What is it?

[DrunkRabbit]

Found this bike in pieces... trying to figure out if it is worth fixing... and would love to know what it is! There is a head badge (foil decal?) underneath all that yellow house paint but I am afraid if I strip off the paint, the decal will go with it. Any ideas? Actually, three questions:
1. What is it? Brand/Model
2. Is there a drop-in replacement for that crank rather than rebuilding it?
3. Is it worth the money/effort or should I find another candidate?
Thanks guys, I am a newbie in all this and just would love to get a working retro bike out of it.

 

[deorman]

Whether or not it's worth it is probably going to depend on the crank. There are some people on here with German bikes that may be able to help you out. It may be helpful if you can finish taking it apart, watch out for loose ball bearings. Even just a picture of the other side could be useful.
p.s. Welcome to the forums.

 

[DrunkRabbit]

The other side of the crank looks like this side, except it has a seal over the bearings. Is it a German bike because it has a German coaster brake?

 

[deorman]

The style of fork crown looks it, and 3-pc crank and lugged frame "American cruiser" style bike usually are. Not 100% certain, but it looks the part.

 

[Grant]

I really like those lugs.

 

[rickpaulos]

Try some paint thinner or turpentine on the head badge. House paint isn't so chemical resistant.

Looks like a Steyr of Austria who made millions of department store bikes for Sears and other retailers.

Those bb cups look like they are pressed in. Like a 1-piece crank but smaller. What is the inner diameter of the bb shell? Standard is 1 3/8". it may be possible to tap it to take standard 3 piece cranks. There were some bb's made that thread in to themselves from each side. We used some on the aerospace Lamberts that had pressed in cartridge bearings.

 

[DrunkRabbit]

Inside diameter of the BB shell is 37mm... a hair over the 1 3/8". I haven't pulled the crank to see how it threads (or is pressed) in there.

 

[rickpaulos]

37mm eliminates the option of tapping the shell for a standard bb. My guess is the cups are pressed in like a standard 1 piece bb. I'd expect to see notches on the cups for a tool if they were threaded. I can't tell that from the photos.

Also measure the width of the bb shell. Most adult bikes are 68, 70 or 72 mm wide. Modern fat bikes are often 100 or more. cup and axle bb's are designed for specific widths of bb shells. Kids bikes can be narrower in non standard sizes.

Edco used to make a bb for threadless bbs, the end bits threaded on to the cartridge.

YST threadless. About $40-$50. That could be just the ticket. would work with any tapered crank arms. This would be the closest to "drop in".

Velo Orange blog about a threadless bb:
https://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2009/12/threadless-bottom-brackets.html

 

[DrunkRabbit]

37mm eliminates the option of tapping the shell for a standard bb. My guess is the cups are pressed in like a standard 1 piece bb. I'd expect to see notches on the cups for a tool if they were threaded. I can't tell that from the photos.

I will see if I can pull it this weekend and send pics/measurements.

 

[Wildcat]

I was going to get a couple of BMX bikes going from a couple old frames made here in Asia somewhere. The shop had one old set left that I bought. 37mm, may be the same as you have. A previous bike I redid had the same small size bearing cups as these. I couldn't use these because the headset was a strange smaller size that I can't find.

Gasser bike with that size cups:

Klunker version: