Removing Bronze Bushes from Swingarm
- Thread starter Dale
- Start date
mcnicol
Hero member
- Location
- Safety Harbor, Florida, USA
Only way I ever got them out was to carefully a little V in the outer bearing surface, to locate where the and of the swing warm was. Then dismantle the hacksaw, pass the blade right through the bearing tube, reassemble, and begin sawing, using the little V as a visual indicator of where the bronze stops and where the steel starts. Pretty bloody tedious. Maybe a press would work too, but you'd still have to make up fixtures, the hacksaw technique means no duplication of effort.
Ken
Ken
tom3c75
Hero member
- Location
- Cape Town South Africa
http://www.laverdaforum.com/forum/index.php/topic,89238.msg265299.html#msg265299
Simonr501
Hero member
- Location
- Lympne, Kent. UK
Dale said:
Well! You did title the thread 'Removing Bronze Bushes', which is the comparitively easy bit. As Paul said it would be better to stick a bolt or something in the bush after tapping out - the tap is too brittle to withstand much bashing.
The more tricky bit is getting the bores of the two bushes on the same axis and with the correct clearance.
mcnicol
Hero member
- Location
- Safety Harbor, Florida, USA
Actually it's quite easy. You take the swinger, the new bushes, and the old worn hardened spacer to your local expert machine shop, say "Please press these bushings in and ream them to fit this spacer, and please be sure that they're in line with one another". When they say "Sure, no worries" you press your luck a little bit and ask just how they propose to do this. If you're not satisfied with their answer you take half a day off work and drive to the other machine shop way on the other side of town and go through the same process with them.SimonR501 said:
But seriously, any decent place that's been in business for more than a couple of decades will have the tools. Used to be a common thing in automotive applications, although not any more, nobody repairs cars, they just bolt on new replacement parts. If the guy you're talking to is over 50 that's a good sign for you.
Ken
Just for closure:
I took the swing arm to a local workshop.
We tried bashing, heat, and a press, all to no avail.
In the end it was the trusty hacksaw cutting a grove out of the bushes, followed by bashing with a BIG hammer that was needed.
No problem with aligning the new bushes.
I'm using bearings.
Dale
I took the swing arm to a local workshop.
We tried bashing, heat, and a press, all to no avail.
In the end it was the trusty hacksaw cutting a grove out of the bushes, followed by bashing with a BIG hammer that was needed.
No problem with aligning the new bushes.
I'm using bearings.
Dale
Using a press instead of a lump hammer often helps.
A large dia. tap threaded into a bush and pushed out from the other side should work well.
I insert a very thick washer with flats to allow it to be passed through the bushing bore and place it on the rear of the bush to allow it to be pressed out, just need a good fitting support tube for the swingarm pivot. Hasn't failed yet, just a helluva mess because of all the old grease you have to wade through...
piet
A large dia. tap threaded into a bush and pushed out from the other side should work well.
I insert a very thick washer with flats to allow it to be passed through the bushing bore and place it on the rear of the bush to allow it to be pressed out, just need a good fitting support tube for the swingarm pivot. Hasn't failed yet, just a helluva mess because of all the old grease you have to wade through...
piet
Hi Piet
The grease was certainly there in great volume, but the least of our troubles.
Pressing was difficult because the bushes have a flange. You have to cut some away before you can press against the steel rim of the swing arm tube.
We ground the flange off one side, and tried to press, but still not successful.
Hack saw was easier than tapping, and seemed more likely to succeed with the gear that we had at hand.
Was impressed with the thickness of bronze that was in the bush. probably worth a fortune form the scrap merchant.
Dale
The grease was certainly there in great volume, but the least of our troubles.
Pressing was difficult because the bushes have a flange. You have to cut some away before you can press against the steel rim of the swing arm tube.
We ground the flange off one side, and tried to press, but still not successful.
Hack saw was easier than tapping, and seemed more likely to succeed with the gear that we had at hand.
Was impressed with the thickness of bronze that was in the bush. probably worth a fortune form the scrap merchant.
Dale