Fork Disassembly

[dude99]

Ok, so I'm a little stuck here. I'm rebuilding my forks as the seals in both of them are shot. However when trying to clean them I ran up against an issue. The spring caps that are under the cir clips refuse to come out. I have beaten them, heated them, used an air hammer on them, and nothing will break them loose.... To top that off one of them has some deep pitting right where the seal sits.

So two things:

1. Is there another way to get these caps off????? Can I just flush the forks out somehow and leave them in place?

2. Has anyone here tried the method of filling fork pits with epoxy? I'm thinking of giving it a whirl as m budget to get this back on the road is quickly spiralling out of control.....

[joolstacho]

Pitting - I've had success with GOOD quality superglue (Cyano). After a VERY thorough degreasing, cleaning, and drying, drip cyano* into the pits, I used a scalpel blade to 'scratch' the glue into the pits, use 'kicker' if needed to make the glue harden. Then carefully rub down and flatten each pit with FINE GRADE wet and dry on a sanding-stick so it's all flush.
Beware. This may (will!) drive you quite mad if you have many pits to fill.
(*Best is 'Zap' or 'Hotstuff' from model shops -use thin or medium).

[bill in okc]

I had the same problem. I drilled and tapped a hole in the plugs, then threaded a screw in and used a bearing puller to pull them out. It does leave a hole in the plug. I found replacements on ebay but the originals might be saved by using a short screw and a sealing washer - maybe some thread sealer. Once they are out you can clean up the corrosion and get the plugs to move freely

[dude99]

Thanks!

I drilled and taped them and made a puller and out they came, finally!

Superglue? I would;t have thought that that would adhere. I was thinking of using JBweld or liquidsteel...

[joolstacho]

Believe me, good quality cyano will stick better than anything else in this situation.
If you're thinking 'hardness', -instead, think 'adhesion' -the ability of the glue to 'wick' into the fine texture of the corroded metal (in the pits) so it can really bite and stick.
Next best would be 24 hour epoxy, but I've used both (and more), and cyano is the dogsbollocks.
JB Weld, liquid steel etc are just 'consumer' versions of epoxy type glues. (People are conned by the word 'weld' into thinking it's stronger! IMO best thing about it is the clever brandname!)

[dude99]

Ok, I'll have a look for the brands you mentioned. How do you feel about the loctite superglue? It's the most readily available around me.

[joolstacho]

Dude I haven't tried the loctite product, -it 'should' be good, -(you have to respect a brand that has achieved generic status).
Give it a test.
But many of the hardware store cyanos I've tried are garbage, that's why I mentioned zap and hotstuff, anyway loctite is worth a test I reckon.
Just remember that technique I mentioned of 'scratching' the glue into the pit before it's hardened. It works, -it's too easy to get a tiny little air bubble in the pit below the glue because of surface tension (or whatever), and scratching it in gets rid of any air pockets, plus, it adds an extra 'tooth' for the glue to grip into.

[dude99]

I will definitely do that, its going to be a long few hours of filling........

[dude99]

Well as it turned out my machinist had a spare fork for a GT750 sitting in his back room. So $35 later and its mine.... much better solution

[joolstacho]

Stroke of luck Dude, great! But don't throw out the old forks, give them a light coast of grease and find a hiding place for them, you never know when someone might need 'em.

[dude99]

Oh, I'll definitely be keeping the one pitted one. And yes, it was a stroke of luck, turns out he's a GT750 enthusiast and has a huge stockpile of parts....