I have a 1970 XLCH. It came with a buddy seat, which I didn't like - too high, too wide. I found an original Dual Seat, which is better. Then I found an original 51901-52 seat tee which is used with the 52000-40 "long" solo seat. With the tee came a repro seat, which has the rear mounting holes slightly in the wrong places (mfg defect), but I managed to get it mounted to the tee.
I went to put the springs (from my 1962 XLCH) in the 1970 downtubes. The right one went in, and came out just fine. The left one wouldn't go in all the way. I poured some penetrating oil in the left downtube, and - surprise - nothing came out the "weep hole" on the front of the downtube. I poured some in right downtube, and it came out the weep hole. I took off the rear fender rubber buffer and bracket, and was able to poke a stick in through the bolt holes and out the weep holes. Hmmm.
I scraped the left downtube with various long things, and dislodged enough rust so that the springs will go in to the proper depth, and come out when bidden. But the left downtube is filled with rusty penetrating oil. And the reason it's rusty is that the bottom of the downtube should have a small passageway so that any water that gets in can come out through the weep hole. I want to make it do that.
If YOU have ever replaced broken downtubes, you will probably know what the "small passageway" looks like, and can let me know!
Maybe mine is packed with rust. Maybe it was manufactured poorly. The only kind of long drill I have a foot-long 1/2" SpeedBore drill bit. Perhaps it could dislodge rust packed in the passageway. Perhaps it could make a small, but not deep hole with it. But I don't want to mess up the frame!
HELP! If you have any experience with this, please guide me in the correct direction.
Dave