Koni Shock absorbers for Mangusta

Yes, Koni will rebuild the shocks to as new condition for you, I have no idea what they charge for that service though.

quote:

Originally posted by Joules:
Yes, Koni will rebuild the shocks to as new condition for you, I have no idea what they charge for that service though.

New shocks are cheaper.

Ben,

The issue with Koni shocks, is that the end bushings, originally, were crap. Same as stock shocks used....crap. Soft gum rubber that deflects in short order and metal on metal is basically what you end up with.

You can have adapter bushings made up easily. QA1 used to sell them when they were Carerra. I had custom ones made up for my QA1s no problem. Cheaper that rebuilt Konis which are not adjustable, just like the originals.

The Konis are good shocks. Are you sure they need to be rebuilt?

Any way, I would check with Koni and see what they would do for the bushings...... you may end up with new shocks and no bushings...... but let us know! I have a set of Koni fronts.....with bad bushings!

Steve

I have a drawing/dimensions for QA1 spacers if you need it, they basically just take up the difference between metric and imperial bolt diameter and the bushing thickness.

Larry Stock supplies them with the QA1 shocks he sells, you can see if he would sell just the spacers.

I assume Koni has switched to a bushing that is more durable now when rebuilding?

Julian

quote:

Problem is the bushing that fit the shocks have to be custom machined.

Shock bushings are readily available.

Perhaps one of these is suitable?

http://performanceshock.com/in...dex&cPath=67_102_216

Search their other sections for many odd ball shock parts and pieces.

Larry

That's a good find Larry.

In our case the difference is just enough to be annoying and there are a number of ways to skin this cat as they say.

The QA1 shocks come in two styles; spherical rod end or rubber bushing. Both have an imperial I.D. of 0.5 inch and the stock Pantera metric mounting and bolt shank is 12mm diameter. That's a diameter difference of 28 thousands of an inch, or a bushing lip insert that is only 14 thousands thick, pretty thin.

In either case you can drill the Pantera mounts to 0.5" diameter and source the correct length 0.5" shank diameter bolt and some 0.6" long spacers to keep the shock centered in the mount. Problem solved if you don't mind modifying your car.

If you have rubber bushings style you could fabricate new inserts from some 12 mm I.D. tubing with 16mm O.D. (I believe the I.D. of the rubber bushing alone is 0.625" or 16mm).

QA1 sell various spherical bushings and rubber bushing insert kits, but unfortunately they don't know what metric is or assume their shocks won't be used on import vehicles. I reached out to them and they did say that they can come up with a 12mm I.D. insert if you have the bushed style shocks.

Julian

Since this was a Mangusta owner asking......be careful about listening to Pantera owners for advice!!!!

ALSO, just to mix the crap up.....since Ben has a 70 Goose, he needs to watch out for THIS!
Starting sometime late in production, the Mangusta mounting bolts for shocks changed diameter from 10mm to 12mm(?)!and the width changed from 33mm to something larger....

So BEN! MEasure the dimensions on your lower A-arms where the shocks fit....both width of the entire bushing area, and the diameter of the bolts required....

This means that the bushings used in the lower sway bar mount had to be larger also!!!

Cheers!
Steve

Ben, your older non-gas-charged Konis have the mfg date as part of the part number. That's not to say that all 'old' shocks need rebuilding but many will. I found the following stamped into the bottoms of some Mangusta Konis: 82V-1220 Sport(front) and 82V-1221 Sport (rear). The '82' is the year of manufacture. D ennis Quella and other vendors make & sell adapter bushings for the two different kinds of shock-eyes so you can use your stock bolts. Some are stainless, some are 7075-aircraft aluminum.

Later gas-charged Konis are different: they are painted yellow, not red, the numbers are different and gas shocks can be mounted upside down- convenient when the coil-over adjusting ring fall in an inconvenient spot. Be sure that the bump-rubbers on your shocks are on the correct ends: you need more travel in front so the rubbers are shorter and of a softer compound. Most shocks today were NOT made for rear-heavy DeTomasos but for front-heavy front-engine cars so adapted shocks (or at least the rubbers) may need reversing to work right.

Jack,
Are those part numbers for Pantera shocks????
Below is from a 2011 email that I sent to someone. Note different part numbers.....
These are the most common Goose shocks numbers. NOT adjustable......
Steve


Begin paste email here:
82V-1684 Front; 82N-1685 Rear

Koni's have a red shock body, where the DeCarbon's had a green body on the rear, and possibly a silver body up front. My car had Koni's up front when I got it. Stock DeCarbon's out back that were trashed! Replacing them with Carreras with new springs put more confidence in me when approaching any bumps in the road!!! I think these crappy shocks and weak springs contributed to more broken bellhousings than anything sticking up out of the road!!!

The stock Koni's, as sold by the DeT parts folks here in the US, had the same crappy rubber bushings as stock shocks. Those bushings last about 6 months and you are metal to metal..... Best thing to do with them is have new rubber or nylon bushings fitted...... Not sure what guys are getting when they send them back to Koni for refitting! If you find out, let me know!

There is a shop in the UK advertising new Konis as numbers: 82T-1684SP1; 82T-1685SP1 Price is not for the weak at heart at about $1500. Not sure if you get new springs or not.......

Found this too....2010, so hard telling if any is still valid!

I want to reiterate this about the Hall Koni shocks that many got!
Aside from the soft gum rubber stock style bushings, these shocks had NO provision for adjusting ride height! If you wanted to adjust the height, you had to install/deinstall spring spacers, or shorter springs...... My car only had the front Koni's and they were good. Never had any experience with the rears....

Steve

Hi Steve,
The shocks on the front of my Mangusta were shot so
I e-mailed Koni to see if they had any Mangusta
shocks. They e-mailed me back and said they used to
have some but not anymore, but they could rebuild my
old ones. Thanks to Gary Herrig for this info!
Unknown what solution is for end bushings!

They cost $95. each plus parts as needed (usually
$15-$20). Turnaround time is 5 weeks.
If anyone is interested, they can send them to:
Koni-Na
1961 A International Way
Hebron, Ky. 41048
Attn: Paul



Ciao!
Steve

No- the previous numbers I posted were ON a '69 Mangusta up on a lift when I wrote them down. The similar numbers on a set of early Konis in my garage are
82 1701 SP (frt) and 82 1601 SP (rear).
The only similarity is they were both made in 1982. Don't remember what color the 'Goose Konis were. The Pantera Konis were tomato-red.

As for the rubber bushings, when my OEM Koni bushings pounded out in the rear only, I replaced them with rubber bushings from Pantera-Aristons. Which pounded out in the back in 3 more yrs. That's when I changed to gas-Konis with heim ends. No noticable noise or ride harshness and no pound-outs in 15 or so years.

Hmmmmm.

That is interesting. "Another" set of numbers to keep track of!!

The Goose Koni's are red, and will differ from Pantera Koni's as a WAG on my part, in the bushing area.

Gooses used the stock Goose shock bushings that Koni or whomever sourced them, probably got from DeT...or Europe.....and take a stock 10mm bolt.

Would be interesting to know the size of bolt diameter on your garage shocks!

Steve