Posted 28 December 2016 - 01:18 AM
That will be true of any decent (expensive!) damper, ie only the manufacturer can recondition it. Koni, GAZ or Protech for example. But cheapies are best weighed in as scrap or cut up and useful bits like the rod repurposed if you have a use for it. I seriously doubt that anyone will recondition a Woodhead Monroe....
The original coating used by Spax is not the best, but better than cheap OEM junk. Spax basically is a decent midrange product with no pretence of being the best. I have never had any problems with them on various cars, except that they became scruffy looking much quicker than the Konis on the other end of the same car. You often get what you pay for, and the Konis were not cheap.
And yes, you can't use hot or aggressive processes on an assembled damper. But you can carefully use wire brush, rust remover and paint, which is what most of us are limited to doing. Not ideal, I know, but often adequate. A few quid on paint might be sufficient for what you need.
