Shocks, Leaf Spring 1965 Question

Front shocks are the easiest. Jack up the front of the car, get it on jack stands and take the tires off. You'll be replacing one side and then the other. So place the jack under the drum/disc (whatever you have) and jack it up so that its resting on the jack. Now unbolt the three bolts holding on the shock tower cap on top of the shock tower. Once the cap is unbolted, unbolt the two nuts holding the bottom of the shock to the uper control arm. An extension on your socket wrench will help greatly.

Install the new shock by reversing the steps. Dont remove the jack from under the brake assembly until the shock is bolted in place. Proceed to the next side.

Now for the rear. jack the back of the car up and put it on stands. Take the tires off and use the jack to support the rear axle by putting it under the center pumpkin.

If your leaf springs are original, you should probably replace them now as they will eventually wear out and sag if they dont already. Each spring is held on with a big nut and bolt in the front and back. These almost always fuse together from rusting and need to be sawz-all'd off. Replacing the leaf springs isn't a necessity yet unless its already sagging.

As for the shocks, they are held onto the rear axle by bushings and nuts to a shock plate. The shock plate has two big u-bolts holding the rear axle to it. unbolt the shock from the shock plate and move/lift it out of its hole. The top of the shock is bolted to the undercarrage in the very front of the trunk/behind the rear seat. Its bolted on so its way easier having someone hold the shock in place with vice grips while you unbolt it from inside.

If your going to do so, replace the leaf springs before you do the shocks.

Good luck :bigthumbsup

It is not necessary to remove the shock mounting plate. If your old shocks are worn out compressing them will be easy. What shocks are you planning on installing. I put in KYB gas a just shocks and am very happy. The trick with new shocks is to seat the top of the shock first:yup:. It is far easier to compress a new shock down as opposed to seating the bottom of the shock first. Trust me on this. It took me 3 hours trying to do it that way. I hit the forums and found a guy who said to seat the top first. The other side probably took me all of ten minutes.