Fork Seals Help

[m in sc]

congrats!    i know you know this, but def smooth out the nicks where the seal sat. you may want to use a tad of sealant in there upon reassembly, the anaerobic stuff from Permatex is non hardening.

[AAAltered]

Yea Mark, it's obvious that a hamhand other than me has been in there in the last 49 years.... I'll clean them up before the new seals go in.

[2T5]

It does seem to have a steel band in there that may be part of the old seal or may be part of the fork inner, I can't tell.

What was the outcome here? Was it part of the old seal, and how did you end up getting it out?

[AAAltered]

That WAS part of the old seal.  Once I knew it (by getting the other seal out intact) I used a small flat blade and was able to tap it in behind the band and pop it out.

[RDnuTZ]

example of OEM banded fork seals from eBay. (not mine).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314280825684

[AAAltered]

Yup, has to be them.

This is the metal band I pulled out last night.

[AAAltered]

Ok, so which faces DOWN on the new seals?  Left one or right one? 
I suspect the right one, as that puts the wiper part of the seal at the top.

[1976RD400C]

Yes, the side with the spring goes down into the tube when installing.

[AAAltered]

Who knew, a 30mm socket is a perfect seal driver...

[AAAltered]

Put the legs in the oven for 10 minutes at 175, seals went in easy with the driver.  Rings and retaining clips back in and good to go...

Thanks for all the tips gang.

[axldk6]

jumped on this thread to give ya a thumbs up  . hope mine goes as good , lol

[axldk6]

jumped on this thread to give ya a thumbs up  . hope mine goes as good , lol

[Simoniz]

Good to hear you got it sorted out. These "simple" jobs can be the worst ones.

I use a 2 foot offcut of PEX plumbing pipe in the same diameter as the seal to drive in new fork seals easily. Fits snugly and provides even pressure to push it home when hammered in lightly. Usually found in the offcuts box at the local Ace Hardware for $1. As you found, sockets work fine too.

[AAAltered]

Just to close out this thread from the other week.  Seals out, seals in.  Crappy gators are gone and replaced with correct dust seals.  The pitting on the fork inners isn't that bad, none is near the seal travel. I took Marks advice and turned the most unsightly areas inward.  I did buy a silver marker, not sure if I'm going to use it as it didn't seem to hold up too well in a test spot even though it's solvent based.

Anyway the bike was back together and tested.  Now it's getting some other maintenance items like tank dampers, rear brake switch replacement and overall deep cleaning.

[RDnuTZ]