springs could very well be stock. The correct color would have been a semi-gloss black, but depending on the location, each spring was coded with

a splash of color. the right front had a white dab of paint, and the left front had both a red and a blue dab of paint.

Dan

Sorry, but I miss-spoke in my reply, as it was late! The right front color code paint dab should be blue, not white.

[bacarl]

Thanks for the info, Dan! I had searched for stock spring color but it's tough to wade through all the threads from people doing suspension rebuilds when you do a search like that.

So the rears have white dots (since they're equivalent left to right), the right front has blue paint only, and the left front has both blue and red paint?

I checked the FSM and sure enough, Blue's right. The left and right front spring rates are both 1.48 kg/mm, and both are 10 turns, but the free height on the left is 373.5mm vs. 386mm on the right.

[bacarl]

Ok, piggy backing off my own thread here... while I'm on the subject of original springs, it seems my options are pretty limited for refreshing the suspension... I can

1) reuse my original springs with KYB dampers (any other choices??)

2) go with a lowering spring and appropriate shock (Tokico Illumina and Tokico Performance springs, if I can find some)

Am I missing anything?

I've never been a fan of aggressively lowering a car. Yes it looks great. But it generally alters suspension geometry and details that are very carefully developed by the manufacturer. Also the higher rates of lowering springs degrade ride. Everyone knows this. That being said I wouldn't mind a subtle decrease in ride height and corresponding handling improvement, I just feel that most "performance" springs are too aggressive.

But if I keep it stock-ish with the plain-jane KYB's, the gas pressure in the shock will increase ride height??

So long story short, are my only options to lower the car significantly, or to raise it slightly from stock?