Fork Removal

Ok, I have removed the large screw out the top of my quill stem, undone the various headset nuts, the bearing cages and threads are now visible. What do I do next to get the forks off? They move up and down within the frame but I am a bit stuck? Any help?

take the stem out.

It all appears to be pretty solid still. Should the stem just lift straight out after taking out the long bolt?

Read what tommy (the BRick) has to say on fork removal. only the first 3 paragraphs..
It sounds like the expander / wedge has not loosened.
[url]http://www.sheldonbrown.com/handsup.html#threaded[/url

put the long bolt back in do it back up a bit so it's poking out the top of the stem about 1cm then give it a tap with a hammer. that should loosen the stem up by knocking the quill away from the stem.

The long bolt connects onto a wedge that holds the stem in place.
Thread the long bolt back into the stem a few turns and the tap it down to slacken the wedge, the stem should lift out then.

as everyone says. Can't believe how many people watch over this forum.

Right, once I am up properly I will give this method a try and report my findings! Where's my hammer!

under the sink, next to the Small and Mighty.

This worked a treat combined with all the WD40 I sprayed in it last night.

Does anyone know if you need to remove from the frame the crome cups which hold the bearings before the frame is powder coated?

yeah you do.

How do these come off? Do I need to hit them with a hammer too? Are new ones easy to fit, or do they require special tools (other than a hammer)?

There is a tool for cup removal, but a hammer and long flat-bladed screwdriver can be used.

Fitting cups I would leave to a bikeshop, but it can be done with some ingenuity.
EDIT - linky http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=127

BE careful. All bodging is done at your own risk. Dont blame me when you have an ovalised headtube, chipped paint, and a wonky headset. ;-) Search the internet. Live long. Prosper.

I think that this may be a job for the LBS before I take it off to paint. It would be a shame to bust it after I have spent ages stripping the bloody thing.
Thanks for the help!

Tynan posted a guide to making a DIY cup removal tool using a bit of copper pipe you have hacksawed the end of and splayed slightly to mimic the expensive Park tool above.

I made myself a DIY headset press using a similar homebrew guide from a threaded rod some large washers and nuts from B+Q that worked absolutely fine.

Long screwdriver and something heavy, as long as you go sloooooooooooooooooooow

and a block of wood to knock them back in

screwdriver method is good as long as you're careful and don't hit the same spot on the cup over and over again.

I made this press which works pretty well

irrelevantly - the discs that press the cups in are cut from a sheet of bullet proof glass that came out of a building in Belfast that had been reinforced during the troubles

I really like my threadless 1.125" headset. It has a split fork-crown-race, so you can remove it by hand. This way, you don't need any specialist tools if you want to change forks/mess with your headset.

i think its called fsa x2 or FXII. What's it called RPM? I forgot.

Orbit XLII? I used to have one on my Pug and one on my Zebdi.

adoubletap Tynan posted a guide to making a DIY cup removal tool using a bit of copper pipe you have hacksawed the end of and splayed slightly to mimic the expensive Park tool above.

Find something like copper plumbing pipe that fits through the head tube / cups - cut it like the picture below and bend the prongs out a bit.

Feed the uncut (thinner) end through the head tube / cup - all the way until the prongs go past the cup and pop out inside just behind the inside lip of the cup.

Get a hammer and then tap the non-pronged end until the cup pops out.