Help.....I realized in my attempt to replace the front and rear shocks that I was in for a suprise..Rear Lever Action. Any means to a simple convert? I'd prefer to keep this all original. Any ***istance would be appreciated. I am going to pull the DYNASLOW transmission for a rebuild at Transmatic in Glendale in the future, since I have to pull the rear end loose to get the trans out this would probably be the best time?
you can refill those and work the lever...will probably come back to life... I did that on a '52 Olds in the 80's....seem to remember putting a heavier oil/grease in there and that really stiffened up the ride!
As others have said, they can be rebuilt. I believe CARS might have even offered rebuild kits. If not, they can be sent out to rebuild. Being hydraulic, there are seals in there. If the shocks aren't doing their job, the seals have more than likely failed. I know on my '54, when the oil started weeping out, over every bump the car wiggled its *** like a stripper on 2-for-1 Lap Dance Night. '56 is essentially the same frame components, but I believe the factory did away with the lever shocks, installed a cross member above the rear end, and went to tube shocks. Never looked to see what they did for lower mounts. -Brad
Brad, I'm a short guy anyway, no offense taken. I appreciate the information. And the old Buick doesn't wiggle like a stripper...more like a dog draggin his *** when it's got an ITCH.....
Brad's right on the 56. My 55 does the dance too. I am going to do the cross member adn tube shock route.
RETYRD FF... If you decide to fill your shocks, which, if they're not too far gone will help, use ONLY "Jack Oil". The same oil used to refill your common variety garage jack. You can find it at any Auto Supply Store, and it will not "gum up" your shocks...use anything else on those old units and you can be asking for trouble. (You can see pix of my '53 Special in my Albums. They always rode much better after I filled them and didn't "bounce" as much at all.) Jonnie King www.legends.thewwbc.net
53 Buicks were the last arm shocks. 54 on up are tube shox. Find a good performance shock, or heavy duty and it will really help.
My 55 Model #63 Century/Riviera has the lever action as well. I have it in the shop and having a total R&R on the Dynaflow as we speak. It will be nice to not get whiplash going into reverse....new trans and motor mounts as well...do it all...
I "rebuilt" the ones on my '54, but it wasn't a cakewalk. The arms needed to be pressed off, and they were REALLY on there. I rigged up a type of collar to surround the arm and then pressed them off using a 25-ton arbor press. It used about 15 tons to get them off. When that was done I cleaned them all up, scrubbed out the insides, refilled with hydraulic oil, and then put double O-rings under the shaft cover to replace the missing/dried/cracked packing that the originals had. Overall, it worked pretty well and here's how they look now:
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