Technical Rebuilding Model A shocks

I got some shocks from rwrj on here and am going to try to rebuild them. My first thought is to set them in the molasses water solution after a wire brush to remove alot of the scale and attempt to free them up. I am going to follow along several instructions from here and see if I can make them work again and install them on my 1929 Briggs four door. So, after wire wheeling and soaking I will attempt to heat them on an old propane gas grill to heat them finally dunking them in a bucket of water and attempt to dis-assemble them for inspection and repair.

Here they are as received with all of their scaly rust and cut off mounting bolts even one broken or rusted off needle valve. None of the mounting ears are broken off and at first inspection the shock bodies appear to be rebuildable. So off we go on a journey that started in Georgia as discarded junk and will hopefully end up as a working part for a bunch of 91 year old American engineered and produced parts of an iconic motor vehicle.

 

Good luck with them. IF they are rebuildable you may end up sending them into a shop. The kits are available. If you are close, visit Brattons in MD.

Mike

 

That is not my intent but to rebuild them myself. Yes kits are available and so are replacement parts like the broken or rusted off needle valve and covers. I have researched; how they work, availability of rebuild kits, and parts. So loaded with that information I feel that I can accomplish the rebuild even if some light machining is required as I have access to a milling machine and lathe if needed. Just want to see if I can as many predecessors have done in the past and will document it here. It will either become a glorious failure or will work and revive 91 year old automotive parts. We never know if we do not try.

 

Give 'er hell!

 

The hardest part is getting them apart. It takes a lot of heat like in oxy acytelene to get them to move.

 

I can go that route if needed but the original poster on here several years back states to bake them in a grill for about 45 minutes. I want to see if the most basic ideas work without resorting to a torch that some may not have access to. Down and dirty hard core do it at home depression era repairs that when done will last, hopefully.

 

I got one of my old ones apart heating it with a torch after soaking with JB80 repeatedly for weeks. After that, I gave up on the rest and ordered a set of the Snyders ones with links.

 

I know guys who have filled up a weber style kettle BBQ and dumped into the hot coals as well. That's even more primitive than the propane method you initially suggested. All I know by my experience is that it took a lot of heat to get them to budge.

 

As described on here by gashog. I am going to try the propane grill and put them down on the lava rocks and see what happens. Heat is heat and that should work better than charcoal but we will see.

 

Just make sure that you don't mix the part's up. Right front and left rear are the same and left front and right rear are the same. Bratton's sells a book on how to rebuild Model A shocks, PN 37323. If you don't know which are which the book will show you how to identify them.

 

That is one thing that I have researched. Sounds kind of like a camshaft and lifters or the valves and springs. If you are going to reuse them then keep like assemblies together. As far as the location on the car they came from is anyone's guess but I copied a way to determine the location and will be addressing that when I get there. Thanks everyone for your suggestions and reminders. The internet is an amazing research tool but experience is invaluable from someone that has done it. One of the reasons that I am doing this, so it can be passed on. So share any knowledge that you have as not everything is covered on the internet.

 

Wayyyyy ahead of its time for a simple shock absorber !!!!!


Something like this built with modern materials and valving would ride like a dream, probably cost $10,000 each but wow !!!


Really cool and good luck on rebuilding them .
There basically junk right now, you definitely can’t make them any worse !
Go man go !!

 

I made up a 2' long x 4" wide piece of 1/2" steel that I can bolt the shock to and then bolt it to my workbench. The 1 and 1/2" cap can be a bear to get off, as it's slightly tapered. A strap wrench can remove the cover if your lucky after you loosen the locking ring. The locking rings have small holes in them and I use a punch to back them off. No springs or camshaft, but check balls and orifices. I usually just let them sit in a gallon can filled with penetrating oil for a while.

 

So today the party begins. First thing was to completely derust the exterior with the wire wheel.
This was actually the worst one with the needle valve either rusted or broken off but if you look closely you can see the Ford script by the fill hole. There was also some remnants of black paint still visible. Original or a repaint at some time? Also notice the absence of the fill plug. I was in the process of removing the first fill plug to see if there was oil in them. Then the thought hit me, would it contaminate the derusting solution? I removed it with the fill plug up and it was completely dry, they all were. So I left them out so the solution could circulate through the insides too.

This is the molasses I used and mixed up a gallon because I am not doing this on an industrial scale and am totally experimenting. Is the unsulphured molasses the correct to use for this?

Here they are in my bucket soaking in the molasses solution. Trust me they are in there along with a rusty spring and pipe plug. I told you this was an experiment. Now, just how long do I leave them in there soaking? They are in my shop when I left it was just hitting 80 Degrees F if that has anything to do with the soak time.

 

Probably a good idea to cover the molasses as it can get stinky. Or put it behind the shop with a cover. Get back to us in a couple of weeks when they should be clean, black and slimey but clean.

