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Shocks

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dvu101

Jedi Hopeful
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I have a full set of front and rear shocks that have been sitting on a shelve for 25 years. They came off an early 3000 that rusted in half way back then.

How do I tell if they are still good? If they are still good, I want to clean them up, paint them and switch with the ones on my car.

What color were they when new?

The front are now painted gold? and the back are just unpainted.

Thanks Scott
 
Anders Ditlev Claussager in 'Original Austin Healey' states 'The actual suspension parts were painted black, and the shock absorbers were usually left in the natural silver-grey colour of the alloy used for the body castings but have been seen painted black." The gold painted ones may have been BMC 'Gold Seal' reconditioned units.

If they've been on the shelf for 25 years I'd get them reconditioned, good or not! Apple Hydraulics who come highly recommended on various forums will recondition fronts for $102 and backs for $75 each.

https://www.applehydraulics.com/british.htm

I'd spend the extra $10 each to get the fronts uprated by 15% to the 'Heavy-Duty' spec.

Cheers,

Ian

PS I have no connection with Apple as they're on the wrong side of the pond for me :smile:
 
One thing you should do when sending shocks in to be reworked is to make sure you are getting your own shocks back. If you don't specify, they may send you a set they have on the shelf. The problem I've heard is they'll send shocks that were from an MGB, so the body is different.

P.S. I'd have to recommend World Wide Import Auto Parts for shock rebuilds. I've heard unhappy customers with Apple.
 
The latest concours guidelines says, briefly, that all shock bodies and arms were painted black. There were some instances of BJ8s with unpainted rears but all back on all four is never wrong.
 
AH100M said:
The latest concours guidelines says, briefly, that all shock bodies and arms were painted black. There were some instances of BJ8s with unpainted rears but all back on all four is never wrong.
Click to expand...
I don't know about the any Concours guide, but I personally dismantled a few BJ8 Healeys for salvage and with low miles and original shocks and they had black painted arms and natural finish housings.
The shock housings if indeed painted black, seems to me that the color would have remained on the non-exposed area(mounting face). I also have a rear shock that is like new and is painted blue. From what I read once, this may be a rebuilt shock but I can't find the story about it.
Patrick
 
Armstrong's marketing used "Super Blue" at one time, wherein all their product was blue. They also used "Roadhandler" wherein all their product was that pink-ish gold. I have many tube shocks from them with the same color schemes. Even their floor jacks and hydraulic lifts used these colors.

Peter C
 
My shocks are still original since the car has only 35k miles and unmolested. There is just as much buildup of dirty residue on shocks as surrounding area. The fronts are painted black. Was not able to crawl under to check the rears tho. On my bugeye the rears are raw cast but the arms are painted black.
 
I used World Wide Auto. Talk to Peter C. He was really great to work with. As I recall they have a very strong guarantee.
https://www.nosimport.com/
World Wide Auto Parts
2517 Seiferth Rd., Madison, WI 53716
North America Toll-free (800)
362-1025 Voice (608) 223-9400
Fax (608) 223-9403
 
Thanks guys. I sent an email to World Wide Auto a few minutes ago.
 
dvu101 said:
Thanks guys. I sent an email to World Wide Auto a few minutes ago.
Click to expand...

Good choice, the difference is World Wide shocks won't leak, Apple's will. If you want to designate a specific color you must tell them. My research indicates the shock arms were painted black, as they were outsourced, and were merely installed on the unpainted shock bodies.
 
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