1969 murray eliminator 24x20 build

[Eliminator3speed]

Hey everyone
I have a 1969 Murray Eliminator 3 speed 24x20 that I intend to restore. Ive had the bike sitting in my back yard for almost 18 years, and finally Ive decided to redo it. I found it in the trash when I was 12 years old and pushed it home with a flat tire.I put on a new tire and tried to ride it but found out the rear hub was shot and no bike shop wanted to try and rebuild a Shimano 333. From there I never really had any money or anything to really get it going, and I always said one day I would do it. Now Im a little older and actually have a steady job, and have built bikes for both my girlfriend and my father I thought it was time to do my build. My family goes to Wildwood every year for 10 days and every morning we ride bikes on the Board walk, Id like to be able to finally ride mine this year. So the goal is to have the bike rideable by august 9th as easily as possible. Then over time I will send things to the chrome shop and get them redone. So I am going to need some advice and some help on finding parts.

I'm in the process of taking the whole thing apart. From sitting outside so long its gotten rusty and everything is stiff. As of now without removing anything I can say I need to change the rear hub, re chrome both rims, replace the brake and speed cables, redo the bushings on the calipers, soak as many pieces of the bike as I can in Evaporust and replace all the bearings I can.

I got lucky and found a 24 inch rear wheel with the 3 speed hub on eBay so I ordered that, I have a Schwinn S7 front wheel so that will get me by for now.

I need to find a shifter cable, I was hoping to find one with the original style aluminum tube shaped nut on the end does anyone have one or know where to get one?

I need a sissy bar but its a huge dilemma because the original was so tall. From the nut on the rear axle to the hole where the seat mounts is 22 inches. The total height is 26 but I would take longer if I had to. I could always but a pad on it and it would look pretty cool.

I did some light dis-assembly, but hit a snag. I cant get the large chrome nut off on the neck just below the stem. Usually I use a big pair of channel locks and just squeeze them and push as hard as I can. It wont budge on this bike and actually started to slip. The chrome is perfect on it so I don't want to ruin it. Does anyone know what size wrench I need to buy to get it off? Also would heating it with a torch ruin the chrome?

Does anyone know what bikes also used the same chrome fenders as mine? Mine are missing and Id like to get a new pair

Before I spend the money to re chrome mine, does anyone have another 3 speed shifter?

Are the after market ape hangers as good as the originals? How do I measure mine to get a good set to replace them.

I found two Tioga Power Block raised white letter tires on ebay that will fit my bike has anyone used them before? Are they any good? I like the true muscle look of white letter tires.

This is just step one. Ill try and get some pictures up soon. If anyone has any tricks or advice let me know Id really appeciate it.

 

[GTR]

Sounding like a cool build. I'll throw out what I can to get you on your quest.
Sissy Bar, I think your looking for a 24" http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Sunlite...803?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aa8c554fb just for reference but also the least $'s.
Ape hangers in a word, "no" I don't think they are the quality they once were. That said I run very tall new ones on my trike. To measure set your stem, set a horizontal line through it, then decide how much "rise" you want. Then simply find some apes in that rise. Realize many older apes have a short length end to end. You'll want to determine how wide you want them. The modern ones seem to be a little flatter with a bit more grip width.
The stem nut will discolor with heat. Try drowning it WD40, PB, or whatever you prefer. Just give it a day or two to do it's job.

Ok my .02 worth, so post up some pix and happy building!

 

[Eliminator3speed]

Thanks for getting back to me..

I ended up drowning the nut in PB for a few days and it didnt work. Someone on another forum recommended using a pipe wrench which of course chewed it up. So I got mad and used my MAP Gas and Oxygen torch set and heated it until it glowed red. Believe it or not it took a ton of effort to get it loose after about 2 hours of fighting the fork is completely disassembled .

I did accidentally bent the stud the brake caliper sits on. I tried to straighten it but its still a little out. Are they still readily available?

Also whats left of my original sissy bar is actually 26 inches in total length. So 24 might still be short. However I think I found one made for beach cruisers that may fit.

Tomorrow Ill give getting the crank out a shot. Thats been soaking for 4 days now.

 

[Eliminator3speed]

I had my stem soaking in Evaporust over night and it just looks like crap. I'm guessing its a Wald stem like most bikes of the era. I'm on eBay and see a lot of different diameters does anyone know the stock diameter of these?

 

[ChimeraCycle]

I know wald bits often have a date code. Lots of modern (80 & 90s. ha) stems have the o.d. stamped below or around the min. Insertion line.

 

[Eliminator3speed]

I didnt know this site has a muscle bike forum when I posted this. Can the mods move the post?