1975 2002 FSP: Salvaging a very bent Bilstein.

[jr02518]

One of the growing list of parts destroyed in my rollover was a rear shock. As it happens not your every day run to the parts store buy an other one, rear shock.

No, this was one of those how did I get so lucky to find a set of NOS inverted Alpina rears that had been sitting on the shelf for YEARS, shocks. We in the IE are blessed to have a few of the old school auto parts store that have survived and in some cases flourished.

Import Auto Supply in San Bernardino is a time warp, Linden the owner is a treasure. She has a working knowledge of Jags, and British cars, that only years of working to keep them running develops.

After staring, for years, at the hand written sign that said "Bilstein Sale" I final asked if she had any thing that might fit my 2002. She did. The box sitting on the top shelf had the dust of ages covering it. One of the two shocks still had that thick German plastic covering it. Score.

As the fog of what I had done to my car started to clear I realized that I might be in real trouble getting my self back on four wheels. Out side the damage to the driver rear highlighted that my day was done, the car was totaled and I had destroyed a rear shock. An original NOS Alpina rear shock.

But Bilstein can rebuild shocks, right? Yes, and the only things that they could salvage were the lower mounting "eye" and the rubber gatter. They are no longer available from the factory and if I had not saved them I would forever have one shock sitting on my shelf. It also turns out that they had never seen one of these at the rebuild center and had to request the prints from the home office to confirm the valving.

So, I have one Black shock and one Yellow shock. I'm over it.

David Barrish