Marzocchi fork strip down

[Scottish888]

Anyone ever replaced those nylon ring bushes?

[Scottish888]

Thanks to Bill for supplying the Marzocchi fork manual
I see in the manual that to remove the fork seals first remove the circlip by just lifting underneath with a screwdriver....is there another method?
The circlip fitted has no eyes or part for a circlip plier to be used on it, the circlip has to be closed to remove but nowhere to use circlip pliers, any tips?
I will try just levering it out if that really is the best method, just concerned to damage the alloy housing.
Any recommendations on fork oil viscosity and volume? manual suggests sae10

Kind regards,

Alex

[ranton_rambler]

Might not be the same, but my 175 forks had wire clips holding the damper valves in place. The tip of a very sharp knife turned out to be the way to flick them out of the grooves.

[themoudie]

Aye Alex,

As you describe, be wary of levering on the upper alloy rim of the fork slider, they are thin and snap easily. Been there, done that, wear the T-shirt!

I found that 2 pairs of small, sharp, wire cutters were a method that enabled me to grip the circlip and then to work one pair of cutters against the other, rather than levering against the fork slider rim. Once the circlip has been extracted, cut the horizontal surface of the oil seal, then grip the rim of the oil seals with the wire cutters and and roll the oil seal as you would when undoing a 'Spam' can or corned beef tin. DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO LEVER ON THE SLIDER RIM! This usually loosens the oil seal and it can be pulled out. Alternatively, carefully screw a small self-tapping screw into the upper surface/steel body of the oil seal and then grip with a pair of small 'Mole grips' and pull vertically. Others may have their own preferences.

Volume of AGIP ATF (recommended in the Haynes manual) or any other fork oil viscosity (I prefer SAE10 fork oil, as a starting point) is 200cc for the 35mm Marzocchi forks fitted to the later MKIII widecase models. Some earlier models still used Ducati's own front fork.

My regards, Bill

[blethermaskite]

when working on any alloy fork sliders to get out circlips or seals......... fit a suitably sized worm drive hose clip to reinforce the top edge of the slider before any levering this will ensure you don't break the alloy, when levering out seals, use a bit of flat 5/6mm alloy plate set on top of the slider to lever on, again this will stop any damage, also if you apply a bit of heat this will loosen the grip on the seals, these methods work fine for me.
Cheers,
George

[Scottish888]

Thanks guys for the excellent and descriptive tips.
Most delicate bike I ever worked on

[themoudie]

Aye George,

Thank you for the pearls.

Bob Mac in 2020?

Good health, Bill

[Scottish888]

Got the clips and seals out last night as per the good advice, thanks
The clips look like they were internal circlips but with the eyes snipped off, is that normal?
Not easy to remove them as so close to the seal and impossible to get pliers or such onto them, I followed the advice, used a jubilee clip proud of the fork leg and used a small screwdriver to gently lever in and up.
Forks had twin seals, I ordered the same.
I am keeping the jubilee clips on the legs as good protection if knocked around my garage, will remove for the dust covers later.
Thanks again.

Alex

[themoudie]

Got the clips and seals out last night as per the good advice, thanks
The clips look like they were internal circlips but with the eyes snipped off, is that normal?

Aye Alex, quite normal. I asked similar questions when I first opened up a pair of Marzocchi forks to replace the seals. Having been used to circlips with 'ears and holes' for circlip pliers. As for the reasons "Why?", I shall leave that for the more erudite on this site to educate us.

My regards, Bill

[Jordan]

Bugger erudite, just guesswork - to reduce unsprung weight?