Oleomatic fork assembly

[gammakeith]

It seems pretty quiet on here so I thought I’d share my frustrations and see if anyone has any tips to offer. Basically, I spent quite a while rubbing down/spraying/rubbing down etc my outer tubes to get them looking pretty. Unfortunately, I found it near impossible to drive the tubes up into the lower yokes as the brass collars are a really tight fit. I got one in with the aid of a couple of worm clips to aid purchase but the brass collar was sticking up slightly in an unsightly manner and the other tube jammed about 1 cm short. As might be expected, the lovely paint work was all scuffed so that was a pretty low point 😯 I’m not sure why I was so surprised as they were a struggle to knock out on disassembly. The only good thing was that the seals were holding air!

I have now implemented ‘plan B’ which will involve ignoring all the assembly instructions I have seen in Scott literature. Basically, I dropped the whole bottom yoke with tubes in place. I carefully measured the desired position of the tubes after which a couple of blows with the mallet easily knocked the tubes out out of the bottom yoke. The damage is now rubbed down awaiting some more coats of paint. The plan is then to knock the outer tubes in position in the bottom yoke as with the innards dropped as the mallet can be used to drift the tubes without having to rely on worm clips etc. I will then completely reassemble the forks off the bike and offer the whole lot up in one go. However, if anyone has any tips about keeping the brass collars in place during this process or has any other tips to keep my frustration levels in check it would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!!

Keith

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

Good timing Keith ! Only this morning I was sent a disc of photos of all sorts of Scott stuff, and it includes several shots of a set of Dowty forks being dismantled. They were in a 1950 Flyer KOV326, which I had restored 30 years ago, the last time I got closely involved with Dowty forks. I’ll bring the disc and my laptop to the Eastern Section meeting on Sunday, and hope that it may be of help.
Brian

[gammakeith]

Thats brilliant, Brian! I am wondering if my problems may be a consequence of the forks not being originally fitted to a Scott. Certainly the brass sleeves are both different and the problem one looks home made. Thus, any pictures of what they ‘should’ look like may be illuminating.

Keith

[Deleted User]

Don’t know how you are getting on with this Keith, but I have found you can spring the yokes open a few thou with the help of a large screwdriver tip driven ( not too heavily ! ) into the tightening slot, as close as possible to the leg. This may cause a sucking-in of breath by some experts but it helped me.

I still needed to use worm clips though, fitted over tape protection, and holding a ratchet strap in place. Then it was easy.

I think it’s common to see a bit of the brass shim showing and I suppose with care it could be trimmed flush.

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

We got there before you Mike ! When we were discussing the subject on Sunday morning at our Eastern Section meeting, Keith was advised to (gently !) tap a screwdriver or metal wedge into the bottom yolk slots to spring them open and allow reassembly without scraping the paint off the legs…
Brian

[gammakeith]

Thanks both. That technique certainly worked OK getting them off! It seems my biggest problem is that my brass sleeves are not soldered to the outer tube so they can twist and jam on reassembly. I don’t want to strip off the new paintwork so will have another go with the forks off the bike this time and see if I can get them in. I feel better if others have a bit of brass sleeve showing 😆

Keith

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