24" Monark Build

[RocketeerRat]

Like most people around here I've been looking for interesting parts that I can use on the bike. I found this drum brake on ebay a couple weeks ago and it showed up on my doorstep this weekend...

I dont know anything about this hub except that its stamped "Made in Norway" and also has a bike shaped logo on it. Can anyone ID the manufacturer of this hub? Some previous owner spray painted it silver, straight over all the dirt and grease :roll: Since I doubt I'll be able to find any parts for it I was very careful to prevent damage or loss of parts during disassembly. The silver paint came off very easily revealing some very rough chrome but nothing a replating cant fix. Nothing too abnormal inside, just a heap of old grease and rust. Bearings and races are still bright shiny, and there is plenty of life left in the shoes. I did find two problems, one of the shoes has a nasty crack in a return spring hole and the brake side bearing has excessive play. I'm not sure what to do with the shoe, it is cast aluminum and I'm not sure how to go about repairing it. I can try to have it welded but that could make it worse and I dont want to run it as is because that will certainly make it worse. The only other solution I can think of is to find a slightly longer spring and drill a couple new holes for it. Any ideas? The loose bearing might be a tricky fix also, the inner race looks to be removable so I might be able to tap it outwards a smidge but I cant be certain. The spoke holes, especially on the small side, have some heavy duty wear and tear which might give me headaches, what do you guys think? Is there a repair for this? What kind of grease do you think I should use for reassembly? The old stuff looks like automotive axle grease, what would you recommend?

If you want to see more pics, Click this link:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v11/c ... nark/Drum/

 

[RocketeerRat]

Got some new old wheels and tires from the great land of ebay... Whitewalls really are awesome! They totally change the look of the bike. The wheels are in really good shape so I decided to throw them on the bike. The rear hub is a Bendix not New Departure like the seller said, now it doesnt match the frame clamp :roll: Hope no one notices lol.

The tires were a pain to clean up but some simple green and a Lot of elbow grease took care of the major grime. The hubs had some really nasty old grease in them so I cleaned and regreased them and now they ride very smooth and the brake works great! Let me know what you think.

I'm not sure whats going to happen with the drum brake, at this point its either going to sit on my shelf for a while or get sold while I look for a 28hole replacement. I still havnt decided on a course of action for the fork. Like everything else, I'll probably just collect parts for a while before actually doing anything with it. TTFN

 

[jon]

My opinion, the bike paint has a good patina on it but if you are going to paint it start with the frame first and see if the tank with the decal works with what you have.
if you end up painting the tank copy the tank with tracing paper so you have the decal shape exact. or at least a photo of it!!

 

[ratina]

Those tires are sharp! I would leave it as is and ride it!

 

[Unchained]

That is the coolest 24 inch I have seen in quite a while. it looks really nice as is! I say put on an old Monark crashrail seat, the tank and carrier on and keep it this way! :mrgreen:

Oh, by the way, have you ever asked your local bike shop about fixing the forks? I've heard some places have an accurate machine that clamps the bottom bracket and the forks and pulls them away from one another to straighten the forks... Might be worth a look!

 

[RocketeerRat]

Thanks guys, its been an interesting trip so far and it doesnt look to be getting boring any time soon...

I have called the local shop and a couple of the not so local shops and they either dont have the tool or think it would be some kind of liability to bend it back (aka, they dont have the tool) If someone in the michigan area knows where I can get this done I would REALLY appreciate it! The bike doesnt ride any different that I've noticed but its really annoying when the fork jams against the down tube. :x

At this point I'm probably going to keep the paint for now. If the fork gets changed then I will probably change up the paint a bit, maybe shoot the frame and fork black and keep the rest. Plenty of time to decide though.

 

[socal_jack]

Had a fork similarly bent on an old roadmaster, so badly the steerer tube was bent past the edge of the collar on the bearing cup and wore a groove in it, held it up from being removed. I either got it off by pounding on the steerer tube with a piece of wood between it and the hammer or I might have pounded on the outside edge of the lower bearing cup with a punch to get that off and release the fork. I've used either method on the badly bent ones. You can bend the steerer tubes back pretty easy but it looks like the fork crown plates are "accordianed" on your fork maybe not as easy. I would have unbent this one but the articulation and odd shape make holding it in a vise difficult, otherwise I put it in a vise with a couple of headset adjuster plates on as above, put a pipe down it and pull.

Had to smile a bit at the patent, looks like one of my Girving forks

 

[RocketeerRat]

I took a road trip down to my grandparents house for the holiday and while wandering the property I found a few old bikes... The three girls bikes outside are in pretty rough shape. The brown one has a nifty speedometer that would be a cool addition but its a 26" bike. The yellow bike has a shimano 3-speed, but its quite rusty.

I found a mens bike in the barn with some fun parts. I pulled off the "schwinn approved" Union headlight and generator, its a bit rusty but I think it will clean up nicely. The rear light is missing the lens and reflector, if anyone knows where I can get one or even what it looks like I'd appreciate the leads. I also grabbed the brake levers because they look kinda vintage and I cant beat the price, lol