Did some work on the rear end today, cleaning (carb cleaner, thanks Andy) and painting the underside. Had to remove the suspension... Again.. but this time, whilst removing the passenger side shock I noticed this damage to the cup.

The car has bottomed out a few times with a passenger in it, and its obviously stressed the mount at the top enough to start to pull the spot welds.



So I was thinking of pounding it back in to about where it should be, then dril through the cap right around the cracks and zap it with the mig. Hoping it will regain its integrity. Right now I can kind of wiggle the cup a tiny bit.

Whatcha think?

Back away for an overall shot. I can't envision that area at all, other than it looks kind of like the bottom of the car near one of the rear shock towers.


John

Its the cup on the top of the rear shock tower, looking at it from inside the trunk.
The very tip top nut that you put on the rear shock... thats where it is.

shock is out, so you can see the hole it would come up through.

I'd say, tap it back into place and seam weld the cup to the tower.

if you saw my seam welds....

I read somewhere here that bilsteins cant bottom out. Not true in my case.


On the plus side I did get the rear half painted underneath. One more coat to go and it will be ready to get an engine in it.

Much better. Now I can see what I'm looking at in the pictures you posted.

I couldn't find a place like that under the car.

I agree with Mark. Tap it back, wire brush all the paint off and seam weld it.

Isn't the "cup" really there to hold on the rubber cap?

I would make sure the "hole" doesn't move as that is what really matters.

You should also look "up" from the bottom into the shock tower to make sure it is not cracked all around the shock mount hole. If it is, you need to repair that.

i would seek soom pro help on this one.

the sheet metal below the cup look very stressed. might not take well to welding.

eeeeks. Thats not good.


My other thought was to drill the spot wels and remove the cup to fix the base, but I'd rather not mess up the shock geometry. that would really be less than cool.

This might need to wait until I can drive it to a shop that can fix it right then.


drat.

Just cut out the cup with a 3" hole saw and weld in my rear shock tower mod. Bottoming problem gone.

dirty pool old man.
I like it.

There is very little (read no) geometry involved with the rear shock/spring upper mount point. All geometry is in the pivot points of the trailing arm. So . . . Location not critical, but the load it all an upward force.

I would. . . . remove the cup, cutting off if necessary and fish plate around the shock mount hole, making sure to weld up any cracks in the sheetmetal before welding a fish plate reinforcement over any cracks that were there. then you could (if you want to) tack weld the cup back on. There are several thicknesses of metal in that area, and you will need a fair amount of heat to penetrate through and repair any cracks from the top. As you weld occasionally do a visual inspection from below to make sure you are penetrating.

All the cup does is hold a rubber boot in place, which does nothing except keep dirt off of the upper end of the shock and the nut).

The shock tube may have rusted through from the bottom. You need to check that and if it is really rusty on the bottom side of the top of the tube, all the more reason to patch and reinforce on the top, because I do not think you can reach up in the tube to repair from the bottom. If it is rusty on the bottom I would treat best you can with POR rust conversion stuff. (after welding up)

I doubt that bottoming the shock with a passenger caused this tear in the sheetmetal. I have seen some rough tubs, but none that were torn in that location.

Good luck, and good welding.

hmm, perhaps one of my shocks is shot.


it is definitely from bottoming out.. a few times.

you and the duke boys been jumping bridges?

Just how soft are your springs? The coils must be fully collapsed to have the shock bottom out, and I don't even know if it is possible then.

Are you using stock or aftermarket springs/spring seats? What springs are you using?

How much do you and your passenger(s) weigh?

Was the passenger a BIG GAL?

JT