Racing shock absorbers

[Jon Mello]

Ron Tredway is restoring his Owens-Corning '70 Camaro Trans-Am Camaro originally driven by Jerry Thompson.
He sent me these photos of the original double-adjustable Konis that were on the car. The shorter front shocks
are #8210-1067 and the rears are #8210-1068. All are dated 3-70. Thanks for sharing these with us, Ron!

[firstgenaddict]

Did they all have spherical ends? Or was this a modification?

[Jon Mello]

I have asked Ron and he's unsure of the answer. He said he would check in with Jerry Thompson to see what he might remember.

[Jon Mello]

These are GM-issued Koni shocks, available through the parts department and, in the case of Firebirds, available as a factory option from what I have been told.
These not only have a Koni part number on them but also a GM 7-digit part number. The front shocks were part # 80A 1914, 9791593 and the rear shocks for
multi-leaf applications were part # 80E 1953, 9792749. For some reason, Firebird used a different Koni part # on the rear multi-leaf shocks in '69, 80E 2025
rather than 80E 1953. Thanks go to Robert Lodewyk for sharing these from his personal collection.


Chevy parts book P&A 30A




















'69 Firebird-specific shock in the middle and on the left, vs '69 camaro multi-leaf Koni on the right

[eb911]

Sorry for the late reply on an old thread.

If the Koni double adjustable seemed to be the one to use in Trans-Am back in the days, what about today ?
In your opinion what is the best front shock to use today (TA legal) ?

Eric

[Jon Mello]

In looking around the race paddock, I'd say that most of the HTA guys still prefer a period Koni double adjustable shock.  People like http://performanceshock.com/ (PSI, at Sears Point) can do a wonderful job restoring/rebuilding them to proper race spec as well. 

Performance Shock can also build new double adjustables, that look and perform just like the originals as well.  They will not however have a period date code (if that matters). 

You might also consider looking into whether http://www.truechoicekoniracingservices.com/ can help you with some new Koni shocks. As was discussed previously in this thread, True Choice has been able to build new versions of their old double adjustable shocks and it's possible they are still offering this service.

As for what other shocks competitors might be using, I honestly don't recall. You will not be dissatisfied if you were to go the Koni route.

[70L34]

Found a NOS set of #9791593 Konis in the original boxes on Ebay, dated Jan 67. Pretty cool!

http://tinyurl.com/pfyf8f2

[Jon Mello]

Those are awesome, Tony. Thanks for posting.

Looks like the dates are actually November '67 instead of January but very cool regardless.

[BULLITT65]

Jon what set up are you running on your 67? (sorry if you already mentioned this previously)

[Jon Mello]

I'm running an NOS set of the single-adjustable Konis. I have never seen or heard of the double-adjustable Konis being available any earlier than 1968 and my car stopped racing in February '68. I had a set of '68 and '69 dated double-adjustable Konis but sold them recently. They needed a complete rebuild.

[Trans Åm]

Do you know if any of the HTA cars run restored vintage shocks like these, or do the substitute with newer technology?

[70L34]

Ah you're right Jon, November 67, not January. Still, I am amazed any NOS set still exists. I'm sure these have an interesting story having made it all the way to the Netherlands.

[Jon Mello]

Do you know if any of the HTA cars run restored vintage shocks like these, or do the substitute with newer technology?

Most of the cars I have paid attention to are running the Koni double-adjustable shocks as seen in the thread. A small amount have been seen with Koni single-adjustable and I have seen some cars with other shocks but I don't recall a brand. They are not running newer technology shocks. The Koni double-adjustable shocks do a very good job.

[Jon Mello]

Ah you're right Jon, November 67, not January. Still, I am amazed any NOS set still exists. I'm sure these have an interesting story having made it all the way to the Netherlands.

There can't be very many examples of these left out there, NOS or otherwise. It would be nice to know the story on this pair and why they ultimately were never used.

[firstgenaddict]

My PHS paperwork for my 68 GTO has the 68 Firebird info, there are Koni's listed on the factory paperwork.