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Shock rebuilding?

Last post 09-03-2008, 5:30 AM by Bill Young. 4 replies.
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  •  08-31-2008, 4:19 PM 16089

    Shock rebuilding?

    Hey, I have my front end all taken apart ready to de-rust and start painting.  One of the shocks is stiff up and down.  The other is not quite as stiff going up, but goes down with little effort.  Is there any way to rebuild them instead of buying new or rebuilt shocks? 

    Crisis doesn't necessarily make character, but it certainly does reveal it.
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  •  08-31-2008, 9:01 PM 16093 in reply to 16089

    Re: Shock rebuilding?

    Hey Brandon-- Been down that road  with my MGB-GT and TR4A.  I've had pretty good luck just replacing the shock valves and cleaning up the rest. Victoria British limited sells them for about $35 each.  I'd do both fronts if I were you to keep them comparable.  Not guaranteed to work for you, but way cheaper than $200 each for rebuilts.

    Good luck,

    sportscarbill 

     

     

  •  09-01-2008, 12:37 AM 16097 in reply to 16089

    Re: Shock rebuilding?

    Brandon -Your best bet for shock rebuilding is to send it to Peter Caldwell at World Wide Auto Parts at: http://www.nosimport.com/  Peter completely rebuilds your shocks and sends them back looking brand new, plus a life time warranty.  Combine that with a reasonable price and you can't go wrong.  I would send both front shocks (I sent all four shocks at the same time) so you have both shocks acting the same way when you put them back on.

    Cheers,

    Dave

  •  09-02-2008, 5:13 PM 16121 in reply to 16097

    Re: Shock rebuilding?

    Thank you so much!

    Crisis doesn't necessarily make character, but it certainly does reveal it.
  •  09-03-2008, 5:30 AM 16124 in reply to 16089

    Re: Shock rebuilding?

    Brandon, I agree with the others about Peter Caldwell at Worldwide, really first class work. Peter gave a seminar on shocks at the Spridget 50 meet and I learned a lot. First you could try draining and refilling your shocks. Getting the air bled out after refilling is a bit of a job but you should be able to get all of it worked out on the bench. Peter said to use only a 20 weight hydraulic oil, nothing heavier. Heavier weight oils only cause damage and really don't do much to improve the shock action. The real change is with the vavles and those are easy to change and not expensive. If the shocks still don't feel right then it may be time to get Peter to rebuild them. What you'll get for your money will be a shock with actual bushings installed in the housing instead of metal to metal contact, a new seal surface on the shaft, and a proper lip type seal instead of the original wick type packing. Add a full guarantee and you can't go wrong.

    By the way, after seeing how these things were put together you can see that there's no way to rebuild one at home. It takes a special puller to remove the arm and shaft from the internal rocker arm under rather high tension and a special hydraulic press to reinstall, then the rocker arm has to be peened to the shaft. Even then you wouldn't have any way to refurbish any of the bearing surfaces or seal. Let the pros take care of any rebuilding.


    '73 Midget (V6)
    '59 MGA (I6) under construction

    "There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"