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Headrace Removal

Hi all. Both headraces in the frame of my es2 plunger have no grease holes so I want to replace them. I’ve tried drifting them as hard as I dare and they aren’t budging. I don’t want to use heat and ruin the paint. I’ve seen expensive general purpose removal tools but I doubt they will work as there is such a small area to work with. Before I try supporting the head somehow and hitting them REALLY hard, or resort to leaving them and dropping the stem every time I need to grease them, does anyone have any tips? I don’t have the tools or skills to make something.

Headrace

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... with a sharp-edged drift at an angle which will usually catch the inner edge of the race which does protrude slightly. The usual advice is to run a bead of electric weld around the race which causes it to drop out and shouldn't damage the paintwork.

You do need to change them as there are slight indications of brinelling.

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I have long  managed to grease the head bearings of  several bikes using  foaming spray grease  from halfords  . The long tube allows  the grease to be applied accurately at several points , it  flushes out grit  and solidifies  to protect and lubricate . Grease applied by gun usually just finds the path of least resistance  and misses the rest.

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I had the same prob, Mark, Tried everything including walloping with a sharp edged implement from below after heat gun application. No joy. Gave up in the end so would be delighted to hear of any further solutions

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Not something I'd like to do, but it could be cut using a slitting disc in a Dremmel. But to go all the way through would do some damage.  I would not like to see a notch in the headstock tube. The prewar ones had a convenient grease nipple.

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The easiest way if you have the equipment is to MIG weld a bar across the bearing. There is a good chance that it will drop out due to the expansion and contraction, but if not then you have something to put a drift onto from behind.

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I've not actually used this but may be worth considering.  From plumbers merchants you can buy cans of spray to freeze water pipes so that repairs can be made to the system without draining down the pipework. 

Otherwise Ian's advice with the a ring of weld to contract the bearing as it cools would work.  I like Richard's suggestion as well.  But both of these need welding equipment.

Good luck with this.

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Mine came out fairly easily on the 99,but I probably had the frame  supported so the force was not dissapated  with the frame springing. Am going to do the Atlas ones  soon so am also  interested.

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Thank you to everyone who has contributed. I have managed to remove the top race. I had been trying "Crack-it" freeze release spray over a few days after no joy with WD40. I tried a couple more times over the weekend and it finally came free using a sharp drift. Could be a coincidence but for now I think the Crack-it helped.

Once the top one was out I could get an old socket down onto the lower bearing and gave it some sharp taps but it didn't budge (despite Crack-it). I also made a puller by passing some threaded rod through the socket with a brace across the frame (possible as the bearing is recessed. I tightened it up as much as I dared with no movement.

I applied some more Crack-it treatment and will repeat daily. If it gets to the weekend and still won't move I'll get the welder out. I only weld outside as the workshop is small and wooden!

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.. had much success with those freezing sprays myself.

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This I found to be a very time consuming job.. I have just this week [over several days] replaced the head races on my pre featherbed model 50.  Very hard to budge, but I knocked the top one out by drifting underneath and then using the socket to drift the bottom one out.  I found gently warming with a hair dryer helped.  That was the easy bit!  Very difficult to drift the new ones in as again very tight and must be kept square.  I now find that when play is just taken up then the bars no longer swing freely.  Any suggestions?

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Ian’s tip worked a treat. After all the struggles it took 30 seconds to weld a bead. A cup of tea while it cooled down. Then one tap and it was out. Very happy. Thank you all and especially Ian.  

Simon, sorry I can’t help you, I’m a novice. As long as they are in square I can’t think what the issue could be.

I should say that they are not quite in square.

I would remove them again, clean the seats out with a scraper and wire brush, lightly grease them, put the races in the freezer for a couple of hours, then get them in quick.

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Many years ago I used to make the correct tools for Churchills for the Trade. Very expensive to buy, so it was a ground off socket extension and two pound hammer. Easy to get back in with two steel discs and a length of five eigths inch unf studding and two nuts. The Pump for the Hydrolastic BMC cars was £40 trade, very popular in those days, motorcyclists were spendthrifts, hence the big hammer and chisel!

 


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