I remember being slightly surprised by this as well, because most of my bikes have the crank and lever welded on...
I may have not posted pics properly of the issue. The bearings should have opposed faces. When I removed the spindle, I noticed that the bearing were facing the same direction. It reminded me, that I noticed the left crank arm appeared to not be seated properly when I found the bike. Some photos below. There is apparent wear from the ball bearing retainer rubbing on the spindle. This first pic is how I found the BB. The second pic is the way I think the bearings should face. Note that I only flipped the bearing on the stationary cup side. Being that I removed the stationary cup on the drive side, and it needed to turn clockwise to remove, this frame has me boggled. I’ll get it worked out.
Whew! I knew things were screwed up! I reassembled the unit in the frame and it looks correct now.
I hope so too.
Just noticed that if I upgrade to a new crankset, I will need a new bb. All new cranks bolt to the spindle and the crankset for this bike locks on with a nut to the threaded spindle.
But you at least have something there to keep the bike whole as you work on other parts.
I appreciate your optimism! I’m going to work on the bent teeth on the crank sprocket, just in case I need to put it back on.
As @LukeTheJoker said, that second photo of the BB spindle and bearings is correct. The cups and lock nuts / rings always are threaded in the direction of the pedal action; so 'right is tight' on the drive side, and 'left is correct' on the non-drive side. Same with the pedal mounts on the cranks. Otherwise with the pedaling action and leverage, the pedals and cranks would loosen up.
BALLS!
Matti, that was a exclamation that my Uncle Ellwood uttered as kind of a spoken frustration; his version of a 4-letter word, with one extra letter. Actual 4 letter words were verboten in my grandma's puritanical household. Unless they were uttered by my grandpa, usually in Swedish or Norwegian.
