Rebuilding the houdaille shocks

[Brentwood Bob]

30 years ago the local shock rebuilder had a pile of rejects out the back door of his shop that was chest high. He was a retired millwright. A set of his rebuilds are on one of my rigs.
Getting the shocks apart is still the start of the "rebuilding process". My pile of unsuitable cores is very small, but it will grow.

 

[Oldbluoval]

Parts even from a like manufacturer are not as interchangeable among like manufacturer shocks as u might think. Years and machines morphed from time to time. I tried to stay with parts from the same shock. Specifically, housing, wing and reservoir cover. Lock rings and covers were often interchanged

 

[Brentwood Bob]

There are some 53 different OEM shocks from the 4 manufactures, then either clockwise, or counter clockwise are needed for a complete set.
My tooling consists of the basics. I do have a homemade fixture to bolt the shock to so it can be operated on. First thing I do with a core is to identify it. Then the process starts.
When the Apple Rebuilt is heated, the internals will be damaged.

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Steve Schmauch has written the most comprehensive article for The Restorer(MAFCA), describing the Hydraulic Shocks, and has recently published a second revision of his Book, "The Model A Ford Shock Absorbers", this information is summarized in the Judging Standard and Restoration Guidelines. If you want to buy a copy, he can be reached at: steve.schmauch@yahoo.com
When we do our homework we get it right.

 

[Brentwood Bob]

My contact information is: Boblafollette@hotmail.com

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Working on some more shocks. Cleaning the covers

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Disassembling,cleaning,repairing and rebuilding shocks. I am working on making a set of rare late 1931 shocks

 

[Brentwood Bob]

These are some finished shocks that I rebuild. If you need any let me know

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Here are some complete sets of shocks that I have rebuilt

 

[Brentwood Bob]

For Christmas.

 

[RHD]

My book - 'Model 'A' Ford Houdaille Hydraulic Suspension' by Les. Pearson is available on eBay. Search the title. The best book ever written on Model 'A' shock restoration. Lots of close-up pictures and a lot of technical info.

 

[Brentwood Bob]

I have a copy, a very big help, thanks.

 

[Jim Mason]

Where are you getting the wingshaft o ring.? The recent rebuild 'kits' have two slip bushings like in plumbing.

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Agriculture supply in Stockton. Haven't figured out how to use the flat rings. I use nitrile Orings like in the kits.

 

[Jim Mason]

Agriculture supply in Stockton. Haven't figured out how to use the flat rings. I use nitrile Orings like in the kits.

Part no. Or dimensions. . I used my last ones and don't want to Dissasemble them to measure. Tia

 

[Brentwood Bob]

1-5/16" x 3/16"

 

[Jim Mason]

Thanks

 

[Brentwood Bob]

They are cheap so I bought several sizes the first trip. I am 30 minutes west of the supply house.

 

[JayJay]

I rebuilt four on my Town Sedan, and two of them leak badly. In hindsight I realize that the sealing surfaces on the shafts were corroded, and what I should have done was build the corroded surface up with weld and then turn them down again to smooth. Even new O-rings won't seal against a rough surface.

Project for another day...

JayJay

So, after sitting around on this for over a year, I finally decided to have Bob rebuild them for me. They turned out very nice. Haven't installed them yet but I have no doubts that they will perform well.

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Thanks, John.