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1963 Murray Missile
- Thread starter KurseD
- Start date
KurseD
Look Ma, No Hands!
Got some of the painted parts cleaned a little more. Put them in the bath tub, cleaned with hot water and S.O.S. pads. The vinegar / lemon juice bath took the rust off the headlight, too the $15 previous buyers price off which was written in sharpie, and also took the paint off. Oh well, wasn't very much paint left anyway.
Uniblab
Wore out three sets of tires already!
It never ceases to amaze me how relatively little elbow grease can make such a huge improvement.
Regarding those crank pins, if one side is a larger diameter than the other (hard to tell from the pix) then you probably have a tapered pin which must be driven out from the smaller side.
If the pin is in fact tapered (I don't know if this is a common thing or not for this application), then it might help to place the hub against a hard (but protected) surface so that all the force from your hammer strike goes into the pin. You'll need to place something around the head of the pin (the side sitting on the hard surface) so that the pin will have somewhere to move. Perhaps