I had KYB gas-a-just shocks on my old 69 camaro back in the 80's and I really liked them, so I'm thinking of putting those onto my 67 skylark. Looking at the KYB web page, I see there are 2 choices, KG5504, heavy duty, and KG5507, Extra heavy duty. Any opinions on which to choose from? I"m working on getting my rear suspension all done at the same time as when I put in the posi unit. Moog K5161 bushings upper and lower. Add a 1" sway bar and box the lower arms. KYB shocks, probably the KG5504 version unless opinions vary. So, good bad or indifferent? Jon
Check out Summit. I don't recall them selling anything more than one item for the front and another for the back. I recently put them on my '67. I'm happy with them. Care to share any car pics yet?
The outside looks pretty much as it did before, less windshield and back window. Got all the rust gone now, if you have faceBook, PM me your acct and you can see the pics I have been putting there. Got a posi unit coming soon, and I'm busy making the back axle new again, bearings, seals, brakes and such. Got a TH400 trans sitting on a cart now, I think I will put that in and see if it works or not since most rebuild quotes have been $600-900. I have a couple more holes on the passenger side to weld up and then that sucker should be waterproof again, but I need to get the old trans out of there first to get to the area. My landlord next door says he will give me the keys some weekend and I can have 5-8 hours on his lift to do whatever I want, which is when I will move the crossmember back and locate the trans. I have the exhaust system sitting in a box, again to do when the car is up on the lift. So, lots of things done, but none that really change the look much. Once I get the trans in, driveline modified or replaced due to length change with th400, and posi all installed, then I will begin working on that 455 and get her fired up. Oh, and put the nut on the motor mount bolt. I'm hoping by end of August to at least do a little driving.
Good question. I had to look it up to satisfy my curiosity! The KG5507 is listed as fitting 64-67 Skylarks. BTW, that's Exc H/D, which means EXCEPT Heavy Duty Suspension, not Extra HD. (Edit: It's listed as Exc, not Ex as I first posted.) The KG5504 is listed as fitting 67-72 Skylarks Now look at their tech details page and note ..... the KG5504 are shorter than the KG5507's. Apparently the HD suspension has a lower ride height. I use the 5507's on my 66's as that's what is recommended. If you are going to lower your car, you can use the 5504's. If in doubt, call KYB's tech support.
I wonder how many returns they get because of the misunderstanding. Anytime I see EX ahead of HD I take it to mean EXTRA. Another thing is all the acronyms used today. Sometimes I don't have any idea what they are talking about. Oh well getting old I guess. M.D.
Interesting chart you provided there, which clearly shows a different length and stroke. Here is a reply email I just received from KYB tech dept. ___________________________________________________________________ Good afternoon Jon, our part number KG5507 is around 20% to 25% stiffer than KG5504 on the rebound force; there are no differences on the dimensions of both of the shocks. Thank you for using KYB Tech support _________________________________________________________________
You're right. 'Ex' usually means 'Extra'. (or 'former') I fixed my post. The KYB catalog used the term 'Exc'..... which stands for 'Except'. The old GM catalogs use 'less' instead of 'except'....... good thing they didn't use the terms 'Ex' (extra), and 'less'.... THAT would be confusing! That's strange. The KYB site shows info that contradicts what tech support said! Dimensions are here on page 21: http://www.kyb.com/technical/documents/ShockDimensionsSecured.pdf Try contacting KYB tech support again and see if you get a different answer! I suspect they gave you incorrect info. o No:
Wow lots of work. Did you decide to use the existing 8.2 rear end? I think I'm going to put in and Eaton posi with a 355's. With that 4 speed you could even toss in 373's. Have you decided on the headers? It would be cool to hear them, maybe even add some cutouts? I can't wait to see it. Mines going in to the body shop saturday. Anyway, sorry I just hijacked your thread.
It has the 12 bolt "O" type rear end in it, with the 10 bolt ring gear inside and 2.74 gears. After much discussion back and forth with folks, and with my neighbor who drives a 70 GS455 and has 2.94 gears, I decided to just re-use this gear set over again and swap in a posi unit. JDRace, Monzaz, has an affordable carrier and bearing set so I'm waiting for that to show up. My neighbor says he was sure he must have 3.42 gears or something because it is so easy to break the tires loose, so he bought all new 3:08 stuff to go in, opened it up only to find out her has the 2.94 gears. He said that since 455's make soooooo much torque, that this should be fine for me, plus it will make road trips to the beach easier too. Worst case scenario is that after it is done, I change it out in a couple years for something else. Meh, it's only money.
