| Arts40 | -- 02-09-2012 @ 10:52 AM |
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Ser # 5659974, sold June 27, 1940, 28K miles, always garaged, intact but unrestored & not running, body and frame metal in great condition. But it has tubular shocks in front, mounted to what look to be pressed steel bolted-on towers, all of which I suspect is an (early? factory authorized?) retrofit. Am scoping out the project, and wondering whether to stick with this tube shock installation. Advice, anyone?
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| Stroker | -- 02-09-2012 @ 12:29 PM |
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Well I'm not sure that they were "Ford Authorized", or if there really is such a term. My 38 had them, and they were installed by our Ford dealer in the late 40's. In the interest of originality, I have replaced them with the correct Houdaille's. The upside is that it is very easy to find modern replacements, and the downside is that they are not original. Guess it depends on what your objective is. If it is to maintain originality, then they should be replaced. It sounds like you have found a nice, original "gem", which a previous owner simply wished to improve upon. Share a photo with us, as original, un-restored cars are very rare, and as others have said: "They are only original ONCE".
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| supereal | -- 02-09-2012 @ 2:19 PM |
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While Dan and I generally agree, I have always believed that, if the lever action shocks were so good, they would not have been replaced by the tubular shocks that are still the standard choice today. Higher road speeds demand a better control than most Houdaille shocks can provide, even if they were in top shape, which most are not.
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| Stroker | -- 02-09-2012 @ 3:48 PM |
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While Super and I "generally agree", and will remain friends regardless of our differences, I would like to add the following caveats: Properly set-up and adjusted Houdaille's are actually a very effective and desirable 50/50 (same degree of resistance up or down) action shock. They were the shock of choice on most sprint cars and Indy cars long after the tube shock was invented, even showing up on torsion-bar suspended Kurtis-Kraft racers into the 60's, and scratch-built Bonneville racers as late as the 70's..(the Salt Flats are far from smooth). The tube shock is very cheap to produce, and owes its origins to the aircraft industry, where they replaced "bungee cords". A lighter, better mousetrap if you will. Their greatest advantage is that they are so inexpensive and efficient that no one in their right mind would design anything today with a lever shock. Having ranted the above diatribe, I'd still opt for the levers only because it appears that your 40 is otherwise original, and I believe that properly set-up Houdaille's are more than adequate to handle today's roads. Yes, we're driving faster, but compared to 1940 roads, I don't believe we are demanding more of our shocks. Probably the only lever action shock that is better than the Houdalle would be the Delco-Lovejoy. These, however were not OEM on your 40. Now, a minor confession....I still have big-ol Gabriel Silver E's (off a Caddie)on the back of my 38, because they seem to keep my old Station Wagon from leaning so much in turns, because they are mounted at about a 45 degree angle, and are stiff as all "get-out". I do have a pair of cherry Houdaille's for the rear in case I get crazy and decide to have my relic judged. Respectfully, (especially to Super) Dan
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| Arts40 | -- 02-09-2012 @ 7:29 PM |
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Thanks, all. I think I'll leave the tube shocks as-is for openers, assuming form/fit/function check out OK. (They look rugged enough, but it'll be a while before a road test!) The car is garaged some distance away, but next time there I'll take/post photos of the shock mounts for your further comment. Meanwhile, am still in the early days of gathering opinions and recommendations to help decide what to preserve vs. what to restore. Will post a picture or two of the car this weekend (along with another question or three). Thanks again for your good advice on this post. Efv8 is clearly a great resource.
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| 37 Coupe | -- 02-10-2012 @ 7:13 AM |
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I disagree with Supereals statement that if lever shocks were so good they never would have been replaced by tubular shocks. I beleive they were replaced by economics primarily,cost a lot more to make a single shock that fits in only one corner,say left front than to make a "fit all" front shock or rear which tubular provide. Same is still true today cost a lot more to rebuild Houldaille shocks than to go out and buy a set of Chinaman tubulars.
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| supereal | -- 02-10-2012 @ 7:32 AM |
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Much of the switch to tube shocks was due to the fact that they didn't require adjusting once they were properly sized and installed. Over the years, we found that the majority of the lever shocks we examined either didn't work at all, or were frozen and had come free from their links. Of course they can be rebuilt or replaced if you want them, and are willing to foot the bill. Levers replaced the friction disk type, followed by the tubes, and the advent of gas filled spring over shocks is the preference today. If you want levers, by all means have them. Like "the little girl with the curl", When they worked, they were swell, when they didn't, they were horrid!
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| TomO | -- 02-10-2012 @ 7:53 AM |
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I agree with Stroker on the reason the manufacturers went to the tube shocks. In the late 40's and early 50's the tube shocks were available for between $12 - $15. Later they became cheaper. The tube shocks available at that time were good for about12,000 miles, while there were many cars with lever shocks that were working with 50,000 miles on them. The tube shock kits for Fords became available around 1946 and it was less expensive to install a kit than replace the lever shocks. No matter what shock you decide to use, make sure that it is working. Worn out or malfunctioning shocks make a car dangerous to drive. Tom
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| alanwoodieman | -- 02-10-2012 @ 11:07 AM |
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please keep the car as original as possible, low mileage cars help to restore the "driven to death" cars that most of us have. As to lever verses tube shocks, I had the lever shocks rebuilt for my 40 wagon front and rear and found out that in a cross wind I was always chasing the car to keep it in a straight line.Ended up putting tube shocks front and rear. Sure drives better. The 40 tudors I had were not as bad, but still could have been givin an advantage with tube shocks
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| Stroker | -- 02-10-2012 @ 1:12 PM |
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Alan: I share with you the joy of driving an early wagon in a cross wind. I'm of the opinion that the tube shocks on the rear work so much better than the levers because of the way they are mounted, which makes them much more effective in countering body roll. I've never worked out where the CG is on my wagon, but I'd be willing to bet it is a lot higher, and farther to the rear than any other body style, especially when fully occupied with 7 souls. I once broke a rear spring center bolt on my 38 while "fully occupied" in the mountains. The rear tubes went on shortly thereafter. Dan
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| Arts40 | -- 02-10-2012 @ 6:27 PM |
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Here's a photo, as Stroker requested earlier in this string. Odometer reads 28846, inspection sticker from 9/14/75 notes 28817 miles, and an oil change sticker dated 10-16-67 notes 24173 miles, and we have the invoice from the dealer who sold it new. Appreciate the advice to keep it as original as possible, and will proceed with all due caution. Have some more newbie questions which I'll post separately so as not to jump this topic further. Meanwhile, thanks for the interest and the advice! Doug
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| 37 Coupe | -- 02-11-2012 @ 6:37 AM |
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Is hardware available to adapt to tube shocks front and rear for a 1937 Ford or need to find old used kits?
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| TomO | -- 02-11-2012 @ 8:31 AM |
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I have never had a problem with swaying in a cross wind with my 40 Mercury coupe with rebuilt original shocks. I can understand the problem on a station wagon, though. They all tend to act as sails in the crosswind. I don't think that it would be a problem in a 40 Ford convertible, but the car will be affected more by the crosswind than a modern car. But most of us want to experience the art off driving, like it was before the computer started to drive the cars. 37 Coupe, There are several vendors that carry kits to convert to tube shocks. The hot rodders all use them. Tom
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