Heinkel Rear Shock Bushing Replacement

Heinkel Cars and Scooters used the same rear shock, which was quite convenient for the factory since the engines used in both vehicles were virtually identical. The shocks were made by Boge and Boge-specific parts are not available. However, with a little hunting around you can find some substitute parts.

If the shock is leaking oil I replace it. Replacement is the far easier option. I’ve used Hagon shocks (made in the UK) which are adjustable, sold by the Heinkel-Trojan Club in the UK and by the German Heinkel club. The UK club also stocks a generic brand that works for much less (25 pounds) but it doesn’t look as good.

You can repair them, though you are on your own for how to do it and the seal and O-ring sizes needed.  There’s a post by Julian Crane on the Heinkel Tourist Facebook Group that explains how he did it. Leaks aren’t the only problems with 60+ year old shocks. The rubber mounting bushings are often dried out, misshapen or generally bad.

There’s a fix for those that I’ll explain below. I also learned about this from Hartmut Schouwer’s Heinkel Tourist Facebook Group.

Here are the Steps:

1. Order the bushings: I got mine from Ali Express. They are amazingly inexpensive given that they come from China:
2. Remove the old bushings: You can take your pick of methods to remove the old bushings: Either
   • Easily hammer them out because the rubber has deteriorated, or
   • Cut them out, or
   • Burn them out (my personal favorite).
3. Strip and repaint the shock:
   • Use a combination of wire brush in your drill and citrus-based stripper to remove the paint.
   • If there’s rust I immerse them in EvapoRust, which also will help remove remaining paint.
   • If there’s bad rust I encapsulate it with paint for converting rust to a paintable surface
   • Mask of the black plastic tube to prevent paint overspray. The original paint color is Light Machine Gray. Rustoleum makes a PERFECT color match in their Professional Enamel Series (here’s a link). If you want to add extra protection, I use Spraymax Glamour Clear:
4. Once they are installed you will need to trim the inner metal tube, as it is about 1mm too long. Note that the inner tube must remain slightly wider than the outer tube. Use an angle grinder and flap disk to make short work of this task.

The completed shock: Looks good!