HotrodVon and TV...I'm shocked! (pics and a lever shock ?)

[NealinCA]

A week ago or so, I got a pair of lever shocks from HotrodVon. He gave me a straight up deal on them and they are going to work out real neat on the back of my 32 jalopy project.

I had to remove the arms, heat and rebend them and then press them back on. With that done, they hooked up real easy to the 36 radius rods using a couple of hiem joints.

The really bitchin deal is that the bedsides have an arc pressed in them in the wheel well for clearance around the stock lever shock and these fit right in there and look like they were supposed to be there.

Here are some of the promised pics...

[NealinCA]

This shows the little retainer I made to hold the arm on after I ground the end of the shaft off to get them apart...

[NealinCA]

And another showing the bend I put in the arms to line up with the 36 bones.

Does anybody know how to service this type of shock? They are Armstrongs from the UK. The LHS shock seems to be OK, but the right one is too weak. The frame will continue to bounce when let go. Could it just need fluid?

[safariknut]

Neal:
I believe that either Armstrong or Girling sell shock absorber fluid.You might try someone who deals in British car parts(Mini Mania is somewhere on the West coast).I believe the viscosity is similar to brake fluid but I'm not sure they will interchange.
In my younger days,we raced a stock car that had levers on it and we tapped into the body and put a zerk fitting in and filled them with grease.Really stiffened them up good but I doubt it would be good on the street.Just a suggestion.
Ray

[zgears]

i had a pair of those, lucky yours arnt pited.

[TV]

Neal, I really like your work and install of the shocks, they look like they were made to be there by the factory. Cool.--TV http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Fraz]

Could experiment with different viscosity oils, find one that works like you want it to.

[Bass]

I'm willing to bet that motorcycle fork oil would work. Several different viscosities are available as well...you could experiment to get the right one for your application/ weight distribution as Fraz said.

Those look killer on the '32, Neal...somehow they manage to look high tech and old timey at the same time.

[NealinCA]

I found some info on Armstrong shocks here. (http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rhodes/shock.html)

It looks like they are supposed to be mounted like this...

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rhodes/shock.gif

...instead of the way I mounted them. Do you think it will make a difference? I think they will look better the way I mounted them...does that count for anything? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Neal

[just steve]

I've heard that motorcycle fork oil is supposed to be the hot ticket for those . . . I'm thinking about an identical pair of these for the back of my '32 because the damn 3-window floorpan doesn't leave much room for tube shocks. Stinkin' 3-windows anyway. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Steve.

[TV]

Neal, I'm not sure if it makes any difference which way their mounted. But I have always seen them mounted vertical. But who knows?--TV http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Morrisman]

I'm a guessing they will be like ordinary shocks: you have to make sure that any air bubble in them is up outta the way of the oil doing the damping, otherwise you'll be pumping a bit of air to and fro, which don't damp much of anything.

[NealinCA]

[ QUOTE ]
Neal, I'm not sure if it makes any difference which way their mounted. But I have always seen them mounted vertical. But who knows?--TV http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Now I am having second thoughts on the way I mounted them. I didn't really want them hanging down below the bed that far...but they may have too http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Any hydraulic experts out there? Will they work on their side?

Neal

[HotrodVon]

NealinCA- I'm with you, I like the way you mounted them on they're side so they don't hang low. Clean is the way to go...I just hope they work right for you. Very cool!

[aussiesteve]

Have the same shocks on my 3-window.The rear ones bolted thru the stock shock holes.The fronts are bolted into a bung welded into the frame.Easy to do.Also they come in different sizes.MG,Austin,Zepher etc,etc

[burndup]

And.... ATF makes for good motorcycle shock oil...

Bitchin setup!

[UKAde]

hi
i havwe some of these but i do live in the uk, i think they have to be mounted upright not on their sides as you have them they are not pressurized so have to have some air in them to take up expansion when they get hot, ( they have no damper shaft so the internal volume doesnt change as tube shocks do).

As for oil use motorcycle fork oil it comes in loads of grades from 2.5weight they runny one to 50 weight very thick they may even be thicker ones
the range is good as it goes
2.5, 5 7.5 10, 15, 20 , 25 etc grades can be mixxed to give numbers not normaly available equal parts 10 and 15 gives 12.5
so a little playing should get it right

there are adjustable lever shocks around but are a bit rare

make sure they are a pair as they were made for lots of 40's to 60's cars and they are both in good condition ie give the same damping with the same grade oil

UKAde

[Kevin Lee]

Air pocket is only there to take up expanison, yes? So take the fill cap off and run a hard line to a remote reservoir - maybe fashioned from a spent CO2 cartridge with a couple of steel pipe fittings welded on? Shock stays full and seals stay sealed. Might be a bit labor intensive for an old jalopy - but those shocks sure do look cool mounted sideways.

[Rix2Six]

I think you'll have problems with them mounted on their side like that. Try Moss Motorsi in Goleta CA for fluid and more info.

[Rix2Six]

Be careful using other oils. Most British rubber pieces are of a different composition and are easily weakened by using the wrong type of fluids.

[Kevin Lee]

No first hand knowledge but I read the discription of how they work and I don't see any reason why a remote res. wouldn't fix the problem. Damper is fully submersed - all it does is move the air to a place where it can't get into the valve. What do you think the problem would be?

[Rix2Six]

I missed the part about the remote res. and that could work if all the air was out of the shock. The only prob I could see is if cavitation causes more gases to form, you would want them to vent to the res.

[UKAde]

A normal tube shock has a floating piston either in the shock or remote at the end of a hose the oil is on one side of the piston and a gas normaly nitrogen on the other

there are two reasons for this one is to take up the volume increase as the damper rod enters the body and to cope with expansion and contraction due to heat it also keeps the oil under pressure which helps to stop cavitation,

it does this by keeping any gas in the oil in small bubbles as the pressure drops the bubbles get bigger if you get a negative pressure on the back side of a shim stack then the bubbles can get very big so the oil becomes an emulsion (mixture of gas and oil ) so the oil is kept under pressure

a remote res is possible but it may it would possibly mean changing the seals as they are designes for low pressure operation most dampers i have worked on mainly in bikes and F1 cars are pressured to 10 bar 140 psi

but try running the dampers on the side it just might work especialy if the rebound piston is the lower of the two as that is the heavily worked one
but it does look so neat who cares if it's not the most efficient damping system
I am running friction dampers just coz they look right

UKAde

[NealinCA]

Thanks for all of the input everyone.

I went to the local British Sports Cars shop and bought a bottle of official lever shock oil. I topped off the one shock that seemed weak and it now works just fine.

After studying the cutaway diagram of the shock, I think it will work on its side. If I do have problems with air bubbles, I will take Grimlok's idea and add a standpipe or resevoir to the fill hole, but for the time being I am just going to try it as is.

Thanks again,

Neal