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I am putting the forks back together again after changing the seals. Got them sliding up and down nicely had the axle sliding in nicely through the holes, until I installed the springs!!!! Now it jams a bit and I cannot slide in. The buffers at the end of the bottom caps are/were badly deteriorated and of of unequal height, would that make a difference???? I have ordered a new set so we shall see.

Now to the question, is the screw and locking nut at the bottom of the lowers an adjustment or just a means to attach the dampers to the bottom of the legs, my service manual doesn't seem to say much about this part.

They are just a means to attach the dampers to the bottom of the legs, as you suspected. Are you following the procedure by Randy Glass that is posted on my website?

Duane,

I looked his procedure over, but I don't want to do any major alignment tweaking on them now as I plan to install 90S lowers and I have a new upper triple clamp from Toaster Tan to install on them for the final assembly after the bike is tore down for paint. I am just planning to get it ride-able enough to check out the what else may be wrong with it. The symptom I am seeing is that one of the axle holes moves down in relation to the other one when the springs are installed, would the different height on the buffers be a possible cause?

I suspect that your difference in height is due to the top end, not anything at the bottom. In the worst case one can loosen the fork tube and gently bump it up or down a tad to get the axle holes to line up.

Sometimes the copper crush washer that is the seal for the damper rod gets crushed a different amount than the other one. A couple of other factors may be in place too. Just get it to line up and then test for stiction.

Since you are "cheating" on the assembly, be sure to carefully test for wobbles and stability before you exceed about 45-50 mph.

The buffer heights will make no difference at all. They only function when the bike surpasses the limits of the spring travel. If you removed the fork brace when you did the seals it could be outa wack. Doesn't take much.
If you have the Toaster Tan brace you can use a quick and simple alignment method I got off another bike site.
Loosen everything. Remove the springs. Put in the axle and tighten it up. Tie the front end with rope or a strap until it is at full compression. Carefully pound on all parts of the front end with a rubber mallet to loosen things up. Tighten all the bolts starting at the fork brace and working your way up. Replace the springs (only works with clamping brace like Toaster Tan, San Jose, etc.). You should now be able to remove your axle and reinstall it with one finger.
I did this with my bike, tested it with glass and a micrometer, and it was dead on. Maybe I was lucky, but I've done it twice and it came out perfect each time. After I discovered this trick, I would never go back to the stock top brace system.

Matt,

That alignment method sounds pretty good, I will give it a try. The part that I am having trouble getting my head around is how the top clamp would make that much difference in alignment as the tubes butt up against it and there doesn't seem that much room for vertical movement. When you mentioned putting the axle and tightening it up, does the wheel have to be there to give me the proper spacing at the bottom end??
In the end after I paint it and put it back together it will have the Toaster Tan top clamp and I picked up a SJ fork brace to match the early style fender. So I will be doing this process again.
This sure is a sensitive fork assy to put back together, I had them apart on English, Japanese, and Italian models and there was never an issue of the axle not going in smoothly. I never took apart the damper portion to see what was going on in that area are the crush washers that Duane mentioned in that area?

The crush washers are copper and just under (above) the 13 mm nut for the damper.

The top plate is so poorly manufactured that it is hard for most to believe.......... until they measure them. The holes weren't punched in the right places. One must file them out to get alignment. Also, the holes are too big to start with, so the tube can "walk" around when tightening it up with the big nut on top.

If that top clamp gets even slightly bent, it will hold the tubes in the wrong height and that can make the axle not fit.

These forks were the strongest out there on any production bike that was mass produced in that era. However, the quality control was crap. Many of the fork tubes were not straight when new. The lower clamps have the holes different distances apart. That is why Toaster tan's clamps may or may not fit. His accuracy is probably far better than the parts that they are trying to fit.

Read my article to get more info on the various defects.

jagarra wrote:Matt,

That alignment method sounds pretty good, I will give it a try. The part that I am having trouble getting my head around is how the top clamp would make that much difference in alignment as the tubes butt up against it and there doesn't seem that much room for vertical movement. When you mentioned putting the axle and tightening it up, does the wheel have to be there to give me the proper spacing at the bottom end??
In the end after I paint it and put it back together it will have the Toaster Tan top clamp and I picked up a SJ fork brace to match the early style fender. So I will be doing this process again.
This sure is a sensitive fork assy to put back together, I had them apart on English, Japanese, and Italian models and there was never an issue of the axle not going in smoothly. I never took apart the damper portion to see what was going on in that area are the crush washers that Duane mentioned in that area?

I've only used my method with an aftermarket (in my case home made) top clamp. Don't think it will work with a stock triple because you can't put spring in and out without disturbing the triple alignment.
Believe it or not, just tightening the clamps can through a fork out of wack, not up and down, but for and aft.
Yes, leaving the wheel in place was the method I used.