Topic: Fork seal replacement NIGHTMARE

[ajfriz]

The PO of this bike needs to be kicked in the nuts.  I can't get the washers off the top of the seal because the PO decided to use epoxy to hold everything together.  There is a huge mess of epoxy and silicone in every groove of the tube making it impossible to separate the lower and upper sections of the fork. I am going crazy trying to get the old seal out.  Any suggestions?

[Alan F.]

Ah the PO horror storries continue... you could try soaking it in acetone and picking at the epoxy with a popsicle stick.  You just don't want to use a pick or screwdriver that will scratch the aluminum. 

[WFO]

Tough one Carefully use a dremel tool to atleast get the seal out but as far as the grooves go maybe you can find something liquid that will desolve the epoxy without damaging the aluminum. ( a picture would help)

[ajfriz]

I was able to get the circlip out but I know that the washer isn't going to survive.  I'm thinking that I'll put the tube in my lathe to get the junk out of the grooves, but I need to get the fork separated first....

[HavocTurbo]

Used to use brake cleaner or brake fluid to soften that crap up.

It's will take off your clearcoat on the lowers, if you still have it.

By the sounds of it that might not matter anyway.

[WHALEMAN]

You might not need the washers with modern new seals. My K2 came with washers but they are not needed with replacement seals. At least the seals I bought. Dan

[ajfriz]

Good to know about the washers not being used on the newer seals.  I checked my new ones and they look pretty stout.  I have used some brake cleaner as well as some solvent, but this crap is not coming off...

[ajfriz]

Used to use brake cleaner or brake fluid to soften that crap up.

It's will take off your clearcoat on the lowers, if you still have it.

By the sounds of it that might not matter anyway.

The clear coat is pretty spotty. I was planning on stripping the clear coat and polishing the tube, and then putting some new clear coat on.  Is there a special kind of clear that I need to get?

[lordmoonpie]

I had a similar ish issue with my lowers but the washer had corroded so badly it had reacted with the surface of the aluminium and bound to it. I used a dremel and tungsten carbide spikey little tool thing to grind it in half and lever it out. I then cleaned up with small dremel stones and hey presto, good as secondhand 

Key thing in this is patience - small bits at a time so as not to damage the lowers by doing too much too soon.

[ekpent]

Have you tried dabbing some good quality paint stripper on the mess yet. There isn,t much that can stand up to the good stuff -- UMMM "I love the smell of Dichloromethane,Methanol in the morning,smells like Victory"