XJ550 Fork issue

Hey guys,

So I'm rebuilding the forks, the left side went off without a hitch, but the spring guide on the right side is rusted into the top of the upper tube. I managed to get the C clip out, but no amount of prying or scraping is working. i've also tried turning it upside down and putting tension on the spring to force it loose but to no avail. Currently have it sitting in CLR to try to loosen it up. Any other ideas?

 

Whack the piece with a hammer socket.

 

soak it in a 50/50 mix of atf and acetone.then give it the aforementioned whacking with the mallet and socket.

CN

 

I'll add to repeat that daily until it pops free. With enough corrosion it may take a week or more of working the problem. Persistance > brute force in this situation.

 

sage advice.

CN

 

Sage advice indeed! Thanks guys!

 

Hold on now.

Don't whack it too much; you don't want to drive it any deeper into the tube than necessary to clear the circlip. The inside of the tube is tapered and you can get it wedged if you hammer it in too far.

When this happened to me the only thing that worked was Kroil. Everything else I tried just bounced off.

 

Just putting this out there, but since the circle clip is removed, would standing the fork upright, put kroil fluid on the plug, and then compress the fork with a ratcheting strap as tight as it would go and then check it in 24 hrs and see if the plug moved flush with the top of the tube?

 

If the fork is still mounted in the triple tree make sure that the top clamp is lose. The top clamp can bind the fork cap.

 

I just dealt with mine and had quite a bit of rust. With the forks removed from the bike I soaked the tops (upside down) in a container of Evaporust for a couple of days. Freed everything up and they came out real easy.

 

gomk007 an '82 550R? Awesome! True '82, red with white flashes? Fairing? STOCK MUFFIES? Is it running (right) yet?

Sorry, you know I'm kinda partial to the "true" Secas.

 

Still no luck, so that's exactly what it's doing now... upside down, plug is drowning in an ATF/acetone mix, and using a long vice clamp to keep it compressed. Ah the waiting game.

 

evaporust or krud kutter (must for rust(phosphoric acid)) would be the next level if that doesn't work.

CN

 

Here is a trick I used once. It's pretty much a last resort, quite messy and may not work if the seals leak badly.

I removed the damper rod bolt and completely filled the fork with gear oil. Replaced the bolt.

Now the fork is hydro locked, putting it in a bar clamp puts a lot of force on that cap. If the seals are bad enough the gear oil leaks past you probably won't be able to build up enough pressure.

 

When I did mine I learned a little trick from a guy that has been working on these bikes for years....
Mine were so bad that we had to leave the bottom half on with the spring and all in tact and then we put a 2x4 on the ground and with all our might we struck the bottom of the forks on that 2x4, straight up and down, until it came loose. We had to take turns and it took a while but it eventually came.... this is after we soaked it of course.

 

The solvent based solution won't react with the rust in a way that's effective. The active ingredients in a Evaporust like product (phosphoric acid etc) completely erases the rust - you'll see the pitted surface afterward, it's interesting to see how much metal you lose.... So just quit forking around with the wrong stuff.....

And for fitz, yep it's a original SECA, hope to have it all ready by the time our snow melts.... I'll update my thread from last fall.

 

Well, after 3 days in Evaporust the spring guide still didn't come out. Maybe out of impatience, I got a little drastic. I drilled a hole in the center of the plug, about 1/4in deep so as to not drill all the way through. I then used a tap to cut some threads in the hole, and ran a bolt through a 15/16in socket. Took a little leverage, but after a few turns it literally popped right out. I drowned it in CLR so I didn't take pics, but you'll have to trust me when I say that amount of rust was... impressive.

 

PilotSmack - Good idea and well done! I was surprised at the design of the whole thing, it's a solid plug with good seal on the bottom but only having the plastic plug on top that obviously lets water in where it can pool and rust......

At some point I realized that a bike that's been left outside regardless of milage certainly has an additional share of "barriers".....

 

Haha you're telling me! but for the first time in this machine's life it will now be stored indoors, so that should hopefully leviate on of those barriers. i'm amazed though. During this rebuild I found rust in places I didn't think COULD rust. You can never be too careful.