Fighting to install the heads in the Diablo 31 drive

CHOSE THE REPAIRED HEADS BUT HAD TO CLEAN THEM 

The heads that my friend carefully polished to remove the head crash scratching actually looked good enough that I decided they would be the first set I try to fly. However, when examining them under the microscope I saw that the polishing powder was still on parts of the head. The bits of the powder are large enough that they would certainly cause a head crash as they flaked off during the vibration and airflow of disk operation. 

I could see it in the two round airholes that establish the cushion pressure as the head flies over the surface. I could see a lot more caked up behind the head, around the coil and on the attachment points. As I touched it with tools, it moved and came off in sludgy sections. 

I carefully removed as much as I could and bathed the heads in isopropyl alcohol in a container to try to wash away as much as I could. They seem pretty clean after all that work. 

HEADS STUBBORNLY REFUSING TO SLIDE FULLY INTO THE ARM

The heads should slide into the arm where clamps would be tightened to hold them down. They were not going in sufficiently. Unfortunately, the clamps are hidden inside the rotary motor and arm assembly, barely visible from the side using a light. I thus can't really see what is blocking the head from sliding into position. 

SEEING THE PROBLEM BY STUDYING THE PARTS CATALOG DRAWINGS

The excerpt from the parts drawing shows the three clamps and the slots on the right where the heads slide in (from the right moving inward to the left). It appears from the diagram that two of the clamps have a tang that should sit in a hole in the metal block. I have loosened them too much and they are now turning freely and not held in the proper alignment.

Once I get the two clamps tightened with the tang in the hole, I can loosen they slightly and they should remain in alignment. The third clamp should be oriented as shown but it freely spins round the bolt when there are no heads installed. I will then need to turn that to the proper vertical orientation before I attempt to slide the heads into the arm and get them to settle down between the clamps. 

I will attempt this on my next visit to the workshop. Once the heads are properly inserted and connected up, the drive should be ready for head alignment. The Diablo drive has a pushbutton inside that blocks the servo from moving the heads. I will hold that down and move the heads to a far cylinder manually then wait until the heads load. That way, any damage to the special CE cartridge used for alignment will be past the point I need to use. If the heads fly safely, I can move it back to cylinder 100 where the alignment data is written.