i was hoping to not dissassemble the rear shocks, merely do a clean up job on them .... but the lower covers were so badly rusted i felt compelled to yank em apart and clean em up decent. i looked through the posts here on disassembly, found nothing that didn't require either a special tool, a second person, or a skilled hand working alongside brute force, so i decided to think 'outside of the box' ... after all i do run a machine shop ....
i ended up throwing a hunk of 2x6 framing lumber in the bridgeport, milling a 2-step pocket into it to allow the shock to sit down in and stay square, but still catch the lip around the top. I used the bottom of the quill as the topcontact point, with a piece of brass bushing that was leftover from my rim grip-pads for cushioning/protection.
popped the first shock in, cranked up the knee, and all the goodies poked out through the bottom of the wood.
basically works in the same manner for reassembly, only with a layer of foam between the shock and brass and another layer between the shock and wood. i put them back together last night and they came out much nicer than i had hoped ... hard to believe looking at the original pictures that they're even the same parts.
cost - $0 because i had the materials lying around, but i think the 2x6 chunk would pro-rate to about $1 and the chunk of brass about the same, totalling $2.
barn-find dream
shocking cheap tool
progressbeen too busy workin' on my dream and haven't gotten to post. here's a pic i took a couple nights ago of the progression.
spent last night beating up the tail end of my front fender, about the last piece of the puzzle i need to finish up assembly. all comments welcome! hopefully purists don't find my style too offensive .... taking great care to not alter anything irreversibly.
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