Captain Obvious

Or, if I got energetic. I'd make a mandrel tool to expand the tube larger a couple thousandths and press it in. But I'm not sure if I'm that energetic.

I've had the same experience as the rest of you. I've pulled them from engines, and then when I refit them, they slip in instead of pressing in. I assume the metal on the tube deforms on the original press fit. I haven't tried to fix one yet, but off the top of my head, I'd try a Loctite sleeve retainer. I've got experience with Loctite 640 and I'd try that. Might be something better, but since I have that on the shelf, I'd start there and see what happens. Right there on the package, it says "Restores fit to out-of-tolerance assemblies".

Haha!! You know... I was gonna suggest that as a possibility! I should have! Would have looked like a rock star! Don't worry about looking like a doofus. I do it all the time! Hahaha!!

Well that mounting hole misalignment is much more than the 1/8 inch difference between the two shocks, so it's not the shocks. Maybe the plastic bumper ends shrunk at different rates? Is there a way you can compare the two to see if they are approx the same length? As for the height, IIRC, the mounting holes are all sloppy like with the purpose of being able to wiggle stuff around before tightening? Have you tried pushing one side all the way down and other side all the way up? Also, you can rotate the bumper shock where the mounting bracket is. Maybe that will help? And about that little screw in the middle... It's a gas charged monotube shock. And you just let the gas out.

What year are you working on? And is the wiring stock, or do you have aftermarket harness upgrades installed?

I'm sure you already know this, but that seal (in theory) should not affect the electrical connection function. In theory. But it's completely conceivable that mixing and matching different vendors parts with various levels of design and manufacturing pedigree... Seems something wasn't done quite right. And if pulling that seal out fixes it, so be it! I'm glad it's that simple!

Cool. I'm thinking I'll place the order this coming Wednesday (3/13), so you've got a couple days to look through. Anybody else, same thing. Let me know,

Well that's weird. There should be no way for that thing to change length. There is no adjustment. And I'm surprised that you are able to push it in by hand. The gas shock inside should be stiffer than that. What is the measurement of the amount sticking out of both of your shocks? I'll compare them to my car. From the outer tube to the bumper mounting flange?

I'm putting together an order from Eastern Beaver for some electrical terminals bits and pieces. Anyone interested in tagging along and putting stuff in on the order? I'll send you your parts once the order arrives on-shore. Domestic shipping should be cheaper than the shipping from Japan. Their shipping isn't fast, but some of the stuff they have is really hard to find elsewhere. https://easternbeaver.com/Main/Main.html Some examples:

I'm not sure I understand the problem... You're saying that the left rear bumper shock is sticking out too far? Significantly farther than the right rear?

Rockauto has lots of those. Cheap. I've heard that it can be a problem dealing with them from Canada? If not, problem solved. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=120105&cc=1209226&pt=5836 https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=477061&cc=1209226&pt=5836&jsn=433

Sorry to hear you're selling, and thank you for the shout out. Glad to help.

Gotcha. So you probably don't have to do that every time you take the car out. Doesn't really cause a big problem, but as you found out, some of that extra oil will end up running out the bottom of the carbs. Enjoy the drive!!

Gordonville, PA. In the triangle between Intercourse, Paradise, and Bird-in-Hand. I'm a little over an hour away. And while I've never designed a casting myself, I've sat with the mechanical designers who did. And I've been in the review seat enough times to make myself dangerous. Like usual. Several products I've been involved with had castings, but never sand. I've been involved with hard tooling die castings and investment (lost wax) a number of times. You really want to pucker... Tell the bean counters that you're ready to cut the check to carve a six figure hard tooling mold. That'll make you review stuff beforehand!

Reminds me of Elvira. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83WIDuukR0Q

I whipped up a quick sketch to help explain what I was talking about above: Also, I'm not too far away from Lancaster, PA. If you do go forward with this, I could possibly be used as boots on the ground locally if necessary.

Nice work. Looking quickly at the model, I've got a couple questions, etc. First, the small pilot holes for the mustache bar bolts might be trouble. I think those may be be too small and too fragile of a sand tower and will just snap off when they pull the master out of the sand. I would just make that surface flush, maybe leave a small locating dimple or something, but I'm not sure you're going to have good success casting those pilot holes. And... You're already going to have to drill all the mounting holes around the perimeter, so it's already going to be in the mill. Why not just locate those holes when you do everything else? Why do you need a pilot? Second, I can't tell from the master part if you've got draft on all the necessary surfaces. I'm assuming the foundry will look into that in detail. Last, hard to tell just from pics, but it looks like you might have an interference between the oil hole (fill hole?) and the internal cast rib. Maybe the fill plug hole misses that internal rib, maybe not? Can't quite tell.

