Hi Dave,

I have a CI-700 waiting for a goto conversion but lack of parts and machining skills has stalled it for now. My research took me to a few sites including Cloudy Nights and Jim Fusco's CI-700 upgrade https://astromart.com/reviews-and-articles/reviews/telescopes/show/ci-700-hercules.  Unfortunately the link to his notes etc no longer seems to be accessible but at some point in the past I was able to see what he. Consequently I acquired the NTA-4860 needle roller bearings he used to replace the existing thrust surfaces to improve the rotation of the RA and Dec. I may have some other references to CI-700 mods if you're interested.

Regards,
Col Shepherd