I just found this under my 442. Is there a way to know if the car came factory with air shocks? I never seen factory ones. There is only one there. the fronts are spiral shocks and i believe they are original. is there a date code on these? I didn't see anything yet but didn't look to hard yet.

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Your car has one air shock on back? That can't be good for the ride quality.

As for how to determine if the car had air shocks from the factory, you would likely need the build sheet or original sales invoice for that.

 

my 72 rear bumper has a depression behind the license plate where there is a shrader valve and nylon tubing. I assumed this was the factory location for the air shock fill valve as the depression seems to have no useful purpose and the valve fits in there nicely..I will try to get apic tomorrow

 

Yes, the '70 to '72 Cutlass rear bumpers are made with a provision to mount the air shock fill valve. That does not mean that all '70 to '72 Cutlasses came with air shocks from the factory, though.

 

lol, This car has sit since 81. They started to take some of the car apart and must not got to the driver side. the driver side is more complete than the passenger side. many of the original parts were in the trunk but the other shock was not there. I am thinking maybe someone added them but i have no way of knowing.

 

While the optional SuperLift shocks were certainly Delco shocks, I have never seen a factory-installed shock with a stick-on label like that. Sometimes they got a small coded letter or number label for assembly line ID, but OE shocks were stamped with a part number & maybe manufacturer ID, and just painted a solid color.
That Delco Pleasurizer label is a retail style label used on replacement parts/accessories. You could buy them from the dealer or a parts store.

 

Beat me to it.

Pleasurizer was the brand name for Delco's aftermarket shocks. No, I'm not going to mention the other things for which it's a brand name...

 

Were air shocks an available option on a 66 442?

 

Yes, in fact there was even an optional on-board air compressor operated from engine vacuum.

 

Yes.

Henry

 

My '68 442 had them as well. Factory-appearing lines run to the bumper where a valve was installed under the license plate.

 

Very good point. Never thought about that.

 

Many people were using their musclecars for every day tranportation in the 70's and 80's. In my part of the country, western Pennsylvania, winter driving in the snow was a big problem. A lot of owners used air shocks, and would add 100 or 200 Lbs. in the trunk for added traction. The Power Pac package allowed the owner to adjust the rear height from inside the car.

 

Been There...I havent seen that kit in 40 years, Howd the .... did you find one? Do you also have the shocks? Rare find for sure!

 

I just sold one of those pumps a couple years ago. I got a 76 olds 98 with a trunk FULL of NOS parts and that was one of the parts.

 

For me that continued into the '90s, '00s, and '10s.

 

It's also possible the car came with the super lifts and somewhere along the line they were replaced with new ones. That was a common item for shops to recommend replacement, even if they weren't worn out, to build profit, back in the day.

 

A lot of these cars were used for towing. Air shocks were very popular back then.

 

Another good point. I had completly forgot that I seen two drilled holes in the trunk pan where likely there was a hitch mounted at one time.

 

if i remember right,the factory lines had brass fittings instead of plastic.

 

I just bought a "Pleasur Lift" gauge and fittings (minus rear filler valve) but I cannot determine what year it was made for. The dial as 31913-1 on it, the plastic frame as 12667 molded on it, their is an ink stamp on the plastic frame 1089. Can anybody tell me what year it was made for?