Regal trunk shocks?

[Justa6]

So the other week I was at the 'yard getting and absolute mint '81-'83 header panel. The regal I was working on had trunk shocks. Kind of blew my mind. :shock: I thought the Regals all had torsion bars for the trunk lid. Now, are these some kind of weird, rare option or just something out of the JC Whitney catalog from back in the day??

 

[jerrycad472]

No they came factory with the shocks. I am not sure what years exactly, My 81 Regal and my 81 Monte Carlo both have the shocks. I am pretty sure my 78 Cutlass had torsion bars. I think they tried the shocks for a while then went back to the torsion bars, because I think the later models had torsion bars again. I have found that the shocks wear out quickly, I replaced the ones on both of my cars and they did not last long.

 

[Justa6]

That's cool. I may just go and grab them here sometime. I wonder if they would be better for a 'glass decklid then the torsion bars (the bars have some grunt to them...lol)

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

The shocks will be just as bad with a fiberglass lid as the torsion bars would. In fact, when GM did the fiberglass hoods on some of the 3rd gen Camaros, they spec'd a lower pressure shock just for that purpose. I would think about trying to retrofit the torsion bars to the Regal instead of keeping the shocks. In fact, it was one of the things I had checked on my Cutlass when I got it to be sure it did not have them. The torsion bars can be de-tensioned by moving their mounting position down a notch or two. There are 3 or 4 positions from the factory to allow for this.

Also, anyone who wants the aluminum G body hoods should be aware that the hood springs are lower tension on these too, and remember to take them when you get the hood. Failure to do so will result in bending the hood in half!

 

[Someone_Much_Cooler]

I got a set for sale.