Topic: 1975 400F Rebuild Not A Restoration But A Nice Rider

[Hunter 1]

Wow, the forks turned out nice.

[NobleHops]

These were tough. Both the legs and the tubes were in horrible condition. Probably the worse I've had to rebuild.

Apexnn,

Can you detail what you did to restore this fork please?

I was thinking along the lines of skinning the forks and putting the tubes in a lathe, and using a strip of crocus cloth to remove the rust and smooth the edges of the pits. But I am up for a simpler method for certain if that's what you have.

What about the legs? Same as the hubs as you mentioned above, eg light abrasives in finer and finer grits, followed by scotchbrite to get the final finish? Can you detail that please?

Much appreciated.

N.

[Apexxn]

On the tubes I've never seen anyone machine them. That is a special coating and I don't think you can turn it down, plus it would be smaller which might cause a leak from the seal.

I have had fork tubes recoated in the past at about $150 each. These that I had were in really bad condition and didn't want to chance it. I bought the tubes you see in the pic from David Silver Spares. Really nice tubes and worth the $120 each I paid for them.

The legs and the hubs are basically the same procedure with different grit and tools used based on the surface damage.

Not sure how much surface damage you have on your legs but start off with a finer grit just in one spot and see if you are getting down to fresh clean material. Mine were so bad I had to use a flap wheel on a grinder motor to break through. Then I went to 120 grit paper and finer and finer to get all the scratches out. If yours aren't too bad I have also had good results with a commercial wire wheel on a powerful grinder. There are so many ways to get it done it's hard to detail what exactly should be done on yours. Do you have a thread? Post what you are working with and what happens when you start cutting in to your legs and I'll post up with suggestions.

[Just4fun]

Very nice work, I have a couple of 400fs in process and will definitely be following your build. What scotchbrite do you use for the final finish?  The white or do I need to ask a paint store for a certain grit?


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[Apexxn]

Grey.

[NobleHops]

Apex, thanks a bunch, much appreciated. My build thread is here:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Am out of town but will resume on Sunday, Dog Willing.

N.