'71 CB350 Fork Disassembly?

[Juice_Bruce]

I have removed the forks off my '71 CB350.
Drained the oil.
Loosened the screws in the bottom of the forks all the way, they don't come out.
I've got to seperate the forks in order to polish the bottom half, remove the rust from the top half and replace the seals.
How do I do this?
Thanks,

 

[DrJ]

The 71 has the early piston style fork with external spring, the bottom bolt does not hold anything in place. You need to take out the circlip at the top of the fork lower, then pull out the tube with a couple of yanks. The fork seal is pulled out while doing this.

 

[Juice_Bruce]

Awesome.
There is a chrome sleeve at the top of the bottom fork, how do I get that off?
I assume it has to come off to get at the circlip?
Thanks,

 

[DrJ]

That chrome sleeve is just press fit to the fork lower. It's probably fused due to corrosion. Try to flow some CLR or WD-40 between the sleeve and fork lower. There's a flat section that you get a flat screwdriver to bang out the sleeve. Tough job to do without damaging the sleeve.

 

[Juice_Bruce]

Cool, thanks.

 

[Juice_Bruce]

I damaged the chrome sleeves while taking them off the forks.
I've looked on ebay and can't find any, does anyone know where I can get some new sleeves?
Thanks,

 

[DrJ]

Bummer :-[ Most builders just chuck those covers and use the dust boots or gaitors.

 

[Juice_Bruce]

That's probably what I'll do then, thanks.