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I have a Shackleton Foden lorry. A previous owner has replaced the broken rear springs with a pair of quite good-looking home made ones, see pictures.

I am thinking of getting some replacement castings so that it looks more like the original. Two questions.

1. Will it really make much difference to the value?

2. There is a tube that goes between the wheels of the rear pair, shown in the picture. It's been painted to match the replacement springs, but I'm not sure if it is an original part or a home-made one. Can anyone show me a close-up pic of this part as it should be?

Thanks in advance.

First of all, welcome to the Forum, Richard!
Second, I love Shackletons and have almost two myself. (One's not quite complete.)
Third, having had a look at my two, that axle tube appears to me to be an original component, and it should be painted to match the chassis rails, i.e. grey. Hopefully you can see this the photograph below. (Click on it to expand the image.) Note how one end has been cut at a slight angle. (Presumably, out of sight, out of mind.)

Thank you for your reply, Idris, that's very helpful.
Richard