Campy Headset reassembly fit issue

[Lou D'Amelio]

Hi - repacked my Campy Record 1 1/1/8 headset threadless.
Diasassembled, cleaned thoroughly, changed balls and reassembled.
Everything in correct order and triple checked - nothing upside down,
etc. . On reassembly, everything more snug than before and now top of
steerer tube comes to top of stem and not 3 mm below as before. Even
at max compression of top cap there's vertical play in the system.
Headset has been in place and dunctioning properly for a few years -
I've rechecked my work a bunch of times and can't sort out the
problem. Any ideas ? If all else fails, I guess I can just put another
spacer below the stem, but I don't understand what happened. All
surfaces, etc. appear in good shape.FWIW, fork is Reynolds Ouzo Pro,
stem is Thomson Elite.
Thanks for your thoughts.

Lou D'Amelio

 

[A Muzi]

Lou D'Amelio wrote:
> Hi - repacked my Campy Record 1 1/1/8 headset threadless.
> Diasassembled, cleaned thoroughly, changed balls and reassembled.
> Everything in correct order and triple checked - nothing upside down,
> etc. . On reassembly, everything more snug than before and now top of
> steerer tube comes to top of stem and not 3 mm below as before. Even
> at max compression of top cap there's vertical play in the system.
> Headset has been in place and dunctioning properly for a few years -
> I've rechecked my work a bunch of times and can't sort out the
> problem. Any ideas ? If all else fails, I guess I can just put another
> spacer below the stem, but I don't understand what happened. All
> surfaces, etc. appear in good shape.FWIW, fork is Reynolds Ouzo Pro,
> stem is Thomson Elite.

Are you certain the large balls are on the bottom and small ones on top?

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Lou D'Amelio]

Its 1 1/8 - top and bottom are both 5/32. I figured it out -
compressor plug (proprietary aluminum) had come up when I removed top
cap, I needed to slide it in a few mm to allow enough range for bolt
to expand it. I didn't realize that they were so mobile. We had a club
cyclocross race today (lots of fun on ice and snow) and I had a chance
to discuss problem with our sponsor shop owner who clued me in. All is
well.

Thanks for your input.

Lou D'Amelio