Driveshaft Boot Replacement

I would be more in favor of using EP grease to combat the ingress of water in to the joint rather than aluminum anti-seize. Ultimately, I'd be figuring out a way to install a grease nipple to pump in grease and push out any moisture. Putting that one on the "list of mods to consider"

So, I got the boot installed. The secret was to disconnect the shocks, put a floor jack under the center stand, and remove the swingarm pivot ("pivot shaft"),on the right side to allow the swingarm to be swiveled away on the right side, increasing the clearance at the flange-to-flange connection at the rear of the engine to over an inch. Truthfully, I would have preferred to have also freed up the left end of the swingarm pivot ("pivot shaft"), but it was much more severely corroded than the "pivot shaft" on the right. I snapped off two machine screws trying to pull out the left "pivot shaft" with a slide hammer. Even with repeated applications of PB Blaster, and being able to knock in the "pivot shaft" in about an eighth of an inch and clean out the bore as best I could with a brass wire wheel on a Dremel tool, once I pulled out the PS past that 1/8th inch, the damn thing binds up in the hole in the cast iron pivot just before the unit came out flush with the cast iron pivot point.

The really annoying problem I'm now dealing with is an inability to drive the right pivot shaft back into the cast iron pivot where it came out of only two days ago. I've cleaned up the outside of the pivot shaft with a bench-top brass wire wheel, and the inside of the cast pivot point with the small brass wire wheel on the Dremel. I lubed up the inside of the pivot point and the outside of the pivot shaft with Permatex Anti-Seize compound, and the damn pivot shaft refuses to be driven into the bore. I could try Moly Lube grease instead of the anti-seize, but I find it hard to believe that this could be the problem. I would be happy to be corrected, though. The pivot shaft at best goes into the bore about 1/8 of an inch.

I have the pivot shaft in the freezer until tomorrow, which often can make the difference.

Hints?

Richard

Have you searched the entire forum for ideas on removing / replacing those pivots? It is a difficulty which many members have encountered, and there is good advice to be had if you do a search, remembering to select Any Date when doing so.

Since Kawasaki provided a 5 mm threaded hole for removal of the pins, the pins should be a sliding fit. Bear in mind that they carry little weight and if anything, only the force of moving forward would act on them.
I'm going to suggest that the pins and bushing points have become oval and want to fit together in the same position that they came out. But since you've been trying to force them back together, I'll suggest that you've managed to mushroom up the end that's trying to go in or mushroomed up the edges of the bushing.
So a machinist trick at this point would be to first check the pins for mushroomed ends. Using a flat smooth file , try to lightly file the flanks of the pins with a few strokes and look at the witness marks. That should tell you if they are mushroomed. You could then remove the mushroomed areas with the file. You could try fitting the pins again at this point but as far as I'm concerned , you're only half done.
At this point I would normally be rounding up a reamer to check the bushing s but that's not in everyone's tool box. sometimes you can get lucky and find a drill bit. Usually, on a sliding fit, the bore of the bushing is nominal and the pin is .001"-.002" undersize. That would be a standard engineered fit. If you did find a drill bit the last thing you want to do is spin it up at full speed in a drill. You could use it as a hand tool. Maybe chuck it up in a tap handle and try "hand reaming" the bushing with the drill bit and some oil.

What I'm about to write is not to reflect on anyone's abilities here but to take this opportunity to help educate. At 21 years of age, I earned my auto mechanics license and as a flat rate Auto Mechanic, I was as good as the best. I consistently earned a 60-70 hour paycheck in a 40 hour work week. After being in the trade for 3 years as a Mechanic, I managed to get a job in a Nuclear Power Plant as an apprentice Millwright. 4 more years of training before becoming a Journeyman Millwright. That 4 years of training taught me if nothing else, that I was an idiot as an Auto Mechanic. I had no understanding of Fits and Tolerances. I even reflected on the fact that the only time a torque wrench came out of my toolbox was for buttoning down cylinder head bolts. and what I'm about to write is not meant to insult anyone's intelligence.

So, that being said, I think the biggest lack of knowledge in the mechanic's "toolbox" is a solid understanding of fits and tolerances and that's a shame. It's the mechanic that comes across the rusted together parts and somehow has to remove the damaged part and install "fit" the new part to the old parts.
Second to this is torque specs. If an engineer did his job correctly when designing a machine, the fasteners were sized to do their job holding things together under designed conditions. In this case a 5 mm access threaded hole was provided to remove the pin. A 5 mm thread is designed for a tensile force and the torque for that tool would be applied to the thread. Torque on a 5 mm grade 8 fastener is 79 lbs. in. or 6.64 lbs. ft. Knowing the torque on a bolt tells you something about the force being applied. Understanding the force being applied tells you something about the fit of the part.
Anitseize - It has its place in the mechanical world. Loctite offers 6 different anitseize compounds and all have their specific uses. I keep the cooper graphite antiseize and the Nickel based antiseize in my workshop but in this case with the pivot pins, would not use either here. Loctite does offer a marine grade antiseize which is designed specifically for wet conditions and if I had this in my workshop MIGHT consider but ultimately I would choose an EP grease for this application. These pins were not sealed from exposure to water and rely on simple lubrication for a moisture barrier more so than a lubricant for movement.

I could keep going but I'm sure I've already lost people because of the Blah Blah Blah so I'll leave it at that .

KB

Regarding the swing arm Pins. Over the winter of '83 I stripped my '80 down to have the frame nickel plated. Only 3 years old, I had a hell of a time removing these pins. Eventually got them out using the threaded hole and a slide hammer-like apparatus. When I got the frame back and was staring to reassemble everything I had a problem. An over-sight on my part - The pin bores were also nickel plated! I ended up using ( wore it out completely) a brake slave cyl. hone to remove the nickel and further none to allow the pins to slide in "nicely".
So whereas getting the pins out might be enough of a challenge, I can recommend using a small hone to clean-up and "clearance" these bores to allow the pins to slide in. Frequent checks for a proper fit should go without saying. As for the pins themselves - Kawboy mentions some good points. Here's another idea that works. Find a bolt that fits the 5mm center hole and is long enough to bottom out in this hole and provide for another 1" to 2" long with the bolt head removed. Tighten the bolt and or use a jamb nut to prevent the bolt from spinning out. "Chuck" it in a drill-press and on a slower speed allow a FINE file to float over the surface. This ties into Kawboys suggestion of determining if the Pin has been deformed. Any 'high" spots can be dressed with a fine file, initially if there's some nasty areas. Once these areas have been dealt with, spin the pin and use some fine Emery cloth to clean-up the surface. Continually check the pin for a correct fit.
Apply an anti-seize compound to the pin and bore for final assembly.

Great idea on the brake hone! I happen to have a brand-new one I bought about 25 years ago and never used. Also, the idea of using the threaded hole to adapt the pin so I could chuck it up in my drill press. When I had access to professional machine tools I often used a lathe with files to round off sharp edges and such.