Keith L. Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Question: Are the shock absorbers for '41 Zephyr the same as Ford, esp. the '39 or 40 Ford or are the shocks bigger for the Lincolns. Need to know before I buy Ford shocks. And why are they so expensive to rebuild, and is there any test to see how bad they are? How does one know? Any knowledge on shocks would be helpfull, Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_V12Bill Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Keith, I have only seen 2 shocks taken apart. The two halves of the shock body are threaded and screw together. Herein lies the problem. How to unscrew a shock body that has been together for 56 + years. One shock that I saw apart had been hack sawed apart and thus ruined. The other had been set up in a press and a long handled wrench was used to unscrew the the 2 body halves. Once apart the only repair that could be done was to replace an "O" ring around the shaft to keep it from leaking. To check to see if a shock is rebuildable, try to wriggle the shaft in the body. If the shaft wobbles about, throw the shock away as the body and shaft are worn. To test for useability, move the lever up and down. If there is resistance then the shock is usable. Usuaslly the shock losses fluid and is beaten to death due to lack of lubrication. I am fortunate to have a can of Ford shock fluid left over from my first Model A when I was l3 years old. Does anyone know a good substatute for the original fluid?Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stude8 Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 The Houdaille rotary action shocks used Glycerine based fluid, only soluble in Alcohol. Unknowing mechanics added mineral base oils and you get a concoction that neither Alcohol or Mineral spirits will disolve. It congeals into goo and all lubrication is finished. The wing shaft gets scored to death so the only hope is to tear it down, rebush the wingshaft abutment and sleeve the scored wingshaft. The original seals are NOT RUBBER "O" rings, they are parrafin impregnated leather. There was a set of Kent-Moore shop tooling to hold the shock while special wrenches (About 32" long) were used to remove the cover shell from body. Getting the splined arm off the wingshaft is another mother of all jobs to deal with. Stude8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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