 

Is that an average or do I just need to check on them every few days? It is covered but with the black bear situation around here I don't want them dumping it on me. It is in the upstairs of the garage and I mostly work downstairs right now as it stays cooler. One side is buried 14' deep and the other wall tapers from top to bottom. It is built into a hill and I am in West Virginia.

 

I can speak from experience on this one. I started out with a 5 gallon pail full of cores and a few extra. It took the whole mess to make 4 operable shocks for a stocker. Getting them apart is tough. Finding enough usable innerds was a nightmare. Soaking them is necessary. At the time I did not try the molasses method, wish I had. I used diesel.

When all done they do work well.

 

The plan for now is to just let the molasses do it's thing and hopefully when I go back to them they will come apart by hand. I figured a week but will take any recommendations from anyone that has done it and am planning on two weeks now. I know they will not come apart by hand but. I was surprised that there was no oil in them and just a slight hint of rust was visible through the fill hole. Maybe with a little luck I will have four rebuildable cores. At any rate I will be out the shipping cost, molasses, and some time. But that is the bottom line with this experiment. For as small amount of $ laid out rebuild the 1929 Model A Briggs four door into a daily driver. Anyway, the brakes are done, wood in the roof replaced, glass is all good, making a wiring harness. Have all of the parts needed except the interior and roof which will be my biggest expenses. All totaled when I am done and have it running as it was in 1929 I will have less than $8000 in it with the price of the original. These shocks were, are the most expensive parts on a Model A and without going to a modern style shock is the only way I will get it done with my budget. It will not be worth much more when completed but I will have a running driving Model A reflective of 1929.

 

Houdaille rotary hydraulic shocks were used on Ferrari and Maserati up until 1960 if I remember correctly. Good enough for me!

I used a Model A fronts on both ends of my latest hot rod roadster, they seem good and tight in the garage but we'll see how she goes. One is a HeCo rebuilt I'm questionable about but if they work reasonably we'll see about rebuilding/upgrades later.

 

To refresh everyones memory this was the day of placement, 08/07 2020. This is just 10 days later, 18/07/2020. There is still some slight bubbling coming to the surface. Looks as bad as it smells and I almost hate to stick my hand in it to retrieve the shocks, a spring and pipe plug that I put in. It has been sitting in my garage for the last 10 days and average temperature is 82 Degrees F. Are they ready to come out? How do you know when they are done derusting? Should I leave them for an entire two weeks covered? They are covered by a card board box lid with a horn on top to keep it on so not airtight but it has contained the smell.

 

a guy here in the model A club made his own band wrench, like a giant oil filter wrench. 3 foot handle. works like a dream. the club also uses the barbecue method to get them apart

 

I've been driving Model A's since 1965, don't think any of them had shocks, do they make a noticeable difference? There is a set of Snyder's new A shocks on the shelf that Dad never got around to putting on the Roadster, wonder if they would still work after 37 years?

Bob

 

Have you ever done the molasses derusting method rusty valley and is that a normal sight as the rust goes away?

 

I do not know but people tell me that they make them ride like a new car. New for a Model A I would presume.

 

i have done the molasses thing for small sheet metal parts, but never shocks. i have mixed feelings about it. its slow, but its cheap. my results have been that its about three weeks if you want the metal really clean. and, its temperature sensitive, warm summer days are best. i think for shocks, they are threaded together, so same as any thread that is seized you want heat to expand the "nut" or in this case female part of the case to get it apart. any kind of prep like oil or rust removal sure cant hurt, but i think heat is really whats needed. the guy who made the wrench had a thread on the fordbarn about it a few years ago, i'll look for it tomorrow.

 

I am on there too so if you want to either PM me or just post it here so others can see the info also. I am in no hurry and am going to give it a full two weeks to work then bake them in an old propane barbecue grill that we no longer use. I wish that I had checked my old oil filter wrenches to see if they were small enough and one may be. I can remove them from the molasses, pressure wash them, bake them and try the wrench but I do have a 24" pipe wrench that will fit them if all else fails. Then to see what the insides look like and if they are even rebuildable.

 

lol...dont bother checking your filter wrenches! this thing the guy made is like a chunk of railroad track! tom wessonburg, i'll look tomorrow

 

here's the link, go to post 16 for the tools https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118682

 

Thanks for the tool link, a jack handle for extra leverage would work well. Bob

 

So after three weeks soaking in the molasses solution here they are.

And removed laying on the ground prior to the pressure washing.

Also note the spring and pipe plug that I threw in. Then after pressure washing front.

And back with some flash rust developing and some remnants of black paint clearly visible.
Later next week will be the "cooking" in the propane grill and hopeful disassembly. It will take a clear day as I want to do this outside and out of the rain which is predicted. All in all the molasses did a commendable job and was more than I expected but time was and still is not of the essence. For an experiment I will say that the molasses does work and the spring while still clean along with the pipe plug will probably not be used but came out remarkably clean and rust free compared to what it was.