Race Tech Emulators and the oil lock

[junkyardroad]

I have the left fork leg apart on my '89 FJ (the BEST of all the years) to install the Gold Valve emulators and change the  oil/seals.  
The instructions say to drill 6 ea. 5/16 holes at the bottom of the damper rod. I did so using the two small compression holes as a place to start.  
All the new holes are under the "oil lock".  As I have somewhat worked out the oil flow, I really don't see what it really did nor what it would do now especially since it would shroud the new holes.

Should I reinstall it, or have the gold valves taken the place of its function? Nothing on the R/T pages reference this part.

Also, do I have to braze the holes closed or can I weld them with the .023 Easy Grind I already have loaded in the ol Millermatic?  

[SlowOldGuy]

None of what you're doing sounds right.

Should be 4 holes above the tapered spindral, or lockpiece.   

The rebound holes should be brazed shut.

These are NOT where the new holes should be drilled!!!!

DavidR.

[the fan]

If the 89 is the same as the 93 that I did for dean, then there is no need to braze up the rebound holes. I don't have a copy of the instructions in front of me, but there is a very good drawing in Jeff's Fork Information file. I have attached this file below.

The 6 holes should look very similar to the ones in the photo below which are of the modified damping rods from my 95 YZF forks. The YZF rods are shorter but the modification is the same on both it and the FJ.



The 5/16" holes effective eliminate the stock COMPRESSION damping circuit which is replaced by the emulator. The emulator does not alter rebound damping. To adjust rebound you still need to play with different weights of oil, or modification to the rebound bypass holes (drilling or filling to meet desired result).

[junkyardroad]

Thanks guys.  The instructions showed the holes at the bottom of the rod, so that is where I put em. They aren't model specific. 

Should be 4 holes above the tapered spindral, or lockpiece.

Only 2 but that probably varies.

I'll do it like your pics as soon as I get a new part, thanks for putting them up.

[racerman_27410]

if you have the correct rate springs you can just leave the oil lock piece out completely.... you defeat that circuit after drilling the holes anyway.


KOokaloo!

[junkyardroad]

you defeat that circuit after drilling the holes anyway

That is what I thought too.  Of course there aren't any on Ebay now that I could use some parts.  Rather than buy a new rod, I wonder why not continue and see if it works.

If not, an upgrade to newer forks won't hurt at all.

[racerman_27410]

you defeat that circuit after drilling the holes anyway

That is what I thought too.  Of course there aren't any on Ebay now that I could use some parts.  Rather than buy a new rod, I wonder why not continue and see if it works.

If not, an upgrade to newer forks won't hurt at all.

if you leave the oil lock piece out it will work just fine


KOokaloo!

[SlowOldGuy]

I thought the holes were supposed to go above the diameter step change, like in Bill's photos.

DavidR.

[Harvy]

If I recall,  it depends on which gen of FJ you are talking about.

Harvy

[the fan]

I thought the holes were supposed to go above the diameter step change, like in Bill's photos.

DavidR.

Definitely above.Definitely

Removing the "oil lock" or tapered spindle will allow oil to flow, but you lose the "hydraulic spring" (usually referred to as a forcing cone in the offroad world) at the end of the stroke that prevents or limits the forks from bottoming out. Definitely not a good idea. Definitely

[racerman_27410]

I thought the holes were supposed to go above the diameter step change, like in Bill's photos.

DavidR.

Definitely above.Definitely

Removing the "oil lock" or tapered spindle will allow oil to flow, but you lose the "hydraulic spring" (usually referred to as a forcing cone in the offroad world) at the end of the stroke that prevents or limits the forks from bottoming out. Definitely not a good idea. Definitely

when i rebuilt my stock anti dive forks and disabled the anti dive i left the oil lock /tapered spindle out (so i could flat plate cover the anti dive holes in the fork leg) with absolutely zero issues..... i dont see a problem with leaving it out as long as the correct rate springs are used in the forks..... after all... drilling all those new holes above the step in the damper rod (and above the cone) effectively eliminates that bottoming circuit from working anyway

p

KOokaloo!

[junkyardroad]

I found this posted here by "the Fan" originally written by Jeff Hoffman.

http://www.fjmods.btinternet.co.uk/emulators.htm

"There is a rotating valve, with a D-shaped hole in the center of it, in the top of the damper rod. The rebound damping is adjustable by rotating this valve. The valve is inside the damper rod, and has 2 holes (one larger than the other) in it's side that line up with a larger hole in the side of the damper rod. Minimum rebound damping = large hole, medium rebound damping = smaller hole, and maximum rebound damping = no hole. These holes are 120degrees and 240degrees apart. A D-shaped rod extends down from the rebound adjuster in the fork cap, through the spring, to the rotating valve. You need to cut this rod about an inch from the fork cap's 'spring seat.' The rebound valve is held in the damper rod with a circlip similar to the fork's seals. I had to take my Dremel to the top of the rebound valve and remove some, but not all of the 'D' to clear the bolt/nut on the bottom of the Emulator (the nut clears, but the bolt sticking through, hits the flat of the D). By 'hogging out' the top of the 'D' in the rebound valve, you can now use the D-shaped rod and pliers to adjust the rebound damping, after removing the fork spring and Emulator." Thanks Rich, for allowing me to use these instructions here. If the Emulators fit flush on the top of your damper rod no modifications to the damper rod are required.

The emulators fit flush on my rebound dampers, and I considered leaving these as described above before finding the post.  Why, after all weld a hole closed only to drill it partly back out?

So since I aready didn't follow the rules, might as well give this a shot too.
Thoughts?

[racerman_27410]

i would rock on with it..... being able to adjust the rebound damping could come in handy sometime.


KOokaloo!

[Mark Olson]

I believe most of us left the damper holes alone because you can turn it later if needed . you just gotta take the emulators out to get to it.

[junkyardroad]

Completed the fork assembly tonite. Both are drilled the same way and the rebound adjuster is intact under the new valve with 18 oz. of 10w and the preload on the lightest setting, oil lock left out.

I put a block on the top of each and mashed em down several times each.  The action feels very good, though a little more compression damping may be in order. As is, its better than before, the amount of sludge in fork sliders is amazing and I am glad its done.  A quick neck bearing job with some Honda Moly 60 and final assembly will start.

Thanks for the input here. This caused me some stress.

Thanks to David R. for the VERY handy homemade bushing driver plan, that worked great.