A few small steps meant big progress for the project yesterday!
First (not pictured,) I dug through my stash of headset bearing cups to see if I had a pair of AMF cups that would work for Old West. Fortunately, I found 3 in perfectly usable condition, and one other in "good enough" condition. I cleaned them all up with a brass wire brush and some #0000 steel wool and set them aside to use later.
Next, I removed some more cups from a pair of donor frames I had sitting in storage. Both required some... unique methods... to remove.
On one frame, I couldn't get my punch to butt up against the cup inside the headtube due to this piece inside, so I had to use a large adjustable wrench and a hammer to knock them out from the outside.
Next, I decided to attack this 20" Buzz Bike that had been fighting me since I got it last year. For whatever reason, I could not get that fork nut to come loose for the longest time. In fact, I was beginning to round off the corners of it! So I finally clamped the fork down in my dad's vice, grabbed the big wrench, and told this little Buzz Bike that I wasn't asking it to come apart; I was commanding it to come apart.
Thankfully, it listened to me for once.
Now I have 4 more bearing cups that might work. I won't know for sure until I get them all cleaned up to really assess them. I also have 2 bearings that might be salvageable as well. Unfortunately, the races were grooved, so those won't be any good, but I should have what I need here at home.
I also finished cleaning up the seat post, bottom bracket races, and the threads on the crank yesterday.
I had cleaned up one post with the wire wheel at the shop, but while it got rid of the rust, it also depleted the chrome finish. So, I cleaned up the other post with some #0000 steel wool, and I think I like that look better.
Also some close-ups of a few other parts I cleaned earlier.
Now that I've knocked out those parts, I'm positive I can rebuild this bike with time to spare before the 20th. I won't be able to do anything on it today, but I should be able to work on it again tomorrow morning.
First (not pictured,) I dug through my stash of headset bearing cups to see if I had a pair of AMF cups that would work for Old West. Fortunately, I found 3 in perfectly usable condition, and one other in "good enough" condition. I cleaned them all up with a brass wire brush and some #0000 steel wool and set them aside to use later.
Next, I removed some more cups from a pair of donor frames I had sitting in storage. Both required some... unique methods... to remove.
On one frame, I couldn't get my punch to butt up against the cup inside the headtube due to this piece inside, so I had to use a large adjustable wrench and a hammer to knock them out from the outside.
Next, I decided to attack this 20" Buzz Bike that had been fighting me since I got it last year. For whatever reason, I could not get that fork nut to come loose for the longest time. In fact, I was beginning to round off the corners of it! So I finally clamped the fork down in my dad's vice, grabbed the big wrench, and told this little Buzz Bike that I wasn't asking it to come apart; I was commanding it to come apart.
Thankfully, it listened to me for once.
Now I have 4 more bearing cups that might work. I won't know for sure until I get them all cleaned up to really assess them. I also have 2 bearings that might be salvageable as well. Unfortunately, the races were grooved, so those won't be any good, but I should have what I need here at home.
I also finished cleaning up the seat post, bottom bracket races, and the threads on the crank yesterday.
I had cleaned up one post with the wire wheel at the shop, but while it got rid of the rust, it also depleted the chrome finish. So, I cleaned up the other post with some #0000 steel wool, and I think I like that look better.
Also some close-ups of a few other parts I cleaned earlier.
Now that I've knocked out those parts, I'm positive I can rebuild this bike with time to spare before the 20th. I won't be able to do anything on it today, but I should be able to work on it again tomorrow morning.
