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How can I fix this?


John_Mc

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John, I believe you are spot on with the $200.00 a pop, if you have good cores, and you most likely are looking at 4 times that. That is why some have suggested going the route of tube shock conversation. As I understand from past reading on other posts, these types of shocks are 'leakers' and that's why they have a 'fill' hole. I guess it all depends on how deep your pockets are and how original you want your Lincoln to be. Same with cable brakes. Cable brakes were OK in their day, but you are going to put 'Precious' out there with idiots with cell phones in their faces. How many close calls have you had this month? I ask a restorer in my area who build 100 point Fords about this. He answer was, "Cable brakes are for the guys who push their cars in and out of trailers. If you are going to drive it, put juice brakes on it." I'm going to drive mine.

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John, I think that you will find it very difficult to disassemble the shock. Most of them have to be heated in an oven to break the rust bond and then held in a special fixture to open them. Bill Wrozek has been in ill health recently and has posted on the Ford Barn that he will not be accepting new orders until he can get caught up with his present workload.

A properly rebuilt shock will not leak. Mine were done in 1978 and are still working fine without leaks. Unfortunately the re-builder that I used was closed many years ago.

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I used Five Points and can also vouch for their quality service and great communications. Some of my shocks were leaking, banging, and in terrible shape. They came back good as new and it ran me about $745. They gave me a good education in the process - I never knew you could adjust the tension.

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Great advice from everyone, thanks very much. At this point, I'd like to just get the arm so that is moves and I can pay to have it professionally rebuilt at a later time. This car will probably go about 150 miles a year so if it works or if it leaks does not really matter to me. I love this car, but I can't get carried away with costs. Right now I'm looking at replacing the carpets because they are just shredded and the seats which are so ripped with holes, they just have to be done. Just those two things alone are probably going to go beyond $2,000, additionally I need to replace the windshield, repair the radio, re-dye one of the door panels and who knows what else. That being said I really love this car and I know this is not a cheap hobby but I just have to go a little slow. I'll get to the shocks at some point but when I removed the left rear tire and saw the shock link just hanging in the air, I figured I would try to have it at least bolted back to the axle.

You fellows are great, thanks again for th input.

Edited by John_Mc (see edit history)
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John, The House of Glass Elmhust will cut a new windshield out of laminated glass for a more reasonable price than most auto glass shops. You can get the bug from Carlton Glass in Michigan.

houseofglasselmhurst.com

http://fordscript.com/

You can try a 50/50 mixture of acetone and automatic trans fluid to free up the shock. Remove the fill plug and immerse the shock in the mixture. It may take a long time or it may not free up at all, without heating it in an oven to red hot.

Check with places like Little Dearborn in Minneapolis and Northwest Supply in Michigan for a rebuilt shock. Check with Desert Valley and French Lake Auto Recyclers for used shock absorber.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I used a ‘pickle fork’ to remove the links on my ’41 shocks, then sent them to a company in New York for rebuilding. Came back great and put one links from Vintage Auto Warehouse in Maryland. Worked great after I painted them and reinstalled all 4. Pickle fork is a prybar you can get at a tool or auto supply. Don’t forget to remove the nuts before using the fork.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Have not addressed mine yet, not frozen, just leaking/no resistance. Was told that an older fellow Louis Trinque did a great job on shocks for Zephyr club many years. When I called last year about, wife said that unfortunately he developed memory issues & equipment was now w/Bill Wzorek, so Bill should have the stuff to do a good job. Tough job, originally thought I could do myself. Can search this site for a thread yrs back, many pages posted of Houdaille shocks manual. Over a dozen versions w/various sizes, arm lengths & mounts, many complex parts inside needed for the rebuild. Not as simple as I thought. Need spanner/socket to fit side cap to unscrew it. But socket slips off so need a press to hold wrench engaged to cap lugs. Then need to heat it blasting hot, & still need a 3' cheater & big hammer! Then once apart, must have the many parts available to rebuild it. Haven't got to that project yet. Wishing Bill a good recovery!post-45349-143142923796_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Has anybody out there ever used "KROIL"? It's probably the best penetrating oil there is.

I used probably a half gallon of the stuff to free up a totally rigid Columbia for my '41 LC.

It's generally not available in stores, look up "kano kroil penetrating oil" on the net.

I don't have the address handy any more but they are in Tennessee.

I just checked the net and KROIL might be available at some Home Depots.

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Edited by Phil Knapp (see edit history)
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Kroil oil address:

Kroil Labs

PO Box 110098

Nashville, TN

37222-0098

Phone 877-381-8923

BTW once you get on their mailing list they will send you deals on their products. I received a deal today, 2 for 1 on their 16.5 oz. aerosol cans of Kroil. Free shipping thrown in...$19.00. Like Mr. Knapp, I use this stuff almost every day. Good stuff! Also, if you are a gun nut like I, Kroil oil mixed 50/50 with you favorite bore cleaner is the ticket for getting the bore really clean. Gander Mountain in my area sells it for the 5 shots, one hole guys.

