Vintage Triumph Register

WHOOPS! 404

Replacing a Broken TR6 Clutch Fork Pin

by Peter Zaborski, email: plz at shaw.ca (replace " at " with @).

Chuck Easton on the Triumphs mailing list asked: Has anyone ever removed a broken pinch pin from the clutch fork of a TR6? Well, I just did mine and here's how to salvage what you have:

The shaft is toast. You need to cut it off (I used a hacksaw, took about 5 minutes). Make sure you are cutting in a spot which will allow you to withdraw it from the bellhousing once it's in two pieces (the shaft that is).

[Note: Mike Weir, MWeir2@EESUS.JNJ.com , adds the following: I don't believe it's necessary to cut the shaft in all cases. They're not too expensive, but why spend the money if you don't have to? (one good reason is that the shaft may be significantly worn where it rides in the housing bushes, but that's another matter). In my case, the taper pin had broken between the threaded shank and the shaft, which is undoubtedly the common condition. I found that by drilling a small hole (1/8 inch) into the other side of the fork from the threaded boss, towards the small end of the pin and on its centerline, the stub of the pin remaining in the shaft could be easily driven out with a pin punch. This presumes, of course, that the square head of the pin and the threaded portion was removed from the fork. As Peter noted, the hole in the fork is much larger than the pin, which fits tightly only in the shaft itself. The hole you drill for punching out the broken pin could be much larger (I wouldn't go over 1/4 inch) without hurting anything.]

You can salvage the fork by drilling out the pin from the shaft. Just make sure to protect the threads on the upper part of the fork. I used short sections of metal pipe in the right size to surround the drill bit. The lower part of the fork has a hole which is actually much larger that the point of the pin so once you've drilled out the pin from the shaft, the rest of the pin will fall out easily from the lower part of the fork.

If you do all this and still can't remove the shaft from the fork, you may have a distorted fork in which case you will probably need to buy a new one of these as well. Mine was ok so I don't know if there is som eway to avoid it if yours is bent. Peter Zaborski
76 TR6 (CF58310 UO)