The insides of Alan's shocks were completely full of dirt and rust and the damper rods were in a terrible state. The only choice was to assemble them with a combination of rod and damper tube which would give the correct stroke without bottoming out. I had to use the damper tubes out of my shocks as Alan's were too far gone and later ones are too long. I will machine some later ones down for my dampers when I have time.
Here are the assembled units and the original damper rods.
Because the aluminium lower covers are so thin, I used NOS springs and liberally greased them to reduce any interference.
The original springs (centre) had badly pitted chrome so I had them stripped but the surface was rough and I didn't want to risk it.
I was glad of my shock compressor tool when I reassembled these. The top plate of my tool is faced with leather to avoid scratching the paint.
And here they are nicely covered.....
I'm so glad that we could preserve these as they have that unique "fat L" shaped preload adjuster stop. The top collets and the preload adjuster are both steel so have survived well. The pre-load stop is brazed in place rather than spot-welded - another difference from later units.
Aren't those lower covers beautiful? They are paper-thin clear anodised aluminum. These had been removed from a 1961 bike which was converted to a racer in the 1960s. Mine are not as nice as these but still usable.
I can breathe again now after performing a delicate assembly job.....
G
