Fork Stanchions – Not quite the same as Pantah

[George 350]

Hi All,
Ok, as someone who believed that later Marzocchi (1978 on) 350 and 500 forks were the same, and having read that the Ducati Pantah stanchions were the same as 500 ones, I thought, ok a pair of Tarozzi Pantah stanchions will do my 350 project nicely, and at £160/pair were good value - Rechroming the originals was quoted anywhere between £156 and £300!
Having received them, I can now report that they are nearly the same, but not quite.
Length and diameter are ok as expected, the fork tops screw in, and the damper rods run up the inside happily. However, the counter bore at the bottom that takes the bush that provides damping is different. The original counter bore is 20mm deep, but on the new stanchions it is 51mm deep…
While this is recoverable by making up a spacer to hold the damping bush in place, extending the damper rod lower/ bottom fitting and shortening the spring spacers by 31mm,(Not too difficult to do if you have a lathe), should anyone else be contemplating using the Pantah stanchions, be aware it isn't quite a direct swap.

George.