FH - Steering Head

 Now that the frame is on the bench I can start to assemble some of it, bearing in mind that I must leave mating parts for the paint to fully cure.

I start by reducing the height of the lift so that I can easily get to the head races in the frame, to clear out the paint and primer with a knife, scraper and emery. This is pretty easy as the paint is relatively soft, not like powder coat.

Next step is to clean and fit the races, which go on easily with a copper mallet and a tubular drift. Then it's 1/4" ball bearings, 20 in each race according to the parts book, retained with grease. There usually appears to be a gap where you could fit one more ball, but you should always go by the parts book - the gap is there to allow the balls to move freely.

The top race is easier to assemble, since the inner retains the balls:

Ariels have a dust cover over the top race. You'll note that I haven't fitted the grease nipples to the frame - I will, but all they do is allow the frame tubes to fill up with grease. There is nothing apart from a missing felt washer to direct the grease to the bearing; the washer is shown in the front fork diagram in the parts book but doesn't appear in the parts list.

Next, you have the rather precarious activity of bringing the lower yoke up through the steering head  and through the top race, hopefully without disturbing the balls. Sticky grease helps, as does a dry fit of all the parts. Remember that the top inner race fits tightly around the steering column so you must remove the paint from the fine thread, making sure the adjustment nuts fit:

Next we will go to the other end and fit the swinging arm. It's not obvious, but this is a time when the bike lift is very useful - you can do all this work at the most comfortable working height.