Clutch fork renovation : Vitesse / Herald ?? / 1850 Dolomite.

[MIG Wielder]

Clutch forks ( certainly 1850 & Vitesse) are getting scarce. I have 2 broken ones here.
So I took them down to the local engine recon/ machine shop place and asked them what they could do. As you can see the problem is the pivot point breaks through, resulting in clutch operation on the floor !
They had a discussion about what to do and concluded that welding them up would be a non-starter as the pivot point is highly stressed. All they could suggest was getting a steel insert made up and welded in after drilling out the old metal. They did note that this would put the clutch operation point higher up if the insert was done from the inside. Machining the spherical pivot was not easy. It was also noted that the pivots on the clutch lever would have to be pressed out and remade.
If it was the last clutch fork for the last Dolomite on this Earth they would try it, but not while there are still parts on E-Bay. ( at a price).
Does anyone have a contact in a machine shop that would be able to look at this please ?
Thanks,
Tony.

[Carledo]

I can visualize a "top hat" piece, with a recessed hemisherical space for the pivot. Properly done, this wouldn't alter the pivot point and the "brim" of the top hat would stop it pushing through again. Then a carefully drilled hole and a couple of tacks to keep it in place and the job's a goodun!

I don't see the problem, almost anybody with a lathe could knock up what I envisage!

Steve

[MIG Wielder]

Thanks Steve; I was thinking along the same lines but what do you do about the "highly stressed" bit of the fork please ?
Thanks,
Tony.

[Galileo]

Get it a milky sweet tea, and tell it everything will be fine in the end...

[James467]

Get it a milky sweet tea, and tell it everything will be fine in the end...

That's what the nurse gave me when I fainted whilst giving blood, worked for me!

[cliftyhanger]

Same part as vitesse/GT6.....

I am sure I remember somebody welded in a core plug to effect a repair.
But a top hat piece would be rather better.

I have seen them for sale at £5-10 at stoneleigh and so on. Maybe I should be buying them all up as a pension fund......

[tony g]

From memory, the pivot point will have been heat treated (seem to remember seeing blueing in that area). Making a piece will be easy enough as Steve suggested but getting it heat treated in the local area (of the fork) could be difficult.
Also isnt there a spring clip thingy thats riveted to the arm? Would it be wise to replace this clip with something new too?

Tony

[Carledo]

The original pivot point would have been heat treated because it was just an area of a relatively thin steel pressing. Add a more substantial block of a decent grade of steel and lubricate with a generous dollop of copper ease grease and I reckon it will cope. The proof of the pudding, of course, being in the eating.
You can see in Tony's pics, the rivet holding the retaining clip in place, up near the pushrod dent. I don't think you'd need to mess with this at all.

One of my neighbours is retired, bored and has a small metal lathe. If you send me one of your duff ones Tony, i'll see if I can persuade him to attempt a fix along the lines I suggested. If it works there could be a business opportunity for him!

Steve

[xvivalve]

Were he retired without a lathe, then he'd be bored.

As he has a lathe, he is potentially boring!

[tony g]

No hes turning not boring

Tony

[Karlos]

He could be also be facing and turning.