When I removed the shocks from the 330, I found two of them completely without action. François said he would check to see if he had any in his spares pile and found only one rear shock. When he recently had to purchase shocks for a customer, he discovered new ones to be quite expensive, and told me that I might consider having my shocks rebuilt by Koni. I knew Koni rebuilt their shocks, and when a shock is discontinued, this is the only way to go. Sometimes, however, rebuilding costs can come very close to buying an available shock.

I called Koni in Kentucky and reached the rebuilding department, and asked them about doing my shocks. Looking up the part number, he told me that 82 series shocks should cost $95 dollars per shock, and an additional $15 bucks to replace the rod if it needs replacing. The technician advised me rebuilding all four shocks because matching newly rebuilt shocks to old ones would be impossible without having a machine to measure the rebound of each shock. The service would include replacing all the internal seals, filling new fluid, beadblasting the shock bodies, painting the shocks, and applying new stickers. I asked him if he could give me a number for a retailer to check the availability of new shocks so I could compair costs. He gave me the name "T. Rutlands" in Tucker, GA. When I called the retailer, they informed me that they had a set of rebuilt rear shock for $225 each, and new front shocks for $172 each. At these prices, the rebuilt shocks done at Koni seemed to be the way to go, provided there are no complications. Now, if I only made this call before I painted my one good front shock!

3/3/00
Shocks are Back

My shocks came back from KONI! They look great, all painted and rebuilt. The grand total, plus shipping, came to $426 dollars. Along with rebuilding the four shocks, they also replaced the rods on two of them because they were rusted. Considering I won't be driving this car in any harsh weather, these shocks should last as long as I will own the car!

Koni North America
1961 A International Way
Hebron, KY 41048
(800) 994-KONI Ext. 8001
(606) 586-4100
http://www.koni.com

T Rutlands (Ferrari parts)
Tucker, GA
(770) 493-8852
http://www.trutlands.com
 

June 16, 2000
Shock problem

I stopped by François' shop to assemble my rear shock assemblies. They consist of Koni shocks, springs, rubber bushings, and various spacers to keep everything together. As I unwrapped one of the rear shocks, I found an excessive amount of oil in the wrapping. Upon a closer look, François found that the shock was leaking from a small pinhole in the body of the shock. The hole was probably from a rust spot that was sandblasted open during the refurbishing. I'll now have to return this shock to Koni for further work. Needless to say, I'm upset, but let's hope the phone call I make on Monday goes O.K.!

6/20/00
Living with the Shock

A couple of weeks ago Francois and I found a problem with one of the shocks I had rebuilt by Koni. There was a pinhole leak in one of the shock bodies where
hydraulic fluid was leaking. I called Koni and got in touch with the rebuild department to see what they could do. Paul, who originally rebuilt my shocks at Koni, said there would be no problem taking the shocks back, and it would simply be a matter of brazing the hole shut after the disassembling the shock.

I dropped the shock in the mail, and waited to hear from Koni. Expecting a call about shipping the finished shock back to me, Paul called me a couple days later stating otherwise! The bad news was the shock body was not repairable because the rust hole was worse than originally thought and he wasn't able to get the weld to stick to the rusty metal. The good news was that Paul could fabricate a new shock using new shock tubes and parts at their shop. The date stamping would no
longer be right on this particular shock, but I figured it was far cheaper to go this route than to locate a replacement shock with the right date code, and have it rebuilt to match the other shocks. He managed to complete the fabrication in one day, and get it in the mail to me. I can't wait to see the work he did. Thanks Paul!

6/26/00
A Brand New Shock

I got my shock in the mail from Koni today. It looks great, with not a leak to be found. Paul from Koni included the old shock body in the shipment so I could keep the stamped numbers as a reference for the future. I can also see how he tried to weld the leaking hole shut without success. I'm glad Paul took the time and patience to reconstruct a new shock.

There are subtle differences in the old construction of the shock compared to the new shock Koni fabricated, but if you don't have the original to compare, one would never know this shock was remade. Once refitted with a spring, and installed in the car, no one will know except you and me. Hopefully, this ends the worry of another area in my car for the next thirty years!
 
 

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