OK Guys, I am working on a new article for "The Buildsheet" and it will be about shocks. Right now it is about the 70-72 Buick A-body shocks, but I might expand it, soooooooooo Who still has the original shocks on their car, I am looking for info and all 65-72 Buick A-body shock information would be appreciated. Duane
Duane, We have a 72 GS 350 4spd. conv. with 59K miles, which I think may still have the orginal shocks. What information are you looking for on the shocks ? Tim
Tim, I need all the info that is stamped around the bottom of the front and rear shocks. This would include the part number and the date code. Then I would need the date of the body, to verify the shocks are correct. The other 3 pieces of info needed are; the type of car, ie GS 350, Skylark, etc, type of shock, spiral etc, and whether the car originally had a rear swaybar or HD suspension or not. It seems what everyone has assumed for years is incorrect, and different type shocks were used for different applications, at least for buicks. Duane
I'll check my original shocks Duane, I have been meaning to replace the original shocks on my 25k miles Skylark, maybe this will give me a reason to finally do it. I don't care if they work "like new", the shocks from 1972 still stink compared to modern gas shocks.
Duane, When it warms up here I will get the car out so I can run it up on the hoist for a look see. Tim
Duane, my GSX is still on it's original shocks. I'll get the info you listed above and e-mail you in the next couple weeks. Jeff
Duane I have a 1969 GS 400 Stage 1 it has 41000 miles on it I just removed the shocks from the rear. It has a sway bar and is a non A/C car. The shocks have the original undercoating on them so I am pretty sure they are factory. They are gold color spiral. the number are- 3192819 3A69 DELCO PRODUCTS DAYTON OHIO U.S.A. ( arrow pointing down) Bottom The cars body code is - 6944637 FL1220084 TR181 51 51 o3c I have most of the original parts off this car if you need any numbers or pictures. Take care Dave. n
Dave, Your shocks are for a heavy duty suspension package. Did your car come with the boxed rear control arms/sway bar? Also, is it possible to get a picture of a rear shock? Duane
Yes it has the boxed control arms and sway bar. I will do my best to get a picture to you. I am not great on the computer but I will get my 15 yr old daughter to help. Thats sad huh. I am putting on new springs and shocks. Does anyone know what the replacement for the heavy duty shocks and springs would be and the best place to get them ? Thanks.
Anyone have an info for original shocks for 72 cars. I can use info from both rallye ride and non rallye ride cars. Duane
Does anyone have any more shock info. I am finally getting around to finishing the article and would still like to verify the 72 shocks for both regular and heavy duty applications. Duane
I just stripped a 72 4dr in the local yard. Had 49k original. Had spiral shocks on the rear. Didn't get a chance to check out the fronts.
Jim, It was a common practice back then for the Buick engineers to recycle many of the assembly manual pages/drawings from one year to the next. At the time, the original drawings were drawn by hand, so unless there were major changes the drawings were retained from one year to the next. Sometimes they only changed part numbers on the drawings, and left the graphics alone. The engineers would then add the current year to the title block and add any revision dates from that point on. I am making sure I document all my research so there is no question as to the findings. I think you will be surprised/shocked (no pun intended) once you read the article I am putting together, and so will a lot of other people. Duane
Duane I will do my best to get the info from the shocks of the '72 I drive daily (the copper '72 4-door you saw at the GS Nats behind Glen's swap meet space), I need to upgrade the shocks and maybe this 3 day weekend is just the time to get those shocks removed.
Guys, I only need the info from the rear shocks, the fronts will follow whatever type shock they put on the rears. All I need is the part number, date code, and type of shock, ie spiral/non-spiral. Thanks. Duane
