To shock, or not to shock? That is the question! Whether it tis better. . ...

[Jack Henderson]

These are the friction shocks I made for my bucket. Seems like they are very similar to what @Hackerbilt made. This should give you a good idea of the spring setup he used. For mine I used a slant six valve spring and retainer. I searched a lot of threads across the internet on friction material and am giving this UHMW plastic a try. The reason people were suggesting this on the forums was the material has less static friction so it will result in a smoother operation. I may try some other materials this season though. Unfortunately my long shock arms probably don't help either so maybe some stiffer material like rubber would help. I eventually welded tabs to the spring shackles for the mounts.
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That is a robust setup! Thank you for sharing. Every little bit helps to foster ideas if not outright copy somebody!

 

[Bill Pedersen]

This is very similar to what Zipper Motor uses on their 27 T bucket. On some of the cars they use them on both front and rear.

 

[Hackerbilt]

These are the friction shocks I made for my bucket. Seems like they are very similar to what @Hackerbilt made. This should give you a good idea of the spring setup he used. For mine I used a slant six valve spring and retainer. I searched a lot of threads across the internet on friction material and am giving this UHMW plastic a try. The reason people were suggesting this on the forums was the material has less static friction so it will result in a smoother operation. I may try some other materials this season though. Unfortunately my long shock arms probably don't help either so maybe some stiffer material like rubber would help. I eventually welded tabs to the spring shackles for the mounts.
View attachment 24784

Same exact idea...only you used two arms and 1 mount, while I used 2 mounts and 1 arm. I always liked 1/4 elliptic springs. Mine had a cross spring...but I'm willing to bet 1/4's offer better movement. Maybe in the future I will get to try a set. I'm toying with the idea of building another car. I really miss my old bucket.

 

[Jack Henderson]

This is very similar to what Zipper Motor uses on their 27 T bucket. On some of the cars they use them on both front and rear.

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Good stuff. Thank you

 

[LongJohn]

Looks good! How hard is it to move up and down? I used ‘40 ford brake adjuster springs back in the day. They were real thick and very strong.

 

[fletcherson]

Awesome. That’s the thing I love about these kind of cars and sites: the creativity and ingenuity demonstrated in creating them out of necessity or just being not “off the shelf”. Plus the various materials, designs, etc, pass or fail, that we share. I imagine old school (think: slide rule) think tank engineering groups might have been like in the early, true golden era of mechanical design. Let’s share our experience and resources related to chrome: faux, home brew, or out sourced... seeing those shiny pieces reminded me of the lack of local quality and affordable options.

 

[Jack Henderson]

Awesome. That’s the thing I love about these kind of cars and sites: the creativity and ingenuity demonstrated in creating them out of necessity or just being not “off the shelf”. Plus the various materials, designs, etc, pass or fail, that we share. I imagine old school (think: slide rule) think tank engineering groups might have been like in the early, true golden era of mechanical design. Let’s share our experience and resources related to chrome: faux, home brew, or out sourced... seeing those shiny pieces reminded me of the lack of local quality and affordable options.

Excellent points