Gotcha. @Derek I like yours better. I think everyone should run one. I just wish I could afford it!

Yes, if you overfill the carbs, it will spill over inside the domes when you put the piston plunger back in. That's totally normal and I'm assuming that's where the oil is coming from. It's seeping out of the carbs around the nozzle and eventually ending up on the mixture adjustment nuts. The only thing I'm wondering about is... How long ago did you overfill the carbs? Was it yesterday and the knobs are oily, or was it five hundred miles ago and you've been driving it for six months and the knobs are oily?

You are correct that overfilling the carbs with more oil than necessary won't really cause a problem. It'll just run down into the carb throat and be pulled into the engine when you start the motor. But 500 miles later, that should have happened already and should have burned off by then. In other words... If you put oil in the carbs 500 miles ago, but the mixture nuts are wet today... I'm skeptical that it's oil from the carbs that is making the mixture nuts wet. I'm thinking that maybe it's partially evaporated gasoline mixed with a little blowback from the intake manifold mixed with a little road dust? There was a thread many moons ago where we talking about oil leaking out of the damper tubes. Seemed improbable, but possible, with the flat top carbs, but seemed impossible with the round tops? I can't dig it up right now, but maybe someone can find that old thread?

@Derek Any input from you? Is this your head?

That's actually a very good thought. I've been unconcerned about getting the finished part out of the sand without draft, but getting the master part out of the sand before casting IS a concern. Any "vertical" surfaces where the master will have to slide against the sand should be avoided if possible. And the more sliding, the more chance you'll pull some sand off the wall and mess up the mold cavity. Like I said... I'm no casting expert! None of that would apply to an investment casting, but for sand made using a master packed in and then removed, it certainly could be. So you need to look at the master and picture how it will be pulled out of the sand. Picture the parting line and plan the draft accordingly. The parting line is going to be right at the mounting surface, and your current design has several areas where you could probably benefit from some draft. For example, the fins around the bottom perimeter are tapered, but not in the direction that produces casting draft. Those fins are going to slide a couple inches scraping against the sand walls as the master is removed from the sand. Any surface feature that is perpendicular to the parting line is suspect.

I was wondering what those bosses were for. I couldn't find any internal feature that would explain the necessity for those on the outside. I got it now. So you were talking about tapering the fins so the part would release from the mold. In molding speak, they call that "draft", as in... "Are you sure you have enough draft on those surfaces so the part can be removed from the mold?" I'm no mold expert, but it's my understanding that you only need draft if you are splitting the mold open into reusable pieces such as opening a die after die-casting. You aren't doing that with sand or investment casting. With sand and investment casting, you remove the mold in little pieces and don't need to salvage any of the original mold. And because of that destructive (to the mold) process, draft is not required. Now, it might help for other reasons like better feature definition or mold filling without air pockets or porosity, but I don't think you specifically need draft like you would with a die-casting. As to the specific question... "How thin can I make the fins?" I would ask the foundry for guidance on that. And about the holes... I'm assuming you will be drilling all those in post-casting. You aren't going to to try to have any through holes cast right into the part, right? And about accuracy of "as cast" surfaces, I'm assuming you'll be machining any critical dimensions into the finished part. If there's a sealing surface or bolt hole, etc, you'll be finish machining that and not counting of that coming out of the mold with enough accuracy. The thicker the material, the greater the shrinkage. Lastly, have you talked to the foundry about the locations of gates and vents? In my experience, things to consider... Locations for gates and vents for proper fill and prevention of trapped air bubbles. Uneven or too rapid cooling. Sink marks on thicker sections or where different cross section thickness intersect. Porosity in the final part and how deep you need to machine precision surfaces. Warping or twisting of large parts. Sorry for the novel.

That's what I was asking. "Investment casting" is another name for lost wax.

I would expect one of the primary variables would be surface area. However, you should know... Thermo was my least enjoyed class of anything I ever had. Ever. And (like most people), I learn better when I like what I'm learning. @Jeff Berk, What casting method are they going to use? Are you going to supply them with a wax model so they can do an investment casting? Making a 3-D model that they will press into a sand casting? What?? Honestly, I can't get over the belief that someone is willing to do a one-off casting of that thing for $40!!! Unless you are supplying the consumable model and assuming all the risk of whether it works or not, I'm completely floored by that cost!!