Made a little more progress this past week.
I finally got the coaster brake apart this morning, and while the internal bits seem mostly okay, the hub itself is not.
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These little chrome plating flakes fell out of the drive-side of the hub. From the looks of it, there's more that's about to flake out.
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The other side doesn't look as bad, but it looks like this hub isn't usable as it is right now. And since I don't want to spent time or money lacing in a new hub and truing the wheel, that means I need to use a different rear wheel. Fortunately, I have a couple to choose from!
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Backup option #1 looks alright. It's got good patina, it has a Bendix hub, odds are it might work as long as the hub's not messed up.
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Backup option #2 would be another good option, especially with the chrome that's flaking off the wheel itself. Even better, this wheel came off the same bike that I got the front wheel from, so it's a good match. The only issue is that it has a Komet Super coaster brake hub, and so far, I have not been able to take one of these hubs apart, despite my best efforts. I need a good tutorial on how to service these to really know what I'm doing.
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I also have these two loose Bendix coaster brake hubs, which if I wanted to, might be good for lacing into the current wheel I've been using. For now though, both are probably best for spare parts, especially since the one on the right is coming apart.
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I also have a 3rd wheel I could use, but I don't the patina (or lack thereof) it has. For now, I'm soaking the hubs in some PB Blaster to help loosen up everything.
I also made some more progress on my stickers last week. I was able to add some additional text to my
Shoestring sticker to make it feel more like an authentic souvenir sticker. Instead of saying "I got my SHOESTRING at
Pay Nothing Shoesource" like I had originally planned, I instead put "I got my SHOESTRING
on Route 66." I feel this still works, since I technically bought this bike at a swap meet in Kellyville, Oklahoma, right off Route 66. It also would fit in with my "Dust Bowl" sticker I'm working on, since a lot of people travelled from places like Oklahoma to California on Route 66 during the Great Depression/Dust Bowl. I also changed the color of the sticker to brown, to simulate the black ink fading on the sticker, and a light gradient to simulate even more time baking in the sun. I even added a texture overlay from one of my photographs to simulate dirt and debris, in case my tea leaves/coffee grounds trick doesn't work like I want it to.
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I also worked on the custom head badge sticker, which I feel turned out very nicely.
I still haven't aged it, as I don't quite know how I want to go about it just yet.
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I'm hoping I can take these coaster brake hubs apart soon, so I can start cleaning up all the parts in my ultrasonic cleaner. In the meantime, I'm going to try and tackle the remaining work on the stickers, and all the other cosmetic stuff, like the tank insert and the headlight. I should also rinse out the frame, as there's a ton of rust dust built up inside of it. If I stuck the frame inside a kiddy pool full of water and just rinsed and dried it out to the best of my ability, do you think that'd work? I'm not planning on removing the exterior rust, but I wouldn't mind spraying the inside of the frame with a little rust preventative before reassembling everything.