Rebuilding shocks have a mystery fluid, what is it?

[Brentwood Bob]

In the cores I am rebuilding there are a set of rebushed ones. I am thinking they might be the Apple Rebuilds. They are filled with a black, rubbery fluid.
Brake cleaner cuts it(solvent). Guess I will buy some of Apple's hydraulic fluid to see. Anyone have an opinion?
Might be graphite grease, just a mystery.

[Marshall V. Daut]

Brentwood Bob -
In your rebuilding experience, have you come across shocks made by Pete Busiak ("Pete the Vendor") in Chicago during the 1970's and 1980's? They looked like originals, but the internals were not as good as Henry's. I stopped by his house on my way to Germany from Arizona with my 1928 Roadster in 1974 and together (for a fee!) we installed one of his shock "kits". That car is still Germany as far as I know, so I have no idea how long the shocks lasted.
Based on your experience with these shocks and their disassembly, did Pete use glycerin or hydraulic fluid in his shocks? Or neither? None of the searches and discussions about him and his shocks reveal what fluid he used.
Marshall

[Brentwood Bob]

Marshal, I have not seen any of the Busiak units, however my sample size is small. I have one that has a none standard inner cover which I haven't been able to open. Has three equal spaced notches indented instead of the hex nut standard. And a second with recognizable internals, and with a lower casting with a three ring bullseye back. That one opened up, and I rebuilt it.
The rebushed shocks I think might be Apple remanufactured, have all new internal machining and the strange black substance. They have Babbitt, or brass used in the remachining, and eventually cleanup, and function.
Also I am on the left coast.
I have been using 85/140 wt. and some stp if the clearances are wide. Only found one that possibly was glycerine in 40 odd cores. I think alcohol would have been the correct solvent to clean that one, acetone halfway worked.

[alexiskai]

Bob, I just emailed Apple to ask about it, I'll let you know if I hear back.

[Marshall V. Daut]

Thanks for sharing your expertise, Bob. One point that may help you identify Pete's shocks in the future: he put a paper label on the backside of each shock. 40-50 years later, these paper labels are all but illegible from age, water and time taking their toll. I have yet to see a Busiak shock that was installed and still had a legible label. I wonder if someone out there in Readerland has an unused N.O.S. Busiak shock with a label intact to tell us what is printed on it?
Marshall

[rotorwrench]

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Mineral oil generally always has a distinct odor like most mineral types. Glycerin is sweet to taste but has no real odor. Castor oil has it's own distinct odor that a person who was fed the stuff as a sick child would never forget. It makes me gag a bit every time I smell some.

Glycerin was the best for use in all weather. The stuff wouldn't thicken too much when extemely cold and this is why Houdaille used it. The others were used at various times and temperatures where they would work OK. Worn shocks will have more leak by on the wing shaft so they need more viscosity than like new shocks. Stipe shocks are likely the only "like new" ones out there in this day and age. Gear oil or heavy hydraulic oil of varying viscosity levels will work in worn shocks in normal temperatures. In cold temps, not so much.

[John]

If I remember correctly, the body of Pete's shocks were cast bronze not iron like Henry's.

John

[alexiskai]

Bob, Apple Hydraulics wrote back to me as follows:

• Apple doesn't provide any identifying marks on the exterior of the shock that ID it as theirs
• They fill these shocks with 30 wt hydraulic oil
• If you know who owned the car, Apple has customer records back to 1997, they could look for a match

[Brentwood Bob]

Thanks for the information. Could have been aftermarket ford fluid.

[Oldbluoval]

I built shocks for about 10 years and did hundreds
Regretfully , Pete’s shocks were not useable.
They looked like shocks on the car but that’s it. Poor operation
You could tell them because the covers were not accurate with gennies

[Brentwood Bob]

Thanks for the knowledge. Tedious work just to get the shock open. Then it needs to be completed to see what the end result will be. The late shock one way ball valves were a great improvement over the earlier captured valves. That seems to be part of the Apple rework, or the mystery shocks that were bushed, and machined.