Well , let's see - when I bought my '49 , the lowrider I got it from had heated the original springs , they were mostly rusty red as MT guggests , with a generous bit of light brown 90W on the left one courtesy of the leaky steering box , various shades of grease with some grey mud on the passenger side spring . now I have noce new shiny black springs but since greasing them they are beginning to look like the old ones did..
