Shock absorber paint

Discussion in 'Chassis restoration' started by Matt Knutson, Dec 8, 2022.

  1. Duane

    Duane Member

    Ok,
    Sorry I did not see the question until now.

    For our cars the shocks had white stickers with black letter codes on them. The pic that Jason posted of his rear shocks has my stickers on them, and yes the stickers for the rear shocks should be on the upper housings.

    As far as the Frame stickers for our cars, yes they were Stickers and the ones I have seen were also white with black letter codes. However these have a bit of a twist. From what I was told the frames were delivered to the final assembly plants by rail, and were loaded upside down on rack assemblies……so the letter codes are upside down, so they could be “read correctly” when first delivered.

    I make up entire Chassis sticker sets for our cars, including a sheet showing where and how they get put on the cars. There are a few threads about this on this site.
    Duane

    PS. The upper rear control arms were also coded, and they were coded differently by the assembly plants. Depending on where the cars were assembled you could have a sticker, painted letters, or could have the letter codes actually stamped into the part.
    I do not make those stickers, and you can't see them anyway when judging the cars.
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2022
  2. Duane

    Duane Member

    Here are 2 pics of a sticker set with the installation sheet used to put them on. I offer these for the 69-72 Buick A-body cars, and could probably put a set together for a 68 if asked. This particular set is for a 69 Buick.

    If you look at the stickers closely you will see 3 "cuts" in the Power Booster/Master Cylinder tag, just like the originals, as well as the jagged cuts at the top & bottom of the front & rear spring stickers. All my stickers are made in the correct colors for the backgrounds and letter/number codes and are the correct shapes. The only exception to this is the engine/trans sticker that goes on the driver side valve cover. I cut it the same size as the frame sticker, so you need to trim that particular sticker down very close to the letters.

    Also each set is made for a particular car, as to option load etc.

    I do not sell any Generic sticker sets, that would actually not be correct for any particular car.
    Duane


    IMG_5984.JPG IMG_5985.JPG
     
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  3. wallypep

    wallypep Silver Level contributor

    Thanks ,I have purchased your decal kits ,there very nice I need to order another one , someone told me they thought those were stamps not decals , I thought they were wrong , thanks for the information , merry Christmas
     
  4. Duane

    Duane Member

    And to you as well.
    Duane
     
  5. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    I need to order a few sets (will call). Funny story - Back in the early 90's we (OP @Matt Knutson & I) run into this crazy Buick guru @ the Nationals selling decal kits. No idea how we came to meet or got talking about serious resto topics - We were still kids but much more so interested in the restoration side. We each bought a kit which the guy carefully assembled on the spot. His name was Duane:).
     
  6. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Duane's decals have no adhesive. What's the best way adhesive to use on them? @1972 Stage 1 told me a while ago but I can't remember...
     
  7. Duane

    Duane Member

    James Weinman uses 3M two sided tape. He said it is a little expensive but it really sticks.

    The trick is to make sure you have them in the right spot before you stick them on.

    Other guys have used different adhesives but that tends to get some bleed through and will ruin them. I always replaced a sticker if you ruined it putting them on.
    Duane
     
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  8. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    I would think a little 3M spray adhesive would be ok but maybe it bleeds.
     
  9. Duane

    Duane Member

    That has been the problem, and the same problem with using contact adhesive.

    I originally made a couple of sets with adhesive on the back, but the adhesive paper I could get was junk and the stickers started falling off, so I gave that up.

    Maybe Adam will respond so we can see what he is using.
    Duane
     
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  10. Matt Knutson

    Matt Knutson Well-Known Member

    You can purchase a small roll of 3M double sided tape at Home depot for a few bucks. I think it's a bit too thick for the shock I.D. stickers. I 'm going to spritz mine with a little clear lacquer to give some water resistance to them, as, I know they will get wet and deteriorate. With the clear I'm hoping to use a thin coat of contact cement - smeared on with my finger.
     
    Dano likes this.
  11. 446379H

    446379H Well-Known Member

    Last edited: Dec 25, 2022
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  12. Matt Knutson

    Matt Knutson Well-Known Member

    I know of that tape and have used it many times. I had forgotten all about it. Thanks for the reminder. Great idea!
     
    446379H likes this.
  13. BUQUICK

    BUQUICK I'm your huckleberry.

    If you really want to get picky about the paint color all of the NOS shocks I've seen are not gloss gray but are semi-gloss or satin sheen. We've got a couple sets of NOS spiral shocks here and they all look like this pair of replacement shocks that were manufactured in 1970. These are currently listed on eBay right now with the application being listed as 64-67 DELCO SPIRAL SHOCK 3197636 OLDS F85 GTO TEMPEST BUICK SPECIAL IMPALA.

    As Duane already mentioned the entire shock was painted after it was assembled.



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  14. Smartin

    Smartin antiqueautomotiveservice.com Staff Member

    Double sided tape
     
  15. Randy Lutz

    Randy Lutz Well-Known Member

    I made my own control arm stickers, based on info found in the assembly manual.

    GSX left rear control arm marking.JPG GSX right rear control arm marking.JPG
     
  16. Matt Knutson

    Matt Knutson Well-Known Member

    I used the Smoke Gray and thin fog of satin clear to bust up the shiny. They came out just fine.
     
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  17. Stage2

    Stage2 Well-Known Member

    I found a gray primer that was really close in color, made some stickers and then cleared the whole thing with a gloss clear. They came out looking great.
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2022
  18. wallypep

    wallypep Silver Level contributor

  19. Duane

    Duane Member

    They did not have decals on them like that. Those would have been yellow painted letters applied by some type of “ink stamp”, like we once used on papers, etc. The original letters look much more messy then that. (I have made a few of this type of “ink stamps” for various applications on my own cars, like alternators, rear axles, upper & lower control arms, etc.)

    Again,
    depending on the plant they could have paint stamps, letters physically stamped into the part, or stickers.

    The original stickers looked very close to the shock stickers, white with black letters, but were a little bit bigger.
    Duane

    PS,
    The only reason I made my above post was not to find fault with what Randy did, which I think looks fine, but to clarify what was actually done at the factory.

    Once information gets posted on the internet it appears to become gospel; therefore the correct info has to be put on the posts. Otherwise people will copy it and it will create problems at a later date.
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2022
  20. Randy Lutz

    Randy Lutz Well-Known Member

    I don't take exception with what Duane has said. I knew they would have been a yellow stamp, as stated in the AssemblyManual, but I made mine from vinyl as they are easily removed if needed. Something that would prove problematic if they were applied with paint. As for neatness, I had no way of knowing, so I opted for neat.
     

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