Kestrel EMS fork brake mount

[Peter Van Buren]

Hello.

I recently had to struggle to remove a TTT quill stem that was stuck in a Kestrel EMS fork. I had to
saw the stem off and fight to get the stuck piece of the stem out of the steerer tube. The expander
wedge nut ended up wedged in the bottom of the steerer tube and I could not get it out. I decided to
let it be.

When I went to mount the brake in the fork, the bolt would not insert all the way. I noticed a piece
of something jutting down from the steerer tube into the brake mount area. I assumed this was a
piece of the old expander wedge nut. I ran a drill through to shave off the piece that was hanging
down and was then able to mount the brake.

Now I am wondering if there is some type opening between the bottom of the steerer tube and the
brake mount channel. If there isn't supposed to be one there, then I most likely created one when
struggling to remove the old stem. If this is the case, I wonder if I have compromised the integrity
of the fork.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Peter.