Funk unicorn

[Swede]

Very nice frame! Is this polished Al? How is it holding vs. oxidation and pitting?

It was a bit dull when I got it but certainly nothing that a bit of Autosol didn't remedy. I didn't want to polish too much as I wanted to keep some it's patina (chain slap/suck, damaged decals etc.) plus none of the components are NOS, so there's a bit of a balance to find.

 

[Smithjss70]

Great find and what a stroke of luck! It's definitely a simple elastomer stack and modeled after the Manitou 2. Below is a link to the Manitou assembly for your convenience. The only difficult part of rebuilding is reaching the leg assembly screw. Manitou made a tool to do this easily and I have one but lent it to a local bike shop. You can cobble a similar tool by using a 5mm allen wrench or 5mm hex bit on ¼” drive socket. The key is finding a long enough socket drive extension which needs to be about 10-12 inches ideally. Let me know if you run into any issues and I'll try to help out.

http://suspensionforkparts.net/manuals/ ... itou_2.pdf

I think you're right as I don't think it's the TL-1 with the oil damper.

I sold the long allen key with my old Manitou I's but I think I have a socket drive extension that should be long enough. However, there are allen bolts in the drop-outs which aren't in the ad shots, so maybe this change was made afterwards? All the photo's I've collected online show this.

Have you noticed that the legs can be turned? Not sure if that's the bonding that's failed or something else but until it arrives we can only guess.

I expect that the allen bolts were added later to mitigate the issue of the longer key requirement. I'd back them out, release the seals and see if the stanchions will slide down.

 

[Swede]

Re:

It's here... Arrived in this morning's post

Spent the evening stripping it down and it's in overall good condition BUT the outer legs have separated from the caps that sit at the top and which are bolted to the brace. I'll put some pics up later but there's a 0.5mm gap between the OD of the leg and the ID of the cap. I've spent most of the evening chipping off old Araldite, so it looks like it's been repaired (badly) in the past. Any suggestions on suitable metal adhesives?

 

[albatros38]

Re:

You can use LOCTITE BLOC PRESS 648.

 

[Swede]

Re:

Thanks.

I had a look at the price and it quite expensive. What about JB Weld?

 

[Graham_hkr]

Re: Re:

Thanks.

I had a look at the price and it quite expensive. What about JB Weld?

5ml tube on Amazon for under a tenner!

EDIT: although postage is about £13 unless you can fit it locally! :roll:
Personally, I wouldn't use JB Weld... it's messy! :|

 

[Swede]

Re:

Only saw the 35ml bottles which are £49. I had a quick look at the spec and says it’s good for gaps up to 0.15mm and I think I’m at 0.25 (if I half the figure that I measured). I suspect it didn’t start like that but has been worn due to the two parts rubbing/moving. Is there another Loctite product that might work or would this one be okay?

 

[BoyBurning]

Re:

I've got the long Allen key you can borrow if needed - but I suspect you've sorted it now using extensions?

 

[Swede]

Re:

You don’t need it as it’s a bit different to a Manitou. I don’t have enough knowledge about the internal workings of all the different forks from BITD but someone will be able advise what it similar to. I’ll put some photos up this week.

 

[Swede]

Re:

Here's the first problem that needs fixing. I've cleaned out all the old Araldite(?) which clearly hadn't worked but if I'm to repair them I need a better solution...