Difinitive Houdialle Shock Absorber post

They can be rebuilt but I have never done it. You will find ads in Hemmings for rebuilt ones sold exchange. Not cheap so I hope we learn how to rebuild them here.

 

This should be interesting...bttt

 

Saved this chart from an earlier thread on Hamb
Klaz

 

Check this out
http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/Ford/Haudaille/index.html

 

I've got a 1947 Ford Ch***is Parts Book, and I believe it has diagrams for most if not all the Houdaille types ford used from '28-'48 (OK technically it covers to '47, but '48 is the same). I'll see If i can get those pictures posted. And yes, they are rebuildable, but the one guy I know of that does them is very picky, and will reject a lot of the cores he's sent. But still, the originals are much better than the repop ones if you can get a good set to have rebuilt.

 

Check this as well,


http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/1205/hdis.html

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/1205/hreb.html

 

Alchemy : Excellent link
Klaz

 

For me too. I bought a pair off a '40, and would love to know what it takes to rebuild. Either that, or I have a couple nice door-stops.

 

Thanks to alchemy and the printer at work, I now have a nice little repair manual. Did anyone else happen to notice that there is a page missing from the manual?..... it's page 38 or 39, I think. Anyhoo, thanks all.

 

Kevin; Try this site,these guys have all the info you want:www.applehydraulics.com
On the Fordbarn site there is a rebuilder of these shocks but since I caught CRS, I'll be damned if I can recall his name.

 

Has anybody finally attempted to rebuild these?

I have one that feels perfect and a bunch that don't feel right...

With the price of originals seeming to keep rising ($80 a piece NOS) does it make more since to just spring for the rebuilt ones?

The best shocks for a hot rod would most likely be Bilstien's rod shocks but those are $160+ too... But if I gotta pay 160 for shocks anyway, I'd rather have the best...

For the guys that have run houdailes, how do they hold up over a period of time? Leaks? Performance?

 

ditto

and how do they compare to the twin cylinder style like gm used?

 

Can anybody tell me what shock this is? How can I tell if they need rebuilding?

 

That shock looks like the ones that came off the front of my 39... I think they were used for a few years.

Since nobody's chimed in with any first hand experience, I'll start with what I've heard...

They leak like crazy, deteriorate quickly and offer little in the way of dampening performance...

I know they can leak, I've seen that. The rest I've just heard... I'd really like to see someone rebuild one though... I might have to try it on one of my lost cause shocks just to see what they look like inside...

 

Rod & Custom mag did a story about a shop that rebuilds these things. It was within the last year, I think. It looked like they required alot of old specialized pullers, presses, etc... From the scope of the article, I'm not sure if a regular guy could re-build them.

 

I'm not sure an average guy can get one apart. This average guy tried and threw in the towel. I had a 2 foot pipe wrench and the torch going and I still couldn't get it to break loose.

Without the proper equipment, it's just one of those jobs that should be left to the pro's. I wasn't afraid to try but it didn't take long for me to realize that the rebuilt units are worth the cost if you like the look of them. I was able to find all 4 32s rebuilt for 250. If you need the arms and the links, they can be expensive. If you are **** enough to want the rivets for the links like I do then it just gets even worse. Details, details, details...

 

BUMP. Does anyone have info on where to send these for a going over at a reasonable cost? I have an old set that work great but one weeps oil and I'd like to heat and tweak the arms a little and then have then have seals replaced. As a side note I am DESPERATLY in need of another working set of these shocks as I only have one set and it gets old moving them front to back, back to front, but they sure work well on both ends...

 

The Houdaille lever arm hydraulic shock was used by Ford From 1928 through 1948.
Ford also used the Houdaille tubular, direct-acting, airplane shocks on Fords and Mercs 47-48 and probably up into the 50s-60s until Houdaille was absorbed by some other comapny or out of business.

 

Here's one location for rebuilding. The Rod and Custom article also named a place (they actually did the whole article there)...if I can find the info, I'll post.

http://www.cl***icautoshocks.com/index.htm

The shock you were showing for ID was used for years in that general configuration. The '47 Merc we're building had them until we pulled them off (in good shape, no leaks, still seem to work good). If I remember the article correctly, damping force was achieved due to variation in the arm length...the longer the arm, the more mechanical advantage (leverage), the less dampening.

 

I just got off the telephone with Matthew from Five Points, $145 each to rebuild, paint and return shipping. Matthew was very easy to speak with, forthcoming with info and answered all my questions.

 

Anyone got a link to the Rod and Custom article? ???

 

Before I moved, I went to a Model A meeting (restorers) where they were going to dis***emble and rebuild some A shocks. While we were watching an informative video on the rebuild, the shocks were cooking in the BBQ grille, buried right in the charcoal! After about an hour or so, they took them out, mounted them on a honking big piece of angle iron, drilled to the bolt hole spacing and they came apart easily with a pipe wrench!

The video was put out by one of the restorer clubs (it's also on E-Gay) and showed what to look for inside them. Very informative.

But it takes a lot of cores to find 4 good enough for rebuilding.

 

I've seen several articles on the Model A ones...all begin with heating the things to a zillion degrees, and then the dis***embly requires holding fixtures lag bolted directly to the Earth's core and fabricated wrenches and grippers 4 feet long...the homemade tools and also the tools listed for Ford depot rebuilding (Model A and '42-48 info fairly available) are impressive to the point of scary.
Another big problem...the main rotor thing and the case were select fit. If the shock ever leaked dry (Like all of them eventually did) and was run for long, the fit is of course destroyed. Probably rebuild of these would require a bunch of extra cores for parts swapping. I don't know if or how the commercial rebuilders deal with this...I know they require unusually good cores. It should be possible to weld extra metal to the rotor tips and remachine everything, but what would that cost??
A hint comes form Ford...I think they stopped supplying the tools to the dealers after Model A days. Dealers got new or rebuilt shocks.
I have pics of the full kit for '42, but I'm pretty sure those were meant for depot/****nal level work (military manual) or Ford's own civilian rebuilder channels, not dealers or Joe's gas station. I think you really need to find reasonably tight originals or commit the next 10 years to working out rebuild tech...

 

I'm bumping this up in the hopes that we can get some more info out about these shocks.

 

Nothing?

 

Id like to see some info as well. I have a set of model a houdaille shocks that need rebuilding.

 

Bump. Is there anyone with some more rebuild info?

 

Well it's been a decade I'd say if it's not in the links it's not out there.

A short summary would be you need special tools and a lot of heat/pressure to even get it apart and then you'd need a supply of guts to see if on them fit better than your current ones.

It seems the best advice has been if there not frozen just flush them with oil, adjust them and drive on. If they are frozen find ones that aren't.