Originally Posted by
digger
Yes,I did find the tool, but it’ll be a while arriving and was curious about other options.
As to buying a new fork, I agree with what you typed. But I do enjoy bringing things back to life and it’s not like this bike will be used on technical trails - this is a community bike shop where we refurbish old bikes, with a low budget and I have to balance cost of the work or part. Besides, the place is an environmental and art learning centre and they are very heavily bent in reducing and reusing, so I try, as best I can, to align myself with their goals. The bike shop is a small part of the centre - they grow flax to make clothes, have a solar kiln, grow vegetables to supply to low income homes, a stained glass workshop, a wood working shop, a smith forge, they are a place of refuge for emergencies, etc. The lady who runs the place lives in a sod house, that is how dedicated she is.
She’s a great lady and pretty much gives me free run to decide on how to address each bike.
Anyway, I just want to see how well I could refurbish it..I’m retired now….keeps me out of trouble,
i've never had luck trying to get those out without the wrench... to twist the top tab in an attempt to remove the cap will end up breaking the adjuster, and the cap will remain in the tube, making a bad fork useless.
after cleaning.and regreasing multiple examples of that fork, i recommend replacing them with a better fork before charging someone to refurbish a barely-worth-having boat anchor...
your situation precludes that path of action.
i use 400 grit emery paper for HEAVY rust spots, then 1000 grit for second finish, then fine steel wool or 1200/1600 as a final finish... work in line with the tubes, not around them.
avoid using tan Carpenter's Sandpaper.. it is of poor surface control and makes hit/miss deep scratches
the most annoying failure of those forks is when they fill with rainwater, and then the guide bushings get hydraulicked out of the lower tubes when someone forces them to move again...
proper grease is RockShox Judy Butter or equivalent... thick axle grease will not work well... a light axle grease is kinda ok, but still too sticky, IMO.
it only takes a light coating on the lowers and springs, a tiny smear on the upper tubes...... if you use too much, those annoying bushings might become adrift.