Doug, Ulix, et al,
I have 1 piece of advise regarding arm removal:
DON'T DO IT!
Why? Several reasons. There are many splines on the shaft that the arm
is
attached to by that big nut. There are also many splines on the shaft where
it attaches to the rocker arm assembly inside. Losing the index on these 2
sets of splines will affect the arm travel. Also, one of the biggest
reasons for almost scrapping a front Sprite core (old shock) is a loose
arm. (We have finally developed a safe way to reconstruct the arm to shaft
attachment, but it requires rather extensive machine time. Welding is NOT a
solution, BTW.) The original attachment is probably the weakest link (pun
intended) of the front suspension. Quite a few shocks come to us with
"wobbly" arms. I don't recommend "messing" with that nut. Also, when we
bead blast the shocks, they are assembled (before we take them apart) so
that beads do not get inside.... that would be a problem, even though we
thoroughly clean them many times in our machining operations. If you were
to get beads inside you would have to completely disassemble the shock, and
that is probably more than you want to do without some of jigs, fixtures,
and presses we have.
My recommendation to you to accomplish what you want is to reassemble
the
shock and arm, wash it down with brake cleaner or whatever. Refill it with
oil and bleed it. Then bead blast it trying to avoid the seal area as best
you can. Also go gentle on the 2 steel "frost plugs". Then do your painting
by masking the arm or body.
Sorry if my tone offends, but this _is_ a safety item, and while you all
are perfectly capable of the repairs with the proper tools, why risk the
arm getting really loose, when the judicious use of masking tape will
accomplish what you want.
I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you may have.
Peter C
At 11:37 PM 1/23/99 , Doug Ingram wrote:
>Last month's discussion about lever shocks included cleaning and refilling
>instructions from Peter C and Mike Gigante. Today I removed the front shocks
>from my car, and then emptied and cleaned them as suggested. Thanks for the
>good advice.
>
>Before I refill and reinstall the shocks, I would like to bead blast and
>clearcoat the bodies, and repaint the levers black. This will be much easier
>if the bodies and levers are separated. I removed the cotter pins and the
>big castellated nuts that attach the levers to the bodies, but the levers
>just were not coming off easily. I think I'd better seek some advice before
>potentially messing up.
>
>Can anyone tell me if taking the levers off is a reasonable thing to do, and
>if there is an easy way to do it? I'm a little worried about what will
>happen if I apply too much force, not knowing if there are spacers, springs,
>etc that might fly off.
>
>Also, I presume that it is vital that the levers go back on exactly where
>they were. Do you know if this is foolproof e.g. they can only go on one
>way, or if marking the position is necessary?
>
>Thanks for your help.
>
>Doug Ingram
>Victoria BC
>1958 Frogeye
>AN5L/636
>
Peter Caldwell
1 very rough Innocenti
(the Sprite with an accent)
among other LBCs and 4WDBCs
Contact for: The Columbia County Bonspiel
Curling on 13 sheets @ 5 clubs in WI
Feb 5 - 7 1999
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