:euro :2thumbup: :clap:
thanks to a fellow bricker i'm bounce free, such a huge relief.
got some lessons learned, probably stuff most of you seasoned folks know cold but just in case there's another newbie who's stuck and shy to ask, a couple tips
so my old shock looks to be aftermarket, outside reservoir and funky lookin, I suspect that it being slightly narrower when the top was ratcheded down the upper slot got bent narrow to match. new shock, stock off an older brick was too big, not just snug like solidly that just enough 'off'
solution: vice grips, clamp way up, don't just bend the bottom, you'll fight like mad to widen the rest otherwise, go on either side of the hole and just nudge, if you haven't bent metal with vice grips before this is not the best place to learn, you're tweakin a weld joint there and too much of that on an old bike and you could have a crack so its that pressure thats just barely enough to feel it move, not unlike gapping a plug. some trial and refitment a few times and you can get the puppy in.
now, the hole doesn't want to line up (kinda like the damn engine mount on the side of the head of my 76 saab that I had to line up by torquing the engine with a floor jack) so you can start with a screw driver to push it up a bit but the bolt really wants exactly the whole thing and that wont quite do it.
so, put in the bottom first with it resting up there a bit out of place. next thing you'll notice is dangit now the wheel is actually pulling down on it keeping it from ever lining up. take a 1x2 stick you just happen to have laying around from building a bed from scratch.. lay it perpendicular to the rear tire, plant a foot on one side, hammer the other, reverse, repeat til you've got the weight of the bike doing all the work for you.
i still had to ratched the bolt in, careful with that method you can strip it pretty easily, again just have to have a feel for it, once well in the outside you can hammer it through to the other.
happy riding!
:falldown:
