Fork you!

So, last Monday I started my forking fork job. I had per-ordered my new progressive springs and seals from http://www.oldbikebarn.com , and picked up 10wt fork oil from Boomers, so that I would have all parts I needed on hand. Or so I thought. I was in no huge hurry to rush the job, I thought maybe and hour or so every night after work for 2-3 days would get it done. Wrong.
Day one, remove calipers, speedo, front tire, pull drain screws and drain over night. Check!
Side note: I think it's been a very long time, if ever, this oil was changed. It stunk like hell. When I uncapped the top of the tube for the air inlet, it was like getting blasted in the face with a pre-diarrhea fart.

Day two, remove front fender, and down tubes. Well, I got the fender part done. This is when I learned about the special tool I needed to hold the dampener rod so that I can unscrew the Allen bolt in the bottom of the tube. My service manual shows this tool but the pic is vague. Luckily for me Motorcycle Classics just had an article on this topic for 80's Yamaha's and showed how to make the tool out of flat steel. I was having trouble uploading pics tonight so I'll try to add the tool later. I made the tool easily at work.

Day 3, the tubes are still on. My dampening rods do not have the same slotted/keyed top as most early to mid 80's Yamaha's did. Instead I found mine have a 22mm inverted 12pt. So back to the drawing board on that tool.
Day 4, made a new tool at work. I found that a 14mm bolt and nut have a 22mm hex to them. I welded the nut to the end of the bolt (i used the longest bolt I could get). The nut fits down into the top of the rod, and I used a 22mm socket on a long extension to hold it. Worked perfectly.

More pics to come soon.

Day 5, I decided to paint the down tubes now that they are off. They were cleared from the factory, but are now a dingy yellowish brown tint. I removed the clear, sanded lightly, primed with self-etching primer, then painted low-gloss black. I thought it'd look good to match the frame, and I'll polish up the calipers and all the stainless fasteners for a good contrast. Oh yeah, I put on like five heavy coats of clear for protection.

More pics to come....

Day 6, so I lost 2 days on the account of making a tool, and 1 day on painting, no biggy. Time to put them back together and enjoy my labors and frustrations. I cleaned all the parts well with NAPA brake cleaner. The tubes inside and out. Lined all my parts back in order of assembly. I got to the part of putting a new fork seal in when I found the seals are wrong. (Which reminds me, I need to email OldBikeBarn and let them know to remove 1985-86 XJ's from this seal listing) The OEM seals measure 38mm x 50mm x 8mm. The new ones are 38 x 50 x 10.5.
These seals supposedly fit most Kawasaki and Yamaha bikes, but that extra 2.5mm fucks the whole job for me. The added height has the seal sitting up just above the retaining ring groove. Without the retaining ring the seal will work its way up and out.

Day 7, got on Bike Bandit and ordered "OEM" seals. I put OEM in quotes cause I'm not sure what they will actually be. I called customer service, but they couldn't give me the specs and told me they would be of "OEM brand". Which I told them is NOK seals. And they were like "yeah, sure." The seals were not in stock at the moment, but were available. I think this means they can get them from the manufacturer, like we do at work. I probably wont see them until Monday next week. I ordered 2 sets in case I botch one up. I hope they are right, and I get them sooner than later. If they are wrong I'm not sure what I'll do except maybe put the old ones back in for our trip until I can figure it out.

On a side note, the dampener rod had some wear, as well as some bushings, but from what I can see these parts are no longer available, so they will run until failure I guess.