1971 Honda CL 100 fork tube question

[kantuckid]

I've removed the fork tube assemblies from the bike and have the parts down to the tube & lower tube housing. I could leave it together & simply clean it out with solvent & replace the seals but prefer to take it all the way down. Actually the seals are decent as are the tubes in the travel area.
The issue: the phillips head screws in the end of the housing(going through the axle hole) are now turning but nothing gives way as if the piston inside is turning with the screw? The Honda manual states "disassemble the lower fork tube" w/o further explanation. The parts schematics in the manual & online don't show the screw that I cannot get out. It is not rusty on the outside and came loose only after pecking at it with a large phillips and turning while retaining the lower housing. It now turns snug but nothing happens.
Forget it and move on with the repair-or whats your experience?

[kantuckid]

I'll answer my own thread: place fork tube in wood lined vise and jerk like hell on the lower fork casting-after releasing the screw mentioned above and the tube will pop out with the seal on it."That screw" goes into the piston & turns very stiffly , I assume due to some sort of seal that stays in place with the screw & accounts for the stiffness.