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1/26/15: As an update, I was able to free up the frozen arm by using MAP gas heat, plenty of BP Blaster, filling the shock with transmission fluid for several days and finally a 3' cheater pipe. At first it was a bear but then it got easier and easier. Once free, I filled the reservoir with jack oil and will watch for leaks. So far so good.

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John, the acetone speeds up the penetration of the transmission fluid and will free up rust frozen parts faster than straight trans fluid. You probably will not have much of a leak with the shock sitting on your workbench, they leak much more when they are on the car going down the road. You should be OK with the limited driving that you expect to do, by refilling the shock before starting on a trip.

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Thanks Tom, point well taken. There are a million things to do on this car but for right now, the shock is back on the car and operational. I'll get back to it in time. Happy New Year by the way, how's that gorgeous '53???

Here's one of the latest pictures of the Zephyr. I've rubbed out the paint to an acceptable level and replaced the horrible windshield. New carpets and a newly patched seat will be installed hopefully by the weekend!! You'll have to come over and see it.

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John, the car looks 1,000% better. It polished up very nice and the windshield make it look much better.

I haven't even opened the garage with my Lincoln and Mercury, since I was at your place. I had a hospital stay right after the last meeting and now spend time doing exercises to get me back in shape for the summer tours and recovering from the exercises. The doctor visits are at longer intervals now, so I will start rebuilding some spare parts for both cars. I have 2 long tours and 2 National meets that I want to take in this summer, so I need to get my energy levels back to normal. I am now back to 50% of where I was before.

I heard from Tim Howley on Mon, he wanted information for an article on my Lincoln.

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Sorry to read that you have been in for "repairs', was wondering why I'd not heard from you my friend. I hope you are on the mends, yes it's going to be a very busy summer. better get the old cars and you in shape for the upcoming season. If you are ever up this way, please give a holler.

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  • 2 months later...

I was able to get the fill plug out of both rear shocks, and filled up with Blaster. Only got one adjuster plug out in the center of the arm shaft, but it twisted off inside where the metal narrows down to just a thin rib (shown on the left side of the 2nd photo). Could not find any Blaster or Kroil in gallons, so have each soaking in a gallon jar of WD40 until I can get some gallon quantities of good penetrate. Tried heating the arm with MAP torch to try and get it off the splined shaft that comes out of the shock, but did not budge so far. Hesitant to use acetylene torch and get it red because it will take some temper out. A small step at a time.

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The best penetrating solution to free up parts is the 50-50 solution of trans fluid and acetone. Next on my list is Marvel Mystery Oil. With any penetration oil, you must have patience, Blalster and Kroil are useful for nuts and bolts that not rusted solid, but they would not be my choice for freeing up a frozen shock absorber.

If you are planning on rebuilding the shock yourself, I would reconsider it. It takes special equipment and techniques to open up these shocks and it is much cheaper to have them professionally rebuilt than to buy the equipment or replace the parts broken while trying to disassemble the parts.

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Thanks Tom, very helpful. Forced me to think deeper. Asked chemist at work why tranny fluid/acetone is good penetrating oil. I was thinking the best penetrating oil has the best chemicals to eat rust in the threads best. He also helped "turn on the lights". Said the only thing that eats rust is acid you dummy, don't want to put that shock in acid! So once re-focused on the best carrier to penetrate the thread rust, I wanted to know the thinnest viscosity carrier, because Tranny fluid is just various synthetic lubricants. Water is 1.0 centipoise (CP); Xylene is .65 CP; MEK is .43CP; Acetone is .33CP; Acetone is the thinnest viscosity!! Can soak into smallest cracks!! Now I understand why. While surfing I also found this-can't prove it's true but makes sense & supports Tom's experience: (reminder when working- acetone is flammable!)

Some of you might appreciate. Machinist's Workshop magazine tested penetrants for break out torque on rusted nuts. They are below, as forwarded by an ex-student & prof. machinist, XXX XXXXX. They arranged a subjective test of all popular penetrants with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment. *Penetrating oil ..... Average load* None .............. 516 pounds WD-40 .............. 238 pounds PB Blaster ............... 214 pounds Liquid Wrench ......... 127 pounds Kano Kroil .............. 106 pounds ATF-Acetone mix.......53 pounds The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test. Our local machinist group mixed up a batch and we all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price.

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I first heard about the mixture in th e1970s, from a old body man that was restoring 1940 Fords. I did not want to destroy the cage nuts that held on my fenders, running boards and gas tank. I had soaked the rear fender nuts for a few weeks using Liquid wrench and only one loosened enough to work it out. I asked him how he saved them and he gave me the mixture. It freed up the rest of the rear fender bolts withing a week. Since then I always mix up a little when I have a big project.

I dd not know the why the chemistry of this solution worked and thanks to you,now I do.

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