Day Nine
Day ended with a big fail, but started out OK…
Time to really get the swingarm out. After getting the caps off the ends of the swingarm spindle I can crack open the nut. Then with the rear of the swingarm supported by the paddock stand I added a jack to the front just enough to take the weight off the spindle so I could push it in with my finger. Nice and easy, like the rear wheel axel should nave been but wasn’t. The swingarm has frame adjusters like the suspension so it’s the same routine: push the spindle through enough to clear the slot and use a (different sized) special tool to loosen it a couple or turns.
After pulling the spindle out the other side, the swingarm was now free and I could lower the jack and tilt the paddock stand to get it out. Except I had forgot to disconnect something, there’s rubber flap which fills the gap between the rear mudguard on the frame and the plastic forward mudguard on the swingarm. This is attached by two arrowhead shaped tabs which need pushing out backwards, after cleaning off the caked on mud and lubricating them with soapy water.
Finally with the swingarm is free it gets a good wash.
I covered the bearings even though I’m replacing them, but didn’t notice the various drain holes in the tubes until too late. So when drying the swingarm afterwards I had to tilt in into various positions to get drain holes near the bottom then aim the dryer airflow across the holes to suck out the water, there was quite a bit.
The above was actually in some spare time yesterday. Today started by watching Delboy change swingarm bearings and reading Haynes manual, to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything about doing bearings. I had, that bearings should be put in with the markings outwards.
It took me two hours fiddling with the bearing puller to get things out, not sure why. Probably because they were quite stuck and it was really fiddly getting the puller legs to rest on the narrow lip of the hole without causing damage or blocking the hole. I did hit on the idea of putting a G-clamp on the leg ends to stop them from splaying.
I also spent ages trying to get out a rusted circlip which wanted to keep pinging back into it’s groove. And I tried to get the two bearings on the left out one at a time, but the gap between them provided by the chamfer isn’t enough to get a good grip; you need to do them both in one got.
Finally I had the buggers out.
The two roller bearings had badly corroded outer races but when turned with pressure on them were only a little ‘gritty’. The sleeve that goes in the needle roller has prominent marks from the rollers, which themselves looked a bit scuffed up. All definitely in need of replacement but not in an ready-to-disintegrate state.
After lunch I set about what I thought would be the simple task of replacing the small needle roller where the swingarm connects to the suspension linkage.
I couldn’t find any mention of these bearings in Haynes or Triumphs service manual. It didn’t look like there was a lip that would stop the bearing coming out one side so I started by seeing if I could move it with a hammer and drift. When that didn’t work I tried pressing it out by using the bolt drawbar method.
First attempt merely domed in the big washer where the nut was pressing. So I found some other materials and tried harder, then after pondering to consider if it was wise (probably not) resorted to a breaker bar for more leverage. There was that loud scary crack you get when a bearing start to move so as I continued turning I thought I was home free. Nope, it was just stripping the thread on the nut I was turning. 
Nut wouldn’t unscrew, just kept turning, so had to break out the Dremel and cut it into two halves.
On examining the bearing I could seem that it had actually moved by about a millimetre and was otherwise unscathed. I was now half regretting trying to replace it, it didn’t seem toooo bad, but it couldn’t stay as it was.
By now it was time for afternoon tea so I had some cake and opened a beer. (I wasn’t planning on going back to work).
I needed some tougher high tensile bolts to get things moving again, so went online to order some bits. With an eye to needing to press in new main bearings for the swingarm as well I also spent loadsa-money ordering 1m of 12mm high tensile threaded bar. The best I can do before trying to find someone with an hydraulic press who is willing to do the work.
The place I ordered from didn’t have express delivery options and it won’t be sent until tomorrow now, so I’ve probably got quite a few days twiddling thumbs. Or rather, giving my thumbs and other hand and arm related bits a rest. Which considering the medical problem I have with them is probably a good idea.