Hello everyone I'm currently continuing with my 1932 Roadster project and am undecided about which type of shock absorbers to install!? The car will be getting a rolling-bones style front end with cowl steering and a Mercury V8 rear axle with a torque tube. Engine: Flathead V8 with supercharger. I have a set of 1941 Ford lever arm shocks that I need to rebuild. However, I'm unsure if these lever arm shocks will work as well at today's speeds or if I should install regular shock absorbers? What's your experience? I prefer the look of the lever arm shocks – but I don't want to compromise on car handling. Best regards from Germany, Matthias
A friend of mine races the car you can see in the pics on the website. I’ve raced the car too and these Rotoshim lever arm shocks are absolutely brilliant. https://rotoshim.com/
I use the lever style shock, both reproduction and rebuilt Houdaille shocks with great success. I like the ride they provide, yes they dampen and the originals, in both directions. I use the tube style shock link that can be shortened when the front end is dropped. I have also used the Ridetec Hotrod tube shocks on lighter cars but they have more of a street rod look
I have used lever shocks from Goliath Speed Equipment in the UK now on 3 cars that are driven on the street but are also used quite heavily for beach and dirt-track racing and I am really happy witht the performance of the shocks. They fit the stock Ford mounting holes and and use stock Model A lever arms. Their response/hardness can be adjusted with a little screw on the back...
Thanks for the tip, I hadn't even thought of those. I just emailed them – I'm curious to see what price they'll charge! The Rotoshim dampers are very, very expensive... Best regards from Germany to Germany
I had the original lever action shocks for my Cad. powered '40 rebuilt a few years ago and used them for a couple of years. I was never happy with the dampening they provided and replaced the front ones with tube shocks last year. On this car it made a large difference in the ride so I'm in the process of swapping them out on the rear now...
Armstrong shocks. Have a lever arm like the Houdaille shocks, but that lever operates two pistons which move to provide the dampening. You can change the dampening by using thicker or thinner oil in the shock body. They are probably getting hard to find in the junkyards now.
Those Armstrongs are all over Ebay. I used them on my model A speedster and was pretty happy with them. I got MGB rear ones, used, but there are plenty of places that rebuild them.
I have armstrongs on my T roadster on 32 rails and like them quite well. You can change the oil in them to tune them if desired. I had tube shocks on my banger powered A roadster for a while but thought it was too stiff, I switched to a full set of Rotoshim lever action.. Best shocks yet, I love them. Armstrongs would look cool on a rolling bones style front end but I think the function of the rotoshims is superior.
Drove it for the first time with modern shocks on the back yesterday, and yes, it calmed the back end of the car down. Hit a bump and only 1 bounce instead of 3 or 4. Think I'll keep them...
This is a story I wrote about converting the old Houdaille Shocks to make the 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery handle better. In my old flathead powered sedan delivery in high school and later after we got married, our 327 powered 1940 sedan delivery project that took tons of work and replacement. Yes, I liked the 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery hot rods style and usage for our surfing road trips. One had the surfboards sticking out of the rear window and the next version, the surfboard was short enough to slide in, on the floor, between the seats… Houdaille Shocks vs tube shocks, such as Bilsteins or Monroe, it is your choice of make. But, the tube shocks are so much smoother riding on any kind of road surfaces… (a Model A vs 65 El Camino… no contest.) This 1960 version had tube shocks as it was a conversion to hold up a 348 chevy motor as was originally built. The ride was excellent with a simple flathead motor as I bought it. Hello, My first 1940 Flathead sedan delivery had regular tube shocks as the guy who built it was a good hot rod guy and he did not want those old Houdaille Shocks, so he had new Monroe shocks installed. They looked nice and handled quite well. It was a well set up sedan delivery. The shocks were heavy duty as it was originally set up to hold a 348 motor. The 348 was in there when I saw the sedan delivery for the first time. but, by the time we bartered to sell me the sedan delivery, it was a lower price, but no 348 c.i. motor. 327 powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery in front of our 40s house in Long Beach. Jump up many years after college. My wife and I were looking for a station wagon or sedan delivery for our business. Up pops a 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, painted almost like my high school Flathead Sedan Delivery, but a little bit darker orange-red mixture. It was more powerful, but, it was a project to be sold. It drove ok, heading for our small apartment, but at least it was running. By the time we got it home, I could see it needed a lot of work to get it safe for us to drive it daily and for our planned long distance road trips ahead. My wife liked the sedan delivery and it allowed us some privacy if we went camping or to the beach. So, it was a good buy for the two of us. She tried driving it down the coastal highway and only got down 15 miles. We had to turn around and go back to our little apartment. The front end was shaking and doing other things, drifting back and forth and bottoming out on the slightest of bumps. The handling needed a lot of work and I tried, but we needed expert help. So a friend who was responsible for setting up our 1965 El Camino for balancing and alignment had just moved to the OC and his shop was close by. Upon seeing what was what, the owner took the front end apart and started his technique. The first to go were the Houdaille Shocks. They were ok, but bottomed out with the extra weight or were just old and worn. The shop owner chuckled at the sight of those old shocks. We should have kept on for a coffee table conversation starter. Jnaki He had our 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery for several weeks and went through the complete front end for repairs, replacement, mostly replacement of parts and took his time setting up the whole front suspension set up. That was the key as we got new tires shaved, balanced and mounted, so that part was ready. With his whole front end replacement and fix, the brakes were completely cleaned, spun and replaced for stopping power. The shocks were changed over to tube shocks and handled so much better overall. We drove it for thousands of miles together and my wife drove it many times by herself to various places. She loved the sedan delivery. It certainly had more power than her old Corvair that we gave away to her uncle, who was in need of a car. Once the old Corvair bit the dust, I could not keep my wife from taking off in the 327 powered sedan delivery for short errands, long trips to shopping and visiting friends. She wanted to drive it, not just sit in the p***enger seat. So, yes, we were old car fanatics, but there are some things that just needed replacing for a better build and safety for all. It was like driving around in a brand new car, straight off of the showroom floor from a local dealer. (In this case, it was straight off of the repair shop floor and on the coastal roads...) For my wife, it was nothing to drive an hour and a half away to our old house in the Westside of Long Beach for a visit and free meal(s). Why buy a new car off of the showroom floor? Ours took a while, but the project turned into one of the most fun hot rods we had ever owned and drove all over So Cal. Reliable? Turn the key and drive on down the road... ha! What fun! A perfect vehicle for a couple of 20 somethings out for a cruise or camping. YRMV
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