I recently redid the original spring wrap on the front and rear springs of CSX 2149. The tape is available as Denso tape (also known as Drevo tape). The stuff comes in rolls and I found that one roll will do one spring. You might want to buy one extra roll for the entire job (three rolls total) to be sure. Piecing the wrap is not a problem, although I managed to not have to do that on each half. (The spring is wrapped on each end, but not across the middle where the spring shackles are).
I removed the old tape by cutting it off with a utility knife-just sliced along the top of the length of the spring and pulled it off. Pay attention to where the tape begins and ends on the spring so that when you re-cover it you will tape the same areas. I have photos of the wrap before removal if its too late for that for you.
We mucked up the original tape when we stripped the paint with baking soda blasting. That grease turned an ugly shade of dark barf green when coated with baking soda!
The question of how you get the stuff tied off at the end was one I had as well. The stuff is so darned sticky that you just massage it a little and it blends in to the adjacent tape and won't come undone, no fixation required. You can wrap the springs without removing them from the car. It helps if the engine is out and if the interior is out and you can wrap from the cockpit. It would be a struggle to wrap the rear from below!
I purchased the Denso tape, which is exactly like the stuff that came off of 2149, from The Complete Automobilist, in England.
http://www.completeautomobilist.co.u...e/itm00182.htm
There may be somewhere here in the US you can get it, but I couldn't find it. If anywhere has it, L.A. should. I'll try to get a manufacturer's name off the packaging. The stuff is at my partner's home where the restoration is being done, so I can't get to it immediately, but I'll ask him to look.
I have seen restored 289's with a white or off-white wrap on the springs, but I don't think that is the way they looked new. This Denso stuff looks right to me.
It is really messy and awkward to get around the spring, but you can do it. Wrap it with the wheels on the floor. If its "hanging" on jack stands, the springs are pulled down and its harder to get the tape around the spring at several points.
A single overlapped layer of Denso is all that was on the car originally, so that's what I put back on.
Let me know any other questions you have and I'll try to answer them.