No, there was no exhaust manifold gasket. Tighten the center bolts and work to the outside. You might want to have the manifold surfaced if it looks like it was leaking. The front shocks are indeed hard to find, but the last time I checked Kanter and a couple other specialty places had them. They have an extra large eye on the bottom. The hole in the rubber is about 3/4" in diameter (might be 1"). An aluminum spacer goes in the hole then a 3/8" bolt through that. The spacer is split in the center and has a flange on each side, onehalf goes in each side. This spacer CAN NOT be replaced with a smaller diameter steel sleeve. The spacer is so big to give the two arms support, that's all that holds them together except for the lower trunnion. They aren't cheap! If those on e-bay are NOS I'd leave them alone. 40+ year old shocks don't last long. Gabriel's special order service can likely get them, but that might be an application they don't support. -- Frank Swygert Publisher, "American Motors Cars" Magazine (AMC) For all AMC enthusiasts http://farna.home.att.net/AIM.html (free download available!) -------------- Original message ---------------------- Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 22:02:48 -0700 (PDT) From: JOE FULTON <piper_pa20@xxxxxxxxxxx> Are the FRONT shocks for the 63 American really rare? There's a pair on Ebay I may bid on, but I haven't seen a listing on Napa online for them and rockauto.com doesn't list them. I have not checked the AMC vendors or Kanter. Also, was there an exhaust manifold gasket on the OHV 196? I have dismantled three of these engines in the last year and I can't remember whether there was a gasket or not. My 63 American will need one freeze plug replaced (along with that pipe running along the engine to the heater core) and so the exhaust manifold will probably need to come off soon. _______________________________________________ AMC-List mailing list AMC-List@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list or go to http://www.amc-list.com