Rad Rot Bikes

[The Renaissance Man]

These pedals are not made to be serviced or repaired. They are crimped together so there is no way to take them apart to replace parts or to grease them. Probably a cost saving design. But where can you get original six decades old replacements? Western Auto?

So the crimped ends that hold them together had to be un-crimped. I started with vice grips to flatten the tabs as much as possible.


Then after removing some of the burs with a file that the vice grips couldn't get, the ends were wrapped with tape to avoid knocking them apart and scattering the bearings into the abyss that is my shop. I then proceeded to knock the ends loose with a chisel and hammer.



Finally the ends were carefully removed with a screw driver inside of a pan to catch any loose bearings.



As it turns out, I could've skipped the last step as the bearings are permanently incased in the cups by more non serviceable stamped ends on the bent axles.



That's as far as I'm taking them apart. Next I'll attempt to straighten the axle assemblies as they are.

 

[GeePig]

These pedals are not made to be serviced or repaired. They are crimped together so there is no way to take them apart to replace parts or to grease them. Probably a cost saving design. But where can you get original six decades old replacements? Western Auto?

So the crimped ends that hold them together have to be un-crimped. I started with vice grips to flatten the tabs as much as possible.
View attachment 168740

Then after removing some of the burs with a file that the vice grips couldn't get, the ends were wrapped with tape to avoid knocking them apart and scattering the bearings into the abyss that is my shop. I then proceeded to knock the ends loose with a chisel and hammer.
View attachment 168742
View attachment 168745

Finally the ends were carefully removed with a screw driver inside of a pan to catch any loose bearings.
View attachment 168746


As it turns out, I could've skipped the last step as the bearings are permanently incased in the cups by more non serviceable stamped ends on the bent axels.
View attachment 168747


That's as far as I'm taking them apart. Next I'll attempt to straighten the axel assemblies as they are.

I have sometimes wondered about grinding off the stamped part, then drilling and threading so I can screw a new retainer bolt on. But I lack a vice, grinder and taps...

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I took a crank out of a junk bike to use for straightening the pedal axles.
Here's another look at how badly they're bent.


The crank was locked into my vice with the axle pointed up.


I marked the direction of the bend and then slid a 3' cheater bar over it and started pulling and pushing. After each bend I would turn the shaft with a wrench to look for alignment. It's a bit like truing a wheel but not as accurate.


After a while of turning and tweaking them I got what looked straight and then took them out and rolled them on a flat surface. it worked!

On to the next step!

 

[Chad T]

Amazing....

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Good stuff!

 

[GeePig]

There is nothing like a good cheater bar...

 

[OddJob]

So much for a less labor intensive build! I like your approach and your use of basic tools to accomplish great results.

Everybody needs a vice, er, vise; or two.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Everybody needs a vice, er, vise; or two

I'm all about one, haven't installed the other yet...

 

[GeePig]

So much for a less labor intensive build! I like your approach and your use of basic tools to accomplish great results.

Everybody needs a vice, er, vise; or two.

I have two pieces from one, does that count?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

So much for a less labor intensive build!

It gets worse. LOL

My mission here is to build a mechanically sound rat. It came to me with plenty of natural patina and plenty of cool just by being an X53 meaning the rat part is mostly provided up front. So the mechanical part is what I'm focused on and those pedals had to either be fixed or replaced!

There's nothing to loose by attempting to repair them (except time). And I guess if I run out of time that's ok too. I'm just looking forward to riding it soon! Not expecting this bike to have the custom edge to make it a contender, but that's OK with me!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Since I had everything apart I decided to make them a little more presentable. Don't get me wrong, I like rust on a rat bike but I'm thinking that a little less would improve the look here.

So a vinegar soak was in order. Here's the start:

 

[The Renaissance Man]

After enough of the rust was removed with the help of a brass wire brush, everything was washed with hot water and then thoroughly soaked with WD-40 to stop the flash rust from returning. Next the bearings were packed with grease (probably for the first time ever) and then on to reassembly.

I needed a good way to hold everything tightly together while I re-crimped the ends. The solution came in the form of two large sockets, one large C-clamp and the trusty vice.

With everything firmly in position I took a blunt chisel and hammered the corners down on the tabs.

It's not the prettiest job but they seem to be tight. And besides, it's a rat. Right?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

And here's the end result!

I'm very happy with the finish and they spin free and easy!

 

[kingfish254]

Great work and sweet results!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

It's the time spent on things that only a bike mechanic would notice that put this one on another level. It is immaculate. The WOW factor here isn't big, showy stuff, the frame took care of that. It is hiding in the details

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks @MattiThundrrr .
No 'big showy stuff' to report again today but I checked another boring item off of the list.

The skiptooth chain was in pretty sad shape with plenty of rust and frozen links. Another round of vinegar and a wire brush to the rescue!


I forgot to get a starting picture of the chain by itself but here it is on the bike from the day I brought it home.
(Another look back at the crusty pedals was a bonus.)

The wepons of choice. This was about a quarter of the way through the process with some fresh vinegar.

Again, as soon as I finished the vinegar cleaning it was rinsed good with hot water and then soaked with WD40. I put it in a zip lock bag for a while so that it can work its way through the links before wiping it down. That also helps with the frozen links that I will force loose next.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Had to put some of the links in a vice and use a hammer to loosen them!

After everything was moving freely I gave it a final detail with the wire brush, cleaned it good with mineral spirits and called it done.

One step closer!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

After breaking two bolts so far, my biggest fear has been the stem. As we all know, stems and seat posts that have had years or decades to rust in the bike can sometimes be next to impossible to remove without destroying something in the process.

Once I drilled out the broken fender bolt in the bottom of the fork, I rotated the bike upside down and started a daily IV drip of PB Blaster through the hole for the rest of the week. With some trepidation I finally put a wrench to the stem bolt and went for it. With a dry screech it moved just a little! I knew then that victory was near! I gradually worked the bolt back and forth to get the PB to penetrate deeper into the threads and eventually got a full turn.

With the stem bolt loosened about 1/4" I was able to knock the wedge free with a nylon hammer. The only thing holding the stem now was the rust that had it welded tight inside of the steer tube. After an admirable fight involving a steel bar, a hammer and sweat, little by little it's grip was loosed. Success!

As you can see in the photo I also removed the crank (with much less drama) and can now get all of the bearings and races cleaned and ready for fresh grease.

 

[KJV]

 

[The Renaissance Man]

This is for you @Jake Sensi
I thought you might like my wife's Cajun Chicken Pasta.

Bon appétit!

BTW your spinach feta burgers have been a family favorite here ever since I copied it from you a few years ago!