Revenant

[Tallbikeman]

I believe that after all the soaking, heating, impacting, and swearing that you start getting to the drill out the bolt and try to remove the crank. I tried to get a patent drawing off the internet but no luck so far. That would go a long way in helping guide your hand. As you know one can saw off the crank and axle end with a Sawzall and a diamond dipped blade. That will go through anything. If the bottom bracket is of the same dimension as the modern one piece crank designs then replacing the original with a modern one piece crank would be very doable. I think going slow and consulting is also wise as you have been doing. You never know you might run into the Chicago Monarch bicycle crank guru who knows what to do.

 

[us56456712]

I believe that after all the soaking, heating, impacting, and swearing that you start getting to the drill out the bolt and try to remove the crank. I tried to get a patent drawing off the internet but no luck so far. That would go a long way in helping guide your hand. As you know one can saw off the crank and axle end with a Sawzall and a diamond dipped blade. That will go through anything. If the bottom bracket is of the same dimension as the modern one piece crank designs then replacing the original with a modern one piece crank would be very doable. I think going slow and consulting is also wise as you have been doing. You never know you might run into the Chicago Monarch bicycle crank guru who knows what to do.

I just got the slotted cap bolt off by rocking the impact hammer from tight to loose and it came out with a little damage to the bolt head. Now I don’t know if the crank arm is threaded on or a press fit. Pullers won’t get under it as there is not enough clearance. A pickle fork hammered in doesn’t move it. I used a little heat and Gibbs penetrating oil to see if that does anything. The inside of the bolt I removed was dry as no oil worked it’s way in.

My modified drag link extractor.

 

[us56456712]

I used a high intensity light and dental picks to examine the crank arm attachment. I’m pretty sure it’s a press fit, you can see some faint lines. A puller won’t get in there as there is almost no space. I’m thinking this is where you need the special tool that the advertisements said was necessary to remove the crank arm. I’m out of ideas for now. Perhaps I can weld up a puller?

 

[us56456712]

I cleaned up the head badge but left some patina. I got a new seat in the mail today.

 

[us56456712]

I put fake rust on the front hub. The rear is a stupid looking modern CNC job that looked like barbells. I hate that look. No beef, just the opposite of the old ones. I fixed that. More filing on it tomorrow to finish feathering the tack welds on the pipe.

 

[us56456712]

I straightened the bars but the tubing ended out of round where they bent. I used wood blocks and my bench vice to return them to round. Their almost like original but I didn’t want to over do it and make them out of round in the other direction. I don’t think you can tell unless you know they were once bent. Their soaking in rust remover now. I cleaned the penetrating oil off the pedal with solvent and it’s now soaking in Simple Green. I had to cut the two bolts off that held the rubber shoe grip strips on the pedal. This is aftermarket anyway and extremely rotted rubber so no loss there. I soaked the block chain in xylene for two weeks, then soaked it in Simple Green for two days and boiled it. Most of the gunk came off in the Simple Green. The links all freed up but several are stiff so I’ll work in oil. Tomorrow I plan to build the front wheel. I won’t work on the frame for a few days, rain today and tomorrow.

 

[us56456712]

I’m wondering if a two legged bearing puller would fit in the narrow space and have enough oomph to pry the crank arm of? A three pronged gear/wheel puller won’t fit In the space. The problem is that the reviews indicate that this type of puller is for light to medium duty, stuck bearings destroy these pullers. I’m considering welding one up. Any suggestions before I do this? Man, this thing is a RRB community build.

 

[SwissGuy]

Your struggles to get that crank arm off sounds very much like the ones I heard from people here in Germany trying to take off/apart a Glockentretlager. Maybe those techniques on these sites might help you:
http://ddr-fahrradwiki.de/Tipps_zu_Tretlagern_/_Getriebenhttps://ddr-zweirad.de.tl/Reparaturtipps.htmIf you scroll down a bit in this German forum, some guy shows a tool he made for this purpose:
http://www.ddrmoped.de/forum/index.php?showtopic=12148And here's a video of the "hammer method"

 

[us56456712]

Your struggles to get that crank arm off sounds very much like the ones I heard from people here in Germany trying to take off/apart a Glockentretlager. Maybe those techniques on these sites might help you:
http://ddr-fahrradwiki.de/Tipps_zu_Tretlagern_/_Getriebenhttps://ddr-zweirad.de.tl/Reparaturtipps.htmIf you scroll down a bit in this German forum, some guy shows a tool he made for this purpose:
http://www.ddrmoped.de/forum/index.php?showtopic=12148And here's a video of the "hammer method"

Great help, thanks.

 

[us56456712]

I spoked the front wheel. I’m not a fan of turn of the 20th century complete bicycle restorations. Mine are cleaned up and rideable with as few new parts as possible. New spokes and new wood rims stand out on a crusty old bike so I went for the old look. However, I’m not real fond of the fake rust I put on the spokes and hub. Too late to turn back now.

 

[us56456712]

The straightened bars are now on the stem. The bars were wire brushed, then had two soakings in Evaporust and the pits were still rusty. I then soaked them for 3 days in vinegar, wire brushing and sanding daily. The pits still had a little rust. I gave them a coat of Ospho and a lot of rust came out on the rag. I’ll give it two more coats of Ospho. That’s as good as I can get them. Another 100 years and there will be nothing left but a red stain.

 

[us56456712]

The block chain is nice and clean from soaking in xylene, then Simple Green and then overnight in Evaporust. I don’t trust soaking roller skip tooth chains in rust buster as the metal easily pits. Evaporust is a rust converter, not a dissolver so it’s more gentle than acid. My block chain is real robust. It’s now soaking in ATV fluid/acetone mixture. Every now and then I work the links. They all came loose but three are still stiff. 100 years of neglect can’t be reversed overnight.

 

[Oldbiscuit]

I would use a two piece bearing splitter with a two jaw puller.

 

[us56456712]

I would use a two piece bearing splitter with a two jaw puller.

I looked at those and didn’t consider them further. I don’t know if it will fit with the crank arm. They looked too big and bulky. After your suggestion I looked some more at them. I might have to grind them but I think this is a good suggestion to try. Thank you.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

I spoked the front wheel. I’m not a fan of turn of the 20th century complete bicycle restorations. Mine are cleaned up and rideable with as few new parts as possible. New spokes and new wood rims stand out on a crusty old bike so I went for the old look. However, I’m not real fond of the fake rust I put on the spokes and hub. Too late to turn back now. View attachment 194729

I put fake patina on my ‘65 stingray and fake rust on the wheels of an old sears bike. I also faked the age of a tank on an old Womens Trojan with a springer front end! I too was cringing while “doing the deed.”

-Ain’t nothing like the real thing, but so long as the whole bike isn’t based on fake rust or patina, a little “period correct artistic creativity“ never hurt anyone!!!!!

 

[us56456712]

Say everybody, does this qualify as a Rat Rod Bikes tool?

 

[us56456712]

Oh gosh, I’m not getting far on my wheel truing. It’s reached the predicted high for today, 48F. There is a nasty NE wind blowing over the frigid waters of our lake. After 10 minutes of spoke fiddling my hands were stinging and my core got chilly. I‘m inside warming up. It looks like a full day of working in spurts. At least the rain we had for the previous two days has mostly stoped, the fog and mist cleared. This morning I did manage to coat the second cleaned up pedal in Ospho. I’m a little disappointed in Evaporust. It’s not living up to the hype. It doesn’t get into the tight places, I had to use dental picks to rough up the rust in the corners before it would work. I soaked it for 3 days. It’s faster and less corrosive than acids so that’s a plus.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

I'm enjoying this adventure of yours.

 

[us56456712]

I'm enjoying this adventure of yours.

I wish that were me.

 

[us56456712]

The rear spacing is 4 5/8 inches or about 117.5 mm. I bought a modern flip flop 120 mm OLD unit and welded a thin conduit pipe barrel around the inside to give it beef and put in a fake oiler. I only need the locking side but I have a thread stripped skip tooth track cog that I put on the non drive side and used an old bb lock ring to hold it in place. It’s non functional but I think it will look better this way and I had the junk parts in my stash.