Rebuilding the houdaille shocks
I have now rebuilt over 40 shocks over the last several months. Mostly, I followed David McCleery's approach(How to Restore Your Model A, vol. 2.) and Les Andrews Red Book, pg 1-256.
Takes about half a day to get one open, a full day to complete the usable cores.
With some steps spread over several days.
Keeping all the parts together for each shock takes extra effort.
I have found various fluids have been used, some recognizable, some still unknown to me.
The attached pictures will show the disassembled shock.
I use 85-140 gear oil, neoprene seals, lead, ss ball bearings, stem packing, and sealant to rebuild the usable cores.
There is a learning curve, and this is an ambitious job. Finding a matching set is problematic, mostly I built Houdaille, and National Acme, the 2 main manufacturers. There is some luck involved finishing up with matching sets, in my experience.
Last edited by Brentwood Bob; 08-12-2022 at 01:23 PM.
Reason: Edited out hydraulic to read gear
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