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1961 Monark build thread

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partsguy

Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
Well, I finally got around to this thing this past weekend. I plan to just do some minor work. Knock some dents out of the front fender, chaingaurd, clean it up, possibly replace that awful seat. Its very comfy, but looks silly on this bike, but maybe it might grow on me. :confused: The paint looks a bit faded in some areas,so I might buff it too. Well, I have delayed posting pics of the progress and I'm almost stopped dead in my tracks now. You'll see why:

The night I bought it:
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First, the dents! I should probably find a fender roller, but I haven't screwed up a fender yet! The front fender did have a light, if anyone knows what kind maybe I should be looking for, that would be great!
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Straighten this out:
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Now to get him on my work stand and take him apart...
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This has to be the CLEANEST tank I have taken apart to date!
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After some wrangling, some gentle work, and saturation of Liquid Wrench, I manage to BREAK THE THE FRICKING FENDER SCREW! The head just snapped right off! The threads are STUCK in the fork and I DON'T have anything to grab onto. HELP!
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I had a similar problem on a taillight for a '64 T-Bird and I got a special drill bit fom the harware store to the get the crew out-and it failed miserably. The bit disintegrated itself! Ona Hawhtorne I was parting out, I did manage to get the parts off with a regular drill bit but the screws were still stuck in the frame at the time of it's demise. HELP!

I'll have to work around it I suppose. So onto the dents...
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Progress:
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I'll finish it later, most of the dents are gone, but there some details I need to do later. I now move on to the fender. The fender is pretty much done except for some small pings in it:
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More to come later!
 
If that were my bike, which it is not,(a very nice one at that, though), I would remove the fork completely from the frame. Then I would rethread the steer tube lock nut back on. Then I would clamp it by the steer tube in a solidly mounted bench vise in between the fork crown, and the steer tub lock nut vertically. That way you do not squash the steer tube threads out of round at the top of the tube. Then take a hardened drill bit, and drill it out. Even if you have to go oversize, you could still retap the hole, and put a larger bolt in it, then.

OR you could try soaking it with Kroil for a couple of days, and try to tap it out, if the surface on the broken end of the bolt stub is uneven enough that you could use a very small awl, or fine chisel, to tap the thing out counterclockwise.

Alot of work, but you will save that very nice fork!!

Just my two cents.

Jim.
 
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Oh, no doubt! This thing will come out one way or another. Thanks for the advice!
 
Sometimes you can size a drill bit to the diameter of the bolt, not counting the threads. Then use a tap, and it may clean out the threads.
 
I'm now down to the bare frame and washing it down and cleaning it up. I've got a question on the seat decal and how to preserve it. Please see my thread in Restoration Tips for more details.
 
Well, I keep putting off the trip to Huber Heights to get some Dr. Dronners soap (only Target has it).

I tried to remove the busted screw from the fork, but I busted drill bits trying. I'm about to screw it (no pun intended) and take it to a machine shop!

For now, (yesterday really) I'm moving onto the wheels. First, I started with removing the front hub guts.
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Anybody got a spare bleeder screw for a Komet Super?
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I felt something weird and I noticed something. The previous owner to ride this had way overtightened the bearings and they got scored and shredded! Nothing is ever as easy as it seems!
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I've been busy finishing my Eagle Scout-which gets priority over everything else. My copier is working as a I type. I need to oil this dumb chair today, everytime I bend over to get the next thing, it creaks like an old door!

I have made progress. I found some Dr. Bronners soap at Target and the decal is looking awesome and is about done. The frame will then be ready to polich and I can start to reassemble it. I'm almost done washing the bearings and hardware, and most of the body work on the fenders and chaingaurd are done. I have given up on the fork as I have destroyed enough drill bits. I hate doing this, I rarely do it and I only do it with wheel truing, but I need to outsource this one to somebody with the proper tools before I really screw it up. If the fork wasn't so nice, I wouldn't mind taking a gamble.
 
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