The driver’s side rear shock has been seeping oil for a while.  It was just enough to make a stain on the shock but in the last year oil has been running out.  The whole shock and link are soaked with it.   The shock still works well but can’t for much longer.

Years ago I found this shock on eBay.   It is NOS but has had a rough life.  The shock links are also NOS aftermarket parts.  They are like new.

New or not I figured a 50-year-old shock deserved some testing before I install it.  So I threw it in the vise and worked the lever.  It was rough at first but smoothed out as I worked it.  Probably had to work air out of the rotor.  I then wire-brushed and cleaned the shock and painted it.

It took some persuasion with the impact wrench but I got the old shock out no problem.  I will hang onto it in case someone needs it later.

As usual there is a pile of rusty hardware to clean up and paint

The bushings are not great but are intact.  This is good because it means I am not going to bother changing out the passenger side shock link.  Let sleeping dogs lie.

I installed the new bushing on the shock with my 1974-vintage surplus silicone grease.

New shock link installed

And shock installed.

Here is how it looks from the outside.

The way Studebaker did this is odd.  They actually cut a hole in the frame for the shock to bolt into.  I assume this was cheaper/easier than putting spacers in the frame and putting bolts all the way through but it seems like it would really weaken the frame right where you would not want to have a weak spot.

Current mileage, just for posterity.