Dominator front mudguard rubbing

Because the forks moved apart in 1964, the recesses in each side of the guards were shallower. That allowed wider tyres. The earlier ones were very tight to the fork shrouds and they often rub, especially after the shrouds are subject to long use. Sometimes the shrouds are no longer concentric to the forks. The later ones will not fit the early forks. The overlap is much too much. And the early ones won't fit over the bridge. I found a 90x90 Roadrunner tyre would just fit inside the narrow fork bridge, but 90x99 Roadrider will not fit in my case. So I use the 'correct' 3.00 size.

The guard may have been "sprung"  ,you could try squashing it a bit and use washers between guard bridge and leg.  Make sure the guard bridge does not load up the fork legs ,or the action will be poor.

On some featherbed bikes I have seen rectangular cutouts inside the fork shrouds. The ones I can remember seem to have been Inters, and they looked like factory work (or very good amateur).  I wonder if anyone can confirm if they were originally like that?

Early Wideline Model 88's also had the shroud cutaways as the photo of my original 1953 Model 88  shows. I don't know when it was stopped but, as it is an extra manufacturing step, it would be a cost saving not to do this operation.

Looking at your photo Nigel, the mudguard/fender looks to have spread out. If the fork shrouds enter the top of the mudguard recesses, they should clear the bottom of the mudguard recesses. The recesses were made to be parallel to the shrouds, or damn near.

A woodworking vice with wood faces will sort it out. Plus a gentle approach of course.

Good luck

Peter

PS. Quite likely the fork bridge is a rogue and pulling the mudguard out as mentioned earlier.

Hi Nigel. I managed to buy the wrong mudguard for my 7 inch forks - I’m pretty sure it’s for the 7+3/8 inch forks. I’ve just measured it and the width of the scalloped in section at the top of the mudguard is 117mm. I also have an old mudguard for 7 inch forks and that measures 101mm when measured in the same place. I have tried several original mudguard bridges without much success as they all seem to be bent or distorted to a lesser or greater degree. However, I have now purchased a bridge from Norvil - it’s described as a pre ‘64 bridge for 7” forks (part number NM19282) - and that  fits the narrower mudguard perfectly and sits nicely between the fork legs without pulling/pushing on them. 
Hope that helps.

Regards

Tony