The Life Saver: 1971 AMF Renegade 3

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I forgot to take pics because I was in a hurry. But, I got in a replacement fork from an AMF Debutante, which is the girls version of a Renegade. I thought the forks should fit to be an exact match; however, the steering tube turned out to be just a bit longer. Not a big deal, because all I have to do to cut it, but my concern was where the threads ended. I was worried the adjustment race would bottom out. I cut the steering tube to the same length as the original, and then I sand blasted the pink off them. Today I mocked them up.

As I suspected, the adjustment race bottomed out at the end of the threads and the fork just rattled around. It's an easy, but expensive fit. I'd have to get the threads tapped lower at my LBS, which I'm going to guess won't be cheap. I guess I should find out how much, but for now, I added a second crown race on top of the other, which gave me the space I needed. The question is: Does it look too weird to just go with this fix? I guess that would depend on how much the tap job would cost.

(None of the hardware is polished yet, so it look like poop.)

GWEeCy.jpg
 
With the possibly temp fix in place, I went ahead and finished the build so I could get the brakes set up and ensure everything fit and worked. I found out the 20" Wald kickstand is too long, so I'll have to order one for a 16". And I can't find my brake pads, so the fronts are padless for the moment.

I forgot to mention before... to anyone who has followed my restorations, I always rebuild the wheels with new spokes. This build is no different, but I had rebuilt these wheels about a year ago along with some others. So I didn't have pictures.

Anyway... here is the form without the color and polish.

tWCJSu.jpg
 
With the possibly temp fix in place, I went ahead and finished the build so I could get the brakes set up and ensure everything fit and worked. I found out the 20" Wald kickstand is too long, so I'll have to order one for a 16". And I can't find my brake pads, so the fronts are padless for the moment.

I forgot to mention before... to anyone who has followed my restorations, I always rebuild the wheels with new spokes. This build is no different, but I had rebuilt these wheels about a year ago along with some others. So I didn't have pictures.

Anyway... here is the form without the color and polish.

tWCJSu.jpg

Great looking bike !!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I forgot to take pics because I was in a hurry. But, I got in a replacement fork from an AMF Debutante, which is the girls version of a Renegade. I thought the forks should fit to be an exact match; however, the steering tube turned out to be just a bit longer. Not a big deal, because all I have to do to cut it, but my concern was where the threads ended. I was worried the adjustment race would bottom out. I cut the steering tube to the same length as the original, and then I sand blasted the pink off them. Today I mocked them up.

As I suspected, the adjustment race bottomed out at the end of the threads and the fork just rattled around. It's an easy, but expensive fit. I'd have to get the threads tapped lower at my LBS, which I'm going to guess won't be cheap. I guess I should find out how much, but for now, I added a second crown race on top of the other, which gave me the space I needed. The question is: Does it look too weird to just go with this fix? I guess that would depend on how much the tap job would cost.

(None of the hardware is polished yet, so it look like poop.)

GWEeCy.jpg


Yes it looks strange.
Not sure why your LBS would be expensive to cut the threads a little lower... I have the fork die, if you wanna borrow it, would cost ship both ways is all. lmk ( here or fb is faster to get me ).
Still raining and flooding here in NY, if I could paint was thinking to throw my hat in the ring with my Spiral Wedge I've been waiting to refresh..... sigh...
 
Crash, why don't you use a spacer at the top, underneath your threaded nut? That way it would resemble the modern 'threadless' headset. And if you have a headlight planned that might have an impact as well if you mount off the stem / head tube.
 
Crash, why don't you use a spacer at the top, underneath your threaded nut? That way it would resemble the modern 'threadless' headset. And if you have a headlight planned that might have an impact as well if you mount off the stem / head tube.

OJ,
I was thinking that, or....
Crash,
If you can get the original race off, place a spacer on first, then the race?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have a vague memory @The Renaissance Man came up with a Chinese eBay seller that sold the fork thread taps cheapish?

Plenty of time for it to get here by February...
 
Crash, you could put a thin spacer under the bottom race. You just need a thin shim around the tube for some forks because the race fits loose until the last bit... you know what I mean I'm sure. I've put an inch or so spacer on one before. It lifts your BB a bit but on your build it shouldn't be noticeable.

Carl.
 
Brother, I ordered one the day TRM posted it. It came today... in a nice little plastic case and all.

I too had a look at the ebay listing @The Renaissance Man posted and here's the shipping cost to New Zealand... "$59.99 (approx. NZD88.39)"

:rofl:

I didn't buy one.

Glen.
 
My Renegade went from three to 10 speeds many years ago; luckily I have all the parts to put it back to stock. Maybe someday. Yours looks rad!
 

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Need some ideas. If a Wald 20” kickstand is too long, and a Wald 16” kickstand is too short... what options do I have that would still look somewhat stock? The Wald option hasn’t failed me before. Of course AMF would have to have some weird length.

I don’t think I have the original anymore. It was a hot mess anyway.
 
I too had a look at the ebay listing @The Renaissance Man posted and here's the shipping cost to New Zealand... "$59.99 (approx. NZD88.39)"

:rofl:

I didn't buy one.

Glen.
Perhaps you could buy the one inch and 1.5 inch to make shipping more reasonable? I got both sizes a few years ago. I use them all the time. In the 60s, before I knew anything about bike tools or where to get them, I would take a bunch of old one inch top races and force them below the threads using oil and a vice to hold the race with flats ground in it so I could use a wrecking bar to turn the fork. The races are harder than the fork tube, but after a few turns the jury rigged threads get shallower and shallower. Then take another race and repeat until it fits the head tube. This works best if you only have to shorten a little, but I have used it for an inch, ruined lots of races in the process. Now, you have new threads but they are mushed so to get the new race and cap nut on you have to use a pipe wrench for the race and a giant adjustable spanner for the cap nut. No lock ring is required because you have to use a pipe wrench to get the race off if you ever need to grease or clean it. I did this a lot in the old days and it might be your cheapest solution. One benefit is that your head set never requires adjustment. The next guy will curse you when he tries to figure out how to get it apart.
 
Need some ideas. If a Wald 20” kickstand is too long, and a Wald 16” kickstand is too short... what options do I have that would still look somewhat stock? The Wald option hasn’t failed me before. Of course AMF would have to have some weird length.

I don’t think I have the original anymore. It was a hot mess anyway.

Walmart has an adjustable one for cheap. Or you can heat and bend the bottom of a steel one that is too long. If you don't have a torch a few minutes in the fire work. Remove with vice grips and put it in the vice to bend. Grinding a flat spot on the underside of the bottom bend takes a little off, but usually not enough. OR, get the short one and put a golf ball, undersized 8 ball (they are available on the net) or get oversized dice and put that on the bottom of the kick stand. A not at all stock looking solution is to cut the bottom inch off the short one and cut the top off another. Then take the one with the top cut off and splice them together to the right length with heater hose clamps. Looks bad but works for those of us who are indifferent and want a quick solution. I weld but they are zinc coated and instead of grinding it off just clamp it.
 

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