Stuck swing arm bolt.

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Shedman
Posts: 212
Joined: 06 Dec 2017, 07:31
Location: Swindon UK

Stuck swing arm bolt.

Post by Shedman »

Hi guys, has anyone got any ideas to remove the swing arm bolt/pivot pin? I removed the rear wheel to change the brake disc and while I was there I thought I'd see about removing the swing arm to get it repainted or even polished. The left side allen key nut came undone easily and the right side allen key on the end of the swing arm shaft spins easily enough but the shaft is well and truly stuck. I've tried squirting PlusGas penetration oil everywhere and tapping the shaft out with a drift but there is no movement. Next thing was an allen key socket that I inserted through the allen nut on the right side, the allen nut was left loose and was used to keep the allen socket centred on the end of the swing arm shaft, a few hefty belts with a lump hammer and still no movement. Plan B was to get a blowlamp on the ends of the shaft to try break it free but this will more than likely burn the paint off the frame. And that is as far as I've got, I thought I'd see if anyone has had to deal with this situation before and may have a better idea of how to tackle it.
Freddy
Posts: 695
Joined: 06 Sep 2017, 11:06
Location: Sydney Australia

Re: Stuck swing arm bolt.

Post by Freddy »

I've heard of people having success using an air impact chisel with a punch type fitting. Never tried it myself.

Looking at the parts schematic heat may not even help. There is a 'sleeve' between the two bearings (not sure if it is just a spacer or the bearing actually run on each end of it). Anyhow, that surely has to be what is corroded onto the shaft. I'm thinking it would be very difficult to get sufficient heat to travel along the long shaft to break the corrosion.

P.S. If I've worked out anything regarding air chisels, you get what you pay for. The cheap Chinese ones aren't worth a cracker but may last long enough for just one job.
Shedman
Posts: 212
Joined: 06 Dec 2017, 07:31
Location: Swindon UK

Re: Stuck swing arm bolt.

Post by Shedman »

Thanks for the input Freddy, I gave it a couple more thumps this morning just in case the PlusGas had soaked in but there was no movement. I don't really want to risk causing any damage so I went with the most cowardly option, leave it alone. The swing arm that is, not the paint on it, it really needs sorting. If I was going to strip the bike right down for a frame paint job then I'd take it to an Engineering company with a hydraulic press and get them to press it out but that will be a job for a much later date and a newer owner.
I bought some cheap crap paint stripper and assorted emery paper from Wilko's with the intention of removing as much of the PO's appalling brush paint as possible, giving it a sand down then a coat or two of arserole paint to tidy it up. The cheap crap paint stripper revealed the lovely original Zephyr silver but I could see why the PO had given it a lick of paint, lots of bubbly corrosion where the original Kawasaki silver had lifted from the aluminium.
So anyways, by the time I finished sanding it back to smooth-ish there was no bloody paint left on it. It was looking quite nice in the bare aluminium so I decided see how good I could get it to look, finer grades of emery and a load of those cheap small wire brush drill attachments from ebay and its looking better than the kind of "dogs dinner" paint job that I could do with an arserole can. I started with 80 grit to rip through the paint, 120 grit to remove traces of the black undercoat and 240 grit to even it out a bit. Next will be 600 grit to remove deep scratches then 1200 grit as a smoother. Then wire wool in three different finer grades to get into crevices and finally a tanker truck full of Solvo Autosol applied with toothbrush and buffed to high heaven with copious amounts of my wife's elbow grease.
This is a work in progress, only the right side of the swing arm has been attacked with up to 240 grit at the moment, tomorrow I hope to get the rest of the swing arm to the same level, ie no paint, then start working on finer grits then wire wool, then polish.
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Shedman
Posts: 212
Joined: 06 Dec 2017, 07:31
Location: Swindon UK

Re: Stuck swing arm bolt.

Post by Shedman »

I was gonna add this but I forgot....
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