1952 Columbia RX-5 repro. problem

[Siestabikes]

My friend recently bought this and the coaster brake was sporadically engaging and totally freewheeling backwards...the seller claims he used to ride it often

I removed the coaster brake guts and found the 2 pieces with little teeth were backwards (teeth not together/meshing at all).

i cleaned and put everything back together and all is fine.

my question is was this a common problem from the factory or perhaps the previous owner did this and tried to sell his mistake away

 

[island schwinn]

Never heard of that problem on any I've had or seen.I bought one for 50 bucks because the rear hub free wheeled,but it was because the grease was hard as a rock.