plunger seat springs pain

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plunger seat springs pain

Postby xlh59 » Tue May 22, 2018 2:58 pm

Hi All,

when I bought my 59XLH in 1992, it had a cobra seat mounted, so I never new about seat springs or plunger seats at that time. Back then I had the frame sand blasted and painted with springs inside. In my process of getting everything back to original, I tried to get the springs out.

Man, thats a nightmare :( . You can imagine, that the springs are glued with a mix of sand, 60 year old grease and paint to the tubes. Not sure if anyone has a trick to get them out, as it seems to me that I am not the first one with this problem.

Anyway, I was already succesful with the short & thick springs and will need a new tool for the lower springs. What I did is to use a 12mm eye screw for wood and pull it up. It almost lifted the whole bike up, but it worked. I will try to use a 16mm screw for the lower springs.

IMG_20180522_191648_124.jpg
IMG_20180522_191648_124.jpg (388.48 KiB) Viewed 6617 times


as the pitch of the screw is close to the windings of the spring (but not identical), the screw start to expand the spring and fits really tight.
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Re: plunger seat springs pain

Postby Ferrous_Head » Tue May 22, 2018 4:51 pm

That's pretty clever. Mine th springs on my 62 frame were badly stuck as well. I used a spring hook (homemade) but your idea is better. had a hard time getting them out I can tell you.
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Re: plunger seat springs pain

Postby DaveC » Tue May 22, 2018 5:10 pm

You might try plugging the drain holes and soaking the inside of the tubes with gasoline for a few days. if you have a rust problem follow up with citric acid.
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Re: plunger seat springs pain

Postby Ferrous_Head » Tue May 22, 2018 5:41 pm

My drain holes were well and truly plugged before I ever got to them. :D
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