Hey, i have a Schwinn Fairlady that i'm restoring. The problem is that one blade of the front fork is slightly bent. The tubing is very think, overall the bike is very heavy for its size, i guess thats how bikes were made back in the day. So i've tried clamping it in a pipe clamp, and bending it with a pipe, no go, put it in a 50 ton shop press. got the forks straight but as soon as you take the pressure off, its bent again, ( not enough of a change to get the plastic deformation).

is there any good recommendations on how i should go about this? the alighment is off by 3/4 inch blade at the blade tip.

I realized an hr ago that i have a pipe threading machine with a huge piece clamp that i will employ on my next attempt to hold it down as i apply pressure.

I'm very worried about the fork cracking since its looks like thick cast metal, any tips would be very much appreciated.
thanks
Grizybaer

Here’s how to make a handy tool for straightening a steel fork. Get a piece of 1in. black pipe about 4 feet long. The 1in. is the inside diameter so the outside diameter is slightly over 1 1/4in. Cut a short piece of the same tube about 1in. long then cut it in half lengthwise so you end up with a “C” shaped piece. Weld this to one end of the 4 ft. piece of pipe.

This piece will fit over the fork blade at the top near the crown to prevent it from slipping off; it needs to be padded inside the “C” with plenty of duct tape to prevent damage to the paint. Next find a piece of old bicycle chain about 9in. long and rivet the ends together to make an endless loop.

Hold the fork firmly in a vise so the blades above and below each other, and the bend you are trying to straighten is away from you. Place the “C” shaped piece up near the fork crown, Slide the bicycle chain loop over the tube and hook it around the bottom end of the fork blade just behind the fork tip or dropout. Pull towards you, and straighten one blade at a time.

To check alignment, put a wheel spindle (or even a pencil will do) in the dropouts and sight it up with a straight edge across the fork blades near the crown. To check sideways alignment draw two parallel lines on a flat piece of wood 1 inch apart. Lay the fork with the steerer tube inside the lines, check that your fork tips are 100mm. apart and equal distance from the lines each side.