Taylormade

These old restorations with the brown fenders and tan body are really dated. I can remember when that was the hot combo, but these days it's like looking at a pair of flowered bell bottoms .

The rebuild kit from The Filling Station arrived. The kit does all four shocks. It looks like everything will fit my shocks. The seals are rubber impregnated cork. They are nicely cut and fit the shaft tightly. The kit also comes with cork gaskets for the end covers... ...and new thick-headed screws for the covers. They also carry new shock links that match the size on my front shocks. The original is on top in the photo below. I ordered two as the holes on my originals are oblong from use. Finally, the kit comes with four rubber mounts for the shock arms, plus the pins and cotter pins. The rubber is nicely molded and has a brass insert inside. I was going to attempt to reproduce these, but this solves the problem. I now have the front shocks disassembled, cleaned and ready for painting. Which brings me to a question. I could find no trace of paint on the shocks when I cleaned them. I'm going to paint them black, but I wonder if they were left in bare metal when originally installed on the car. They are quite pitted, more than the frame, but they are cast iron and may have rusted faster. I have decided to paint them, pits and all. I know I could spend the time filling everything with body filler and high build primer, but I really want to drive this car before I take the big dirt nap. so it's going to be semi-gloss black, pits and all.

I ordered a rebuild kit from The Filling Station after a suggestion from Binger, a fellow forum member who replied in the General Discussion section. The kit does all four shocks. I talked to them over the phone and they graciously measured the seals and other items for me. It looks like everything will fit my shocks. The seals are rubber impregnated cork. They are nicely cut and fit the shaft tightly. The kit also comes with cork gaskets for the end covers... ...and new, correct thick-headed screws for the covers. They also carry new shock links that match the size on my front shocks. The original is on top in the photo below. I ordered two as the holes on my originals are oblong from use. Finally, the kit comes with four rubber mounts for the shock arms, plus the pins and cotter pins. The rubber is nicely molded and has a brass insert inside. I was going to attempt to reproduce these, but this solves the problem. I now have the front shocks disassembled, cleaned and ready for painting. Which brings me to a question. I could find no trace of paint on the shocks when I cleaned them. I'm going to paint them black, but I wonder if they were left in bare metal when originally installed on the car. They are quite pitted, more than the frame, but they are cast iron and may have rusted faster. I have decided to paint them, pits and all. I know I could spend the time filling everything with body filler and high build primer, but I really want to drive this car before I take the big dirt nap. so it's going to be semi-gloss black, pits and all. I also ordered four Speedi-Sleeves for the worn shafts. If all goes well, looks like this will solve my shock rebuilding project.

The bargain thing was my lame attempt at a joke. I just bought a nice set of quality brake hoses for my 32 Dodge at a good price. What I was really complaining about is the sudden inability to refine my search on EBay Motors. It allows you - or USED to allow you - to type in the range of years you wanted to view. Now, when I do that, it won't refine the search and I get every car for sale, not just the old ones I've always enjoyed looking at. I've used this feature for years and it suddenly stopped working last nigh and remains broken this morning. I've tried every advanced search option available and nothing works.

Is it just me or has the search function in EBay Motors gone off the rails? I always have it set up to view cars from 1900 to 1942, but tonight it suddenly gives me 62000 sales of modern cars no matter what I type into the search function. Just another reason to stop looking for "bargains" I guess.

I ordered a rebuild kit from The Filling Station. It does all four shocks. I talked to them over the phone and they graciously measured the seals and other items for me. It looks like everything will fit my shocks. The kit also comes with rubber mounts for the shock levers. They also carry new shock links that match the size on my front shocks and I ordered two as the holes on my originals are oblong from use. I also ordered four Speedi-Sleeves for the worn shafts. If all goes well, looks like this will solve my shock rebuilding project.

Looks like those take a one inch shaft - mine is .875.

Thanks Binger, from what I can see they might work. From my limited research, the 1930-1932 Chevy used the 1200 Series shocks, while my Dodge uses the 1500 Series. From pictures, they look identical, but it's hard to tell if they are the same or not. I'll call The Filling Station tomorrow and see what they say. Thanks for the lead.

Success! I also posted this on the Dodge Brothers Forum and got help from Phil Kennedy, Spinneyhill and Bill Engle. I used Bill's method of picking out the seal and then using heat and an inner bearing race puller to get the cap off. The only downsize is you have to destroy the existing seal to get the cap off, so I don't really know what the original looked like. It was rubber and some sort of felt-like material, but there wasn't enough left to determine the actual construction. I can see the problem with the modern 8702 seal, as recommended by Bill Engle - its outer metal construction makes it a bit too thick to fit inside the dome cover. If you look at the area on the shock casting where the seal used to fit, you can see that it is dished, almost like the original seal was designed to be thicker in the center and taper off to a thinner cross-section at the edges. I'm going down to my local bearing shop soon to see if I can find something that would work a little better than the 8702.

Success! I got the little sucker off thanks to Phil, Spinneyhill and Bill Engle. I used Bill's method of picking out the seal and then using heat and a puller to get the cap off. The only downsize is you have to destroy the existing seal to get the cap off, so I don't really know what the original looked like. It was rubber and some sort of felt-like material, but there wasn't enough left to determine the actual construction. I can see the problem with the modern 8702 seal - its outer metal construction makes it a bit too thick to fit inside the dome cover. If you look at the area on the shock casting where the seal used to fit, you can see that it is dished, almost like the original seal was designed to be thicker in the center and taper off to a thinner cross-section at the edges. I'm going down to my local bearing shop tomorrow to see if I can find something that would work a little better than the 8702.

The 32 Dodge DL uses an entirely different setup. It looks like this: It uses springs rather than rubber.

I made some spring bumpers for a 29 Plymouth I restored years ago and it worked pretty well. They still looked new 30 years later. They make a primer that bonds the rubber to metal and I had to make a rather intricate mold to get everything to work, but it can be done. I'm not sure how it would work in applications where a lot of stress is involved, like the "Floating Power" motor mounts on my 32 dodge DL. Tom Hanniford of Then and Now Auto remanufactured mine and did an excellent job. He vulcanizes the rubber to the metal parts under high heat and pressure. I would have spent almost as much buying the rubber compounds as he charged me for the work. For small stuff - firewall grommets, spring bumpers, it works fine.

Phil and Spinneyhill, This really helps. I have the Skinned Knuckles article -the actual magazine copies - but they say to cut the "metal ring" to remove the seal, which appears to be a different setup than on mine. It looks like Bill Engle's solution is the way to go, although I wonder if a less thick seal would work and alleviate the need to mill the shock housing. As I said before, my machinist abilities are not all that great.

Thanks, Ian. I couldn't find a website for them, just an address and phone number. I would prefer to email them if possible, as I can send pix and other information. Anyone have an email address for them?

Thanks Ron, I, too, Googled and found them. They look the same, but their measurements are confusing. The outside diameter on my covers is 1.625. In their catalog they first give an outside diameter of 1.750, then give a outside diameter (at the bottom) of 1.625, so I'm totally confused. I sent them an email and we'll see where that goes. 25 bucks each is a lot better than the $165 to $250 each to rebuild the shock. I spent some time wrapping the cover with a rubber sheet and trying to remove it with a big pair of pliers, but it wouldn't budge. I'm afraid if I went with metal on metal with the pliers, it would tear up the cover and ruin it. I have a really bad feeling that the only way to get these off is to cut them and I really hesitate to do that before I get a definite source for new covers. As a last resort, I guess I could turn some on my lathe, but that is truly a last resort, as my machining skills are negligible at best!

Apparently, no one has performed this task. I'll let everyone know if I manage to get them off without destroying the part.

I thought about that, but I worry I might fry the old seal and not be able to ID it to get a replacement. People rebuild these things, so there has to be a solution. I doubt Apple Hydraulics would let me in on their methods.

Did you order them or were you able to get them locally?

I have disassembled my Delco-Lovejoy shocks off my 1932 Dodge Brothers DL. Actually, a very easy job - up until now. My problem is how do I remove the metal cap that covers the shaft arm seal? You can see the metal dome that covers and protects the seal in the following photographs. Is there a way to get the metal dome off the shock body without destroying it? Any real world experience would be greatly appreciated. The shaft is a bit pitted. The arrows show where the seal contacts the shaft. I was thinking a Speedi-Sleeve might be the solution here.

I have disassembled my Delco-Lovejoy shocks off my 1932 Dodge Brothers DL. Actually, a very easy job - up until now. My problem is how do I remove the metal cap that covers the shaft arm seal? You can see the metal dome that covers and protects the seal in the following photographs. Is there a way to get the metal dome off the shock body without destroying it? Any real world experience would be greatly appreciated. The shaft is a bit pitted. The arrows show where the seal contacts the shaft. I was thinking a Speedi-Sleeve might be the solution here.

On the 32 they are, thankfully, straight bores.

Sometimes, no mater what you do, the restoration process just seems to be one problem after another. After the upholstery debacle, I decided to tackle something about which I actually have some knowledge - the braking system. Daphne needs a total rebuild: cylinders, master cylinder, lines, linings and drums turned. After examining the brake cylinders, I noticed the Dodge Brothers/Chrysler engineers, in their infinite wisdom, used different cylinders on the front and back of the car. The bolt spacing on the front cylinders is narrower than on the rear, and the rear cylinders have a slightly smaller bore. You can see the spacing difference here, with the front cylinder on top. The front cylinder has a bigger bore, maybe a 1/16th of an inch. So, do I get my old cylinders re-sleeved or buy new ones? I thought new ones might be an easier fix. WRONG! I call around to the usual suspects (Roberts, Bernbaum) who advertise that they carry cylinders for a 32 Dodge Brothers DL. Their reply -"well, we do, sort of. You can make what we have work, but they aren't original pattern." Okay, I guess re-sleeving is the order of the day. But WAIT! There, on the dreaded EBay is a listing for four new brake cylinders that fit a 1932 Dodge DL. Right there in black and white. Hmmmm, better check this out. I send a friendly note to the seller, "You do know that the front and rear cylinders are different on this car? " "Yes," he quickly replies, "they are different." With utter trust I send in my hard earned cash. Several days go by and then my cylinders arrive, nicely packaged, new and shiny, ready to go on my...but WAIT! NOOOO! The bolt spacing on all four cylinders is the same. He's sent me four rear brake cylinders. Drat! I dash of a new missive to the seller informing him of his grave and possibly costly error. He quickly replies, "I apologize for that, I must have mixed you up with another person the 32 does indeed use different cylinders and I fear that I do not have the correct ones for that car, you can keep the rears and I will give you a full refund if you would like." So the guy is at least honest - I hope, since I don't have my refund yet. But I also don't have my front brake cylinders, and I'm not too happy that since I explicitly asked him if the cylinders he was selling were different.. I also noticed that the casting on the new cylinders is different than the originals. Notice the band around the center of the cylinder, not present on the original. Everything else seems to be the same, bolt spacing, length, bore, attaching area, so I think I'll be okay using the two on the back drums. So, it's back to the drawing board for the front cylinders. I guess I'll be sending them off to be re-sleeved at Apple Hydraulics as they are also rebuilding my shocks - another task that I discovered was bit beyond my skill level. I was okay until I discovered I was going to have to machine out the seal area to get a modern seal in where the shaft goes into the shock housing. One step forward, two steps back.

One of the reasons I love to post on this forum is the honest feedback I get from other members. You always love to get compliments and kudos on your restorations, but I really like to get critical posts when they are warranted. In the case of the back seat upholstery, I'm afraid I have to agree with joeybst999 - they do look amateurish. When I went to pick them up I was very disappointed by the wrinkled seams and uneven stuffing of the pleats. I let things stew for a few days and posted shots of the seats without comment to see if anyone out there thought they were as bad as I thought they were. Believe me, in person, they look much, much worse. So, I've parted ways with the gentleman who did the work. Thankfully, he didn't do the front seat. I took the seats to another shop that is actually closer to our new home and after seeing some of his work we came to an agreement. He feels he may be able to save the upright half of the back seat, as it's correctly stitched but needs to be taken apart and correctly padded. The bottom of the seat is probably toast as it wasn't padded correctly under the upholstery and will not be long enough in the front to accept the added padding. Another live and learn experience, one step forward, two back. This car will be a driver, not a Pebble Beach showpiece, but I want it to be as right as I can make it within my budget. I've done all the work on the car myself when I can, but the upholstery is beyond my skill level. I'll post shots of the redone job for comparison when it's finished.

I was always sorry that my Dad never knew I had bought back the first car I ever owned and that he helped me to buy back in 1965. He died at 91 just a few months before I rediscovered the car, but I'm sure he's watching the progess of the restoration up there somewhere.