Front forks question ?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

front forks by Macabe Thiele, on Flickr

How do you remove the plastic shield/cover that sits between the top & bottom section please ?

I'm assuming that the painted section is laquered as there seems to be corrosion between the alloy section & the paint - does anyone know what colour they were painted in originally ?

Clearly I need to strip mine back to bare metal & re-paint them to something close to original finish.

[K2-K6]

To remove plastic/rubber covers, get them much warmer first to provide more flexibility. Then you can usually gently prise under the bottom edge to start wriggling them up.

They only "clip" into a groove near bottom edge and won't take much to encourage them to move.

Finish was just a fine brushed/burnished plain aluminium with lacquer over that to give them a final look a bit like an oven door in stainless. 
As you see, once the lacquer is breached the corrosion creeps along underneath it in those spidery trails.

[taysidedragon]

A lot of people polish the alloy and leave it like that. I got lazy and painted mine with aluminium colour paint.

[Athame57]

K2-K6 has it down to a tee! As for the finish, I removed the old paint and now keep them polished with Autosol, they look great. Same with the brake caliper arm, it's really worth the effort!

[heli_madken]

Have a go at polishing them they do seem to be one of the parts that polish easy. If you still have lacquer on the surface I recommend Frost strip Gel - https://www.frost.co.uk/frost-strip-gel-500ml/ it really is like Nitromors used to be, reassuringly nasty to use so make sure you wear thick rubber gloves!

[K2-K6]

And the goggles, don't forget the goggles 

I'm not necessarily that cautious,  but from working with chemicals realise that soft tissue (eyes) are vulnerable to things of this strength and concentration, and also quite useful in full working order too.

Also put a turnup on rubber glove cuff to avoid contamination running off them onto your arms, again chemical handling sensible precautions.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

K2-K6 has it down to a tee! As for the finish, I removed the old paint and now keep them polished with Autosol, they look great. Same with the brake caliper arm, it's really worth the effort!

I know you are a polisher from previous posts - in this instance I'm inclined  to follow your advice to polish the forks first to see how them come up. (probably not the brake caliper arm though).
Do you use a flap wheel after stripping off the paint?

[Athame57]

Do you use a flap wheel after stripping off the paint?

I do use a drill with a polishing kit but I always use a cloth with autosol to finish, especially on the inside where you can't apply drill borne brushes.

[heli_madken]

And the goggles, don't forget the goggles 

Yes good advice, I wear safety glasses by default and forgot to mention them.

Ted, if the surface of the forks are pitted use some 400 grade wet and dry (used wet) then go to finer grades finishing with 800 before polishing. You can do it by hand with Autosol but a simple lambs wool mop in a drill together with Autosol will do the job very well.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Thanks everyone for your advice everone  I wil post my progress when I start doing the front forks on my rebuild thread.
 

[waffey]

i used my bench grinder using some abrasive disc's then a polishing mop with auto sol. They come up ok, I didn't plan to get all the large dents out.

[SeanFD]

^ I did the same.

As a novice polisher, I think it came out pretty well!

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[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

inside fork lef by Macabe Thiele, on Flickroutside fork leg by Macabe Thiele, on Flickr


This is as far as I have got with fork polishing after 30 minutes.
10 minutes with 240 grit W& by hand.
10 minutes with 1200 grit W&D by hand.
5 minutes with Solvolautosal by hand.
5 minutes with Solvolautosol with drill mounted buffing mop.

Still need more polishing but very pleased with the time invested - I'm guessing its diminishing returns from here.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Not as good as Seans yet but I'm surprised at the improvement in such a relatively short space of time.

[SeanFD]

You are getting there.

I invested in a kit from these guys - https://www.metalpolishingsupplies.co.uk

With a bit of practice I got the result I showed you; I can recommend it.