Removing fork oil seal holders

[cus]

Hope everyone had a great Xmas.
I have a set of forks I'm trying to strip down, they have a good set of oil seal holders, so don't want
to damage them. Have tried wrapping with masking tape, then putting on a hose clamp & hitting
the turn buckle to unscrew, but they won't budge. Put heat on them, no go, so purchased special
tool off Ebay, is basically junk mild steel & just burs the tabs on the tool. Have tried filing the tabs
& trying again, but nearly out of tabs, & both holders will not budge. I'm hoping someone has a
better way to unscrew these dam things.

regards, Cus

[BSA_54A10]

put the tool on the floor and stand on the handles.
put the legs on to the tool
put a bar through the axle hole / clamp .
Press down hard and turn

[1660bob]

Biggest help here will be :
1) Grip fork bottom SECURELY in a vice or similar by the bottom lug (obviously NOT anywhere on the tube) and make sure you can get some PROPER purchase on the job instead of chasing it around the bench/floor.
2) Make sure your tool fits the recesses in the holder securely-  build up with weld/make a new one if needs be-you cant afford any sloppiness here if it slips again job goes downhill fast.....
3)Gently and evenly heat top of fork lower just under seal holder-a hot air gun on high will be perfect for this-don`t underestimate these guns-they will put staggering amounts of heat into components in a short time, and safer than a flame.You may damage the paint if you really get things hot, but just keep trying to unscrew/applying heat evenly and she will loosen.Take your time, be patient & methodical and you should get a good result with little or no damage.Keep us posted, Bob

[bsa-bill]

I agree with Bob, specially the heat gun bit, you need to be careful with these as they can spoil a good paint job DAHIK but are excellent tools for applying heat.
I would I think consider trying to get some plus gas into the thread before starting , maybe not easy but worth giving them a couple of hours soak if possible.
If  you struggle to get any joy at all then I would be thinking about the cost (£30 or so ) of new holders against the frustration of trying to save the old ones.
Stainless ones are also available at extra cost and take a while longer to show the rub marks

[alanp]

If  you struggle to get any joy at all then I would be thinking about the cost (£30 or so ) of new holders against the frustration of trying to save the old ones.
Stainless ones are also available at extra cost and take a while longer to show the rub marks

I agree with Bill. By now you will have bug***ed up the ones you've got, so just wreck them to get them off and treat you and the bike to some nice new stainless ones. You know it makes sense.

[andy2565]

wrap them tightly with 6 or 7 layers of strong  tape and get some stilsons on them,but dont put the bottoms in the vice,worked for me a couple of times.if you mark them its not my fault though !

[cus]

Well...they didn't live, tried everything, they were almost welded
fixed. The poor old removal tool got the work-out from hell, but
wasn't up to it, so ended up grinding a slot & got the old screw driver
& hammer, but still had to use heat before they budged, that thread is so fine
& after 50 years of oil going hard etc. it was a mission. I really hate trashing
good parts though! I always try everything before the last resort.
Thanks for all the help though, some good suggestions there,
hopefully get out on the road today, its been raining for 5 days.

regards, Cus

[andy2565]

there is another way because the top and the inside isnt seen,cot a hole out of a piece of steel to the same size as the top of the seal holder and tack weld the steel to the top of the holder in three places,once off dremel off the spot weld and spray with some rust preventer,never had to try it but would if nothing else worked.

[Wros1e]

Hi, just joined the forum so here goes! I was hoping to save myself £30.00 or so by making a seal removal tool & wondered if anyone has the dimensioned of the tool needed?

[muskrat]

G'day Wros1e.
Have a look here https://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=8370.msg59181#msg59181
Billybream made one.

Now get over to Introductions and give us your A7/10 story.
Cheers

[Billybream]

You could try a good quality strap wrench, but as Muskrat states I have made a tool, dimensions are on the link.
My recommendation is to change to stainless holders, worthwhile investment.

[RDfella]

I presume you refer to removing the oil seal holders.
To create a tool I cut a piece of tube around 2ft long x 1.4" ID x 1.7" OD (presumably 1 1/2" water pipe) and cut one end to produce lugs approx 4" wide x 5/16" long (to penetrate the oil seal holder).
If you're replacing the holders with new,  try tapping around the thread area with a hammer to expand the holder and free it a little. You should then be able to remove with small stillsons or large water pump pliers.

[duTch]

 

......and cut one end to produce lugs approx 4" wide x 5/16" long (to penetrate the oil seal holder)..........

  unless I'm looking at the wrong thing they don't look 4" wide- closer to ~6mm or so by my eyes

[Swarfcut]

The missing piece of text is 1/     Added to 4" becomes 1/4" and it all makes sense. If you are prepared to sacrifice the holder, tack weld a couple of nuts to the lower end above the thread to get something to grip, and the heat will also soften any thread locking/gasket cement.
 If the tool is defeated and you want to still keep the holder, a couple of flat  bars can be tacked on the open end, or even a piece of sheet with hole in to clear the stanchion and ground off afterwards, this isn't seen and is a bit less drastic than drilling the holder to take a tommy bar. This gives something to anchor the holder firmly, as outlined above.

 Making a tool to fit new holders is easy, and you have it ready for the next time.  Be aware that the thread on new pattern parts can be variable in quality and your new purchase may not fit as you would like. Best to try the new holders on the fork sliders before fitting the seals etc.

 A little bit of heat from a hot air gun makes the job a whole lot easier to dismantle.

Swarfy.

[RDfella]

Looks like my decimal point went astray - supposed to be .4". Yes, I know it's mixing fraction with decimal, but that's what I neasured - it's more than 3/8"