Topic: Shock Links

Jone	-- 04-02-2017 @ 6:22 AM
	Will the shock absorber links, 78-18055 for '37-'48 Ford, also fit a '47 Mercury? Dennis Carpenter usually puts an asterisk on the part no. if the part is also for Merc. but there is none on this part. Joel
len47merc	-- 04-02-2017 @ 9:45 AM
	Joel - having gone through this a couple of years ago on my '47 Merc as well I can tell you that after going through the same exercise and receiving the new links I found the new ones to be minimally adequate functionally but no better than the originals with their then 37K miles on them. At the time I was in 'restoration' mode mentally versus the ultimate 'preservation' mode I ended in on this car - the cast iron originals are beefier and look better to my eye than the new 'stamped' versions. If your originals are clearly 'loose', 'sloppy' and/or completely 'dried out' and snapping/popping, then of course you'll need to go the new route. If not, fwiw clean your originals up, get creative with lubricating them, and keep using them as long as you can - they're better IMHO than those DC and others are currently offering. To answer your question yes - they will fit. As you by now know the '46-early '47 Mercs (as well as late '47s through '48s though some Merc-specific changes began to show up in them slowly) were basically Fords throughout with the lone differences being the trim packages and some phased in/out upgrades. All the SHOCK links on your '47 are likely 4" long center-to-center, part number 78-18055. Confirm against your originals if you have them. Steve This message was edited by len47merc on 4-2-17 @ 9:50 AM
Jone	-- 04-02-2017 @ 1:42 PM
	Thanks Steve, My Merc is still in Winter storage, but I'll be picking it up in a week or so. I can then check the condition, I'll hold off buying new links until then. I already have the rebuilt shocks and hope to get them installed ASAP.

EFV-8 Club Forum :	https://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum
Topic:	https://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=16&Topic=10646