| I was right... this job sucked! ...or what I have done to date has not been fun. I began this task with a trip to the hardware store. The guys at the local Ace Hardware love me. It is almost to the point where I walk in the door and they say, "what is it now?" One of them restored a 40 something Harley and has been very helpful to me on this project. I explained what I wanted, again, and he sent me out the door with a grade 5 bolt and a bunch of little parts. What I aimed to do was press the bearing races out by tightening a bolt. It worked or I would be out in the garage still instead of pecking away at a keyboard. | |
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I pushed the bearing out to the outside of the linkage in all cases. I could find no clear description in the GYSM as to which way the bearings should be pressed. Big surprise! That book would make a great door stop but, as a shop guide it is junk. So, I winged it. It made sense to me that on the assembly line it would be easier to approach this task from the angle that I chose. It might not even make a difference in the long run but, I found it worth considering when I started. I used some 321 penetrating oil before I started just for grins. Then I clamped the part off in a vice and mounted 2 large flat washers on one side of the bolt as a point to pull against and stuck the bolt through. On the other end of the bolt I used a number of washers that were about the same size as the bearing race, the copper sleeve and the nut. Using two ratchets I tightened the bolt until the bearing race bottomed out on the large outside washer. Then I pulled the whole mess apart. |
| The
grade 5 bolt that I had was not long enough to accommodate the socket that
I would have to use for the next leg of this job. In order to completely
remove the offensive part it necessary to have something to pull into.
A socket is the perfect tool. Unfortunately, I did not have a large enough
socket ...or I guess I should say I had on that was just the right size...
because I ended having to beat the race out of the socket with each bearing
that I pulled. I know... I could have bought a bigger socket but, where
is the adventure in that?
Well anyway you get the idea. This process worked very well on the aluminum part. The other part is steel. It looked to be a cheap piece of cast iron to me. Not much better than the skillet that I cook eggs in on Sunday. So, as bad as I hate to admit it I used a torch to heat this part and knock the bearings out. |
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| I found that when the surface of the race glows red along with the linkage it will pound out with little difficulty. I used a propane torch like one would sweat copper with to heat the parts. I made one minor mistake that I will tell you about for the sake of humor. I used a couple of pieces of wood to clamp against to spare the part abuse from the vise, I don't need | |
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to tell you
that they caught on fire. You can picture me with the part in a vice, a
hammer in one hand, a punch in the other, and flames rising. I am not sure
that this really rates as a true mistake, though. I thought about it, looked
around and said hell with it... I would rather play with fire than scuff
the part up that bad.
The next phase of the game was the finish. I used Hammer Metal Rustoleum on the steel part after I knocked the slag off it with a Scotch Brite. The aluminum part was bead blasted at a local shop after I took the cast marks off with a file and the factory clear off with some 220 - 400 grit paper. The quality of the bead blast sucked. It was greasy from the hands of the guy that did the work and a bit pitted. When I cleaned it up I must have been too hard on it because it pitted more. So, I polished it up starting with 800 grit and working to 1500. Then I |
| took the flex shaft to it with some white diamond compound. After a good bath in Dawn to clean the wax off I used some Spar Varnish to seal it up. As I said before I will be sending some stuff off to the metal finisher once the riding season is over. In the mean time I will not be riding in the rain or on any gravel roads. | |
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| The next stop is the swingarm. I have a plan of action and just need some time to buy the parts to make a tool for the job. I'll be back when I get it together. |
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