Shocks ?

[35chevcoupe]

Hey Folks , just curious what everyones doing for shock absorbers on there cars .  Mine came with a set of Koni,s that appear to be in good shape , but I,m looking for something a little more original .  Are they reproduced ? Or are we just ordering something newer and repainting them .
I believe the OEM shocks were grey correct ?

[GS66]

The ones I remember from back in the day all ran air shocks to get the right stance loaded or unloaded. Not original though, I suppose they can be painted too. Are you going for 400 point judging John?

[Polishmeatballpizza]

Are air shocks necessary? What about using lowered springs - anyone used these?

[GS66]

No, they're not. Just an old school way to keep the cars from sagging in the back. I just remember everyone had Hi-jackers back in the day when these cars were driven a lot.

[WkillGS]

..... I just remember everyone had Hi-jackers back in the day when these cars were driven a lot.

Haha! Yup, in the 70's-80's, the first things on the list were air shocks, Cragers and Hush Thrush mufflers!!

Choice of shocks depends on your budget and desire for originality. 'Spiral' shocks were original ( I think).
AC Delco Advantage are the budget shocks. Next step up is KYB Gas-A-Just, and the Koni's and Bilsteins are the premium choices.
I like the KYB's and I paint them the original grey.

[Rollaround]

My car will be a driver not a points car. I ordered a set of heavy duty KYBs from Summit, $150.00 for the set.

[35chevcoupe]

The ones I remember from back in the day all ran air shocks to get the right stance loaded or unloaded. Not original though, I suppose they can be painted too. Are you going for 400 point judging John?

Jim , I remember the air shock days very well . I remember if they didn,t get the back high enough we would use the shock extensions also . It was usually to clear the N50 15 tires . LOL
As far the 400 point judging , I,m just trying to make the car as close to correct as possible . I,m not sure what it takes to make the car worthy of 400 point judging .
There are things that won,t be correct like the engine ( won,t be # matching ) plus will have dual quads .

[Mark Ascher]

John,

Points won't get deducted for non-matching numbers engine or the 2 fours.
If the objective is to make it as close to correct as possible, you'll want to be in the 400 point judged class.

Mark

[Arthur]

My car came with spiral shocks that were good for a few years. I changed them on the rear to Del-co air shocks around 68 when the Goodyear Wide ovals were popular. The air shocks were great with the big tires. On the front I stayed with OEM shocks. The Del-co air shocks were soon changed out in the early 70's to Hi Jackers by Gabriel which at the time were much better, the air lines actually held the pressure. I still run the Hi Jackers today, put new ones on in 2016.

[GreatScat1965]

Hey Folks , just curious what everyones doing for shock absorbers on there cars .  Mine came with a set of Koni,s that appear to be in good shape , but I,m looking for something a little more original .  Are they reproduced ? Or are we just ordering something newer and repainting them .
I believe the OEM shocks were grey correct ?

If the Koni's are in good shape, they are great shocks. Paint them grey!. as for the 60's rake consider a set of old school air Lift air bags inside the rear coil springs. (Cheap and easy) Undetectable unless you go looking for them. they can even be spray bombed satin black for even more stealth.

Jerry