imported post
Thanks for all your advice. Got the shocks rebuilt last night. The oil inside was ugly. It was like dark water, not oil. Obviously 23 years old. There was definetly not 12.5 oz. in there, so I'm not sure if it leaked out. The seals looked good and there was only light scoring on the shafts. You couldn't feel it with your finger, but you could see it.
A word of caution: If you use air pressure to get the shock apart, wrap a rag around the end of the shaft and use the minimal amount of pressure needed. Go slow with it. When I did the first one, the air pressure blew the seal, washers and damper guide clear off the shaft. It put a nick in the damper guide which I had to smooth out, but it will be fine.
Again as mentioned earlier the oil refill is the tedious part. I did each shock off the bike. I attached a small funnel to a plastic tube and stuck the tube down inside the air fitting hole. I put a rod through the upper mount hole so I could compress the shock. I did the compressing while the wife poured. As she poured I would let up on the shock and it would suck the oil right in. It took about 10 minutes a shock.
Overall a successful rebuild. Better than 300-400 dollars for new ones. The seals only cost me $34. Hope this info helps someone.