The entire setup is a single line concept. And quite elaborate for what it is. The air shock fill valve behind the plate goes to a plastic fill line with special attachment clips and O-rings. No screw threads. It goes to a specified LH shock which has 2 connection points siamesed inside so it matters not which line connects to the fill valve, although the pictures delineate the bottom one is the supply from the fill valve. The other port attaches with yet another plastic line with attachment clips and o-rings and runs across the frame to the RH shock which only has one connection point. We can always speculate as to why VIN 9 cars got air shocks, but maybe we'll never know 100% for sure. SOMEONE knew why. Additionally, 83
H/O had air shocks OPTIONAL as installed by C&C if memory serves, and perhaps GM just said, you know what? We'll just do it for the 84 and speed this process up and make more cars (bean counters probably)...and since the 85 442 was virtually the same car as 84, perhaps they just carried it over because....well, I dunno. I'm still not sure as to why the Hurst conversion contract got axed for sure. I mean, yeah, they didn't do it probably over money, so there was no 85
H/O, but was it a production dispute since they were going to essentially build an 84
H/O all over again for 85? And the fact Sunbeam was buying Hurst in that time frame? WTF? Someone got cold feet. Just like they did with the 1970 Rallye 350 I believe.
Posi was always a stand-alone a la carte option for all G-body
H/O and 442. Why? God only knows. They did some stupid sh*t for whatever reason and not even including it in popular option packages still rattles my brain. Only a 100 dollar option, which even in 1985 was very do-able. But because of this non-exposure at Olds dealerships, I believe that's the reason many VIN 9 cars had no posi unless the guy in charge of ordering cars knew wtf he was doing.
The build sheets show shocks G34 and G3 as the shock codes. Interestingly, the window sticker shows NOTHING. There's a tiny blurb about it in the ordering book but no other info on it. Ironically, it's not even a paid production option on the Salon without the 442 package. It was available as a GM accessory package over the counter. So I'm banking it wasn't a common thing to see a regular 85 Salon with air shocks. Interestingly, the automatic load leveling system is RPO G67 for Cutlass Cruiser, but not available for Supreme/Salon.
Hard to read, but it says G4 and G3 for rear shocks.
No mention of air shocks in the window sticker.
Barely mentions air shocks in 2 places inside the 85 ordering guide. Line 7 and 8.
Salon selling features...bullet point 6.
Page 3D2-5 in the 85 Cutlass chassis service manual discusses the shocks. There it says to maintain 10 psi minimum at all times in the system. Maximum 90 psi with load. What it doesn't say, but El Caminos do, is that maximum pressure should be 65 psi only when unloaded. There's no insert or anything I could find in the owners manual about the shocks. My car came delivered with 0 psi in the system. The guys in the service department had to look it up for me. I knew about the air shocks coming with the car, just didn't know what pressures they needed.
The washers in the diagram below (#6) are plain steel and WILL rust over time. Although I have them, I might replace them when the time comes with stainless steel ones. Might just matte clear the steel ones, I dunno.
