Aaaw no! Hes at it again.

[Steve Little]

Not sure what this aluminium thing was, but it came in a bucket of parts with a machine that I bought years ago. It has been my mark out dye pot for 30 years but I think its original use may have been a fire hose blank end. I'm re-purposing it for the greater good. Bored the inside diameter to the size I needed.





Then parted off two pieces to the right length.



Still have enough for a little dye pot.

[T. Cotten]

Steve!

I used a firehose coupling for my forkleg bushing puller/pusher, but it was stainless.

....Cotten

[BigLakeBob]

Cotton, your #4 is what I made also. I also make those for blind hole bushing removal. You top timken is a good idea, it takes a lot of arm effort to remove leg bushings.

[Steve Little]

Hi guys. Thanks for the ideas and contributing.

I needed some discs for this project so out came the hole saw and some alloy plate.



The discs needed some holes in them so a bit more hole sawing.



The finished kit.



Any guesses on the intended use?

[exeric]

How about a hint, Steve. Is it for a motorcycle, and if so, what vintage?

[Steve Little]

he he. Apologies. I was going to post more pictures yesterday but ran out of time. I loaded up the trailer with parts and headed off to a swap meet. A clue...The kit is dual purpose, for blasting and painting. There are 2 per bike....used on Knuckles, U models, Pans.

[T. Cotten]

Well Steve,

It reminded me of my star hub seal press, but yours looked too short.

....Cotten

[jim d]

Look like something to protect the neck area of the frame from when blasting and to keep paint out of that area awhile leaving a nice transition from paint to bare metal.

[Steve Little]

Jim is on the money.

[Steve Little]

Most people will know the following information but I will print it those that don't. The brake area of the hub should not be painted. I protected the original parkerized area to inhibit rust, and the mating surface of the brake drum should also be paint free. It may seem like I have gone to a lot of effort but masking the area takes time and I will eventually get in front.



Then it was time to paint the hub and I decided to mask my new tool.



Set the hub in my hi tech painting booth (check out the brightness of my light) and went at it.





I was happy with my painting but I found this job to be a pain in the neck. Trying to see all the areas after each coat was annoying so I whipped up another fixture to make the job easier.



Much easier

[jim d]

Thank you I was close. I have also taken old junk gas caps, removed the chrome outer and then turn or grind the inner part down to a littler smaller than the OD. of the filler bung.
Weld a nut to the top and use the rubber gasket to seal the tank when blasting to keep the sand out. I then use them when painting to keep paint out and give a nice blend from paint to bare steel without the raw tape line. And the nut gives you a way to help hang the tank to paint.

[Steve Little]

Out of interest, I would be interested to read other members time spent on restoring a star hub from start to finish?

[Rooster]

I found some appropriately sized rubber stoppers to drive into the bore on each side, for blasting. Masking tape for painting.

[Steve Little]

Hi Rooster.
I used stuff from around the workshop, and enjoy the challenge of design and manufacture.

It can be a poor odds lottery when buying assembled star hubs on eBay, or for that matter, from a swap meet.
Here is a list of work I performed on these hubs.
Disassemble, wash, dry, and inspect internal parts, Throw most of it in the bin.
Lap both races to get them true and wash and dry again.
Wash rust inhibitor off new hub sleeve and fit 4 different sets of rollers to achieve plug fit to brake side.
Wash oil off new rollers and fit 4 different sets to achieve plug fit to star side.
Fit the inner sleeve and bearing assembly to the brake side with the thrust washer and circlip. Fit seal retainer and circlip without cork seal. Flip the hub over and fit the bearing assembly to star side and set side clearance with shims.
Disassemble and bag all parts in labeled zip lock bags.
Fit blasting kit to each hub and sand blast both hubs and star covers.
Blow off dust and wipe with Prepsol.
Paint and air dry. Then oven dry.
Remove paint masking kit from hubs.
Clean hubs with acertone.
Clean out old grease from grease nipple and fit to hub.
Clean and grease all brake side parts and fit.
Clean and grease all star side parts and fit.
Fill with grease.

Are star hubs worth a thousand bucks each or am I doing it wrong?

[Rooster]

I do very much the same, with the exception of machine work. However, the star cover and screws get Parkerized. I don't know if the hub alone is worth a grand, but I think a properly rebuilt and restored wheel, with a tire installed sure is. But I'm not a professional, just an everyday guy...