jaunty75

I'm trying to remove the front shocks on my '67 Delta 88. I was able to loosen the top bolt (the one you get to under the hood), but I don't see how to loosen the bottom bolts. I can get at the nuts on either side of the shock that pass through the bracket on the shock's end that hold it in place, but I can't loosen these unless I can put a wrench or socket on the bolt end to stop it from turning as I turn the nut. But the bolt end is INSIDE the spring, and I don't see any way to get at it. I would even like to know how a repair shop gets at these bolts. Is there some trick I'm missing? The service manual is of no help because all it says is "loosen bolts and remove shock." (Thanks a lot, service manual!)

joe_padavano

The bottom bolts thread into clip nuts that clip over the edges of the hole in the lower control arm. These clip nuts are two-piece construction, where a square nut is snapped into a spring steel clip. It doesn't take much rust on the bolt for the nut to start spinning in the clip. A cutting torch or cutoff wheel is the only solution then.

When you buy replacement clip nuts, there are two types, the original two piece design, and the single piece formed design. The latter may not be quite as strong as the original, but I use them because they can't come apart and spin like the originals. Also, use anti-seize on the bolts when installing them.

jaunty75

Thanks, Joe. This sounds like a job for the local garage.

joe_padavano

If you have someone do it for you, be sure they use new clip nuts. Some shops will use a nut and bolt, which is possible when the threads are brand new but impossible to remove later.

jaunty75

I will ask them to do this. Thanks.

Joeypete

I just changed the front shocks on my Cruiser. It was probably the easiest thing I've replaced on this damn car! lol Luckily I didn't run into problems like yours. New shocks are great...now I don't feel like I'm going to throw up when I go over bumps

jaunty75

I hate you.

Joeypete

haha...I'm sorry I got mine with my tie rods don't worry. Man that was a pain...oye.

Luckily my car has been in AZ since new so there is zero rust anywhere on it...it's amazing compared to my Toronado that has almost half the mileage and is covered in rust underneath...it was from WI.

kaz442

I use a large pry bar and pry against the side of the nut thats inside the spring, and then use an impact gun to spin the bolt out. I use a lift so its easier then laying on your back. Good luck JKaz

jaunty75

While I've certainly got rust in places, it's not as bad as you would think for a 42 year old car. It's mostly dirt and grime getting in the way of everything. But I still hate you.


Interesting. I hadn't thought of brute-forcing it like this. I might try it. I hate giving up on something, especially since I've already bought the $#^@$# shocks, and I DO have a large pry bar. I did have the car up on jack stands, too, so access isn't that bad.

joe_padavano

I have done this in the past. but the torch is SOOO much easier.

Joeypete

ha! You are too funny. While my CC has no rust, the entire front end including suspension is (well I cleaned most of it now) covered in oily grime from leaky valve cover gaskets...what a mess.

That sounds like more fun too!

jaunty75

Yeah, but first you gotta have a torch. I suppose I could go rent one, but then I get nervous with an open flame under the car. Another reason to take it to the corner garage if that nifty-sounding prybar idea doesn't work.

Joeypete

That's a good point. I've had similar issues with car repairs. I bought a good tool set because you can use that for anything...and some basic things like jack stands and vacuum gauge/pump...that stuff you can use over and over. But if things require major tools, I'll just take it to the shop to do...I guess you could rent tools too though.

Hope you can get it done. I know it's frustrating when you start a project and then get stuck...ugh

jaunty75

Exactly. The annoying thing is that I've already bought the d!mn shock absorbers. My corner garage is a great place, and they're more than happy to install parts I provide them with, but still, I feel like a failure walking in there with parts in hand asking them to rescue me.

I successfully changed shocks on my two previous old car projects ('64 Jetstar 88 and '75 Delta 88) back in the 1990s without a problem, so I didn't anticipate any trouble this time. Oh well...at least I got the new cigarette lighter working and cleaned the windows!

Joeypete

It's cool to have a good garage like that, mine is the same way. I redid my tie rods yesterday because the first time I did it, they were incredibly off...I went for a test drive and had to turn around because the wheels were so out of alignment. I mean I know you have to have an alignment done anyhow, but I was embarrassed to take it down like that! lol

I need to fix my cigarette lighter too. I tried to use it and the reminder chime when off when I pushed it in...haha, must have a short somewhere.

Did you buy a new one? Just wondering if you can put an aftermarket unit in there.

jaunty75

My Delta has three cigarette lighters. None of them worked. For the two in the rear on the armrests, I just bought "GM-compatible" replacements from Autozone. About $6 each. No, they're not the same lighter unit as was in the car, but one of those was missing, and the other was rusted. I might be able to find them at a swap meet or something, but, for now, at least I've got functional lighters and therefore power sources in the rear for all those times I need to plug in an Ipod or GPS or recharge a cell phone. But really, it's just to have them working the way they should. I did find a guy selling the push-in parts of the lighter at the OCA swap meet last month, but he wanted $10 apiece for them, they didn't look like much, and he couldn't guarantee that they actually worked. So I said no.

As far as the lighter in the dash, that one was non working also, and all I did was buy the "well" portion of the lighter (a few dollars at Autozone) as I plan to reuse the lighter unit itself (the part you push in that gets red hot) as the **** on that matches the other ***** on the dash. I don't know if it actually works or not, but I don't really care as I don't actually plan to light any cigarettes, and I do want a source of 12 volt power as I plan to use my satellite radio in this car when I'm driving. Nothing like 21st century technology in your mid-20th century car!

Anyway, lighters are a standard size, so I'm assuming that most any lighter will fit in most any hole. The lock nuts or whatever might be different, but, like I say, it's only a few dollars at the local parts store, and if you buy the wrong one and then muck it up getting it to fit before deciding it won't work, you're not out much.


Now getting back to those freaking shock absorbers, after sleeping on it overnight, I've decided I'm NOT yet ready to turn the job over to the local garage. I'll be da!ned if I'm going to admit defeat to a couple of bolts the thickness of a pencil. I may try hacksawing them off as much as I can and drilling out the rest. I don't know. But I am going to put the car back up on jack stands and have another go.

But I'm not going to get to this until next week because I won't have a chance today, and tomorrow I'm leaving on a weekend trip to subject my beautiful wife, with whom I just yesterday celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, to yet another Oldsmobile show. We're going to, among other places, the Olds Club of Canada's national meet, which is this weekend in London, Ontario. I have no idea how this show compares with the OCA Nationals, but we'll be in the area as we're visiting family in upstate New York and attending a play at the Shakespeare Festival in nearby Stratford, Ontario (my "payment" for her coming with me to the show--I shouldn't be so mean-sounding, she's a very good sport, and like we've heard about other wives on here, knew that I wanted to get back into this Oldsmobile thing after selling my last one in 2001, and she pushed me into shutting up and buying something already!).

One thing I did note is that the Olds Club of Canada has 150 members according to their website. This is the size of good-sized OCA chapter in the U.S. and compares with the about 6000 members of the OCA. I assume that the OCC Nats get a fair number of Americans coming over the border from nearby Michigan, Ohio, New York, etc., but still, it'll be interesting to see how it compares.

I will have my camera with me and will post photos when I get back home.

Joeypete

Congrats on 30 years! That's great Hope you have a great time at the nationals. Sounds like a blast actually...I've never really been to a car show.

I think I'll go take a look at lighters today. My CC only has the one. From what I read in the CSM its on the same circuit as the glove box light and that doesn't work either so I'll check the fuse first. But like you, I would like to getting it working so I can put my Sirius radio in...well once I get a new antenna and radio! haha

My Toronado has 4 lighters amazingly. One in the ashtray under the radio, one on the pax side door and the other two are on the rear armrests. Just imagine 4 people smoking in that car, with the windows all rolled up...hahaha. Memories from my childhood.

ijasond

I had the same problem on my 66 Delta. I was able to finagle an open end wrench in there and got enough pressure on it to hold it well enough to get the bolts out. Cutting them off would not be too difficult if you can't get them loose.

jaunty75

Thanks.

I'm of two minds when it comes to car shows. I used to go to them fairly regularly with my '64 Jetstar and my '75 Delta back when I had them, but I grew tired of it. You get there, park the car, pull out your lawn chairs, picnic basket, whatever, and then sit. And sit. And sit. Oh, and did I mention that you sit?

Yes, you can get up once or twice to stretch your legs and wander around to look at the other cars, but that doesn't occupy the four or five hours that often elapse between when you first pull in and when they give out the trophies. In the meantime, you can listen to the same, overly-loud, mindless patter from the DJ playing the same mix of 50s and 60s car tunes that you've heard 10,000 times.

I don't mean to sound that harsh. But I did get tired of it. Especially if it's a general-purpose show and not Olds-specific, because then all you see are Fords, Chevys, and pickup trucks. It was at a show like this where someone once asked me, while they were looking at my '64 Jetstar 88, where I got the nifty-looking Impala. I just sighed.

But I DO like going to the shows, looking at other people's cars, checking out the swap meet if there is one, and then leaving after an hour or so. This way, I haven't committed the whole day. (Of course, if EVERYBODY shared my attitude, there wouldn't BE anything to look at the car shows. It's a good thing there's a variety of opinions on this!)


I tried to do this, but I didn't have any luck getting a wrench on it. I'll probably try this again before resorting to the hacksaw.

jaunty75

My '67 Delta is now sporting a new pair of front shocks, courtesy of me and my handy electric drill. I ultimately resorted to just drilling into the sides of the bolt heads and nuts until they just fell apart. I also had to do the same to the top nut on one of them as I simply could not turn it without turning the center rod, and I could not stop the rod from turnning. But after about four hours and three broken drill bits, the shocks came out and the new ones went in.

One thing I discovered is that the old shocks were not mounted the same way. On one side were bolts and two-piece speed nuts as Joe described above, and the bolt ends were pointing down. On the other side, though, there were just nuts and bolts with the bolt end up (inside the spring) and the nut end pointing down. Thus, on this side, there was nothing to prevent the bolt end from turning while trying to turn the nut with a wrench or socket. So I just blasted them all to smithereens with my drill.

I did use one-piece speed nuts with the new bolts in mounting the new ones.

While I had everything up on jack stands, I took the opportunity to remove the stabilizer link pins whose rubber bushings had pretty much disintegrated. But I've found that putting the new ones in isn't so easy, even though the bolt that came with the new ones is about a half-inch longer.

Is the procedure in putting these in to compress the sway bar and control arm together so the bolt end sticks out far enough to put on that last bushing, cap, and nut? I was thinking of trying this with a large C-clamp.

I thought about just going to Lowe's and getting a still-longer bolt. The new ones are 6 inches, and I was going to get two that are 6.5 inches long. I don't need much more additional length to be able to thread the nut on. I figure that once the weight of the car is back on them, the bushings will compress, and there will be plenty of bolt end sticking out. In fact, the service manual says the the final tightening of the bolts is to be done with the weight of the car on them.