Because the rear leaf springs were not painted, they were (as William notes) left a mottled color. I wanted "pretty" ones on my Z. Here is what I did. Doesn't make it right. But I like the outcome. BTW, I made my own clamps. Bought some "100% factory correct" and the were NOT the same thickness, so i made some. I also made the "rivets" from carriage bolts.
1. Disassemble leaf springs. Keep then in sets.
2. Sandblast each leaf individually. There will be TINY, TINY pits that even fine sand won't remove.
3. Clean them very well.
4. Clean them again with lacquer thinner.
5. Clean them one more time.
6. Spray down with Permatex rust converter (no, do NOT, REPEAT DO NOT THINK YOU CAN USE THIS ON A RUSTED BODY PANEL AND MAKE IT SAFE TO PAINT... DO NOT) on the bare leaves. You will be shocked how much of the "clean" sand blasted surface turns black from the converter.
7. Go over each one with 1000 grit paper.
8. Clean
9. Clean
10. Lightly dust with any one of the quality "cast iron" paints. I believe I used Duplicolor, but it may have been Seymour.
I like how they turned out. Still look good today, 5 years later. I sprayed them down with Remington gun oil (kind of like Boeshield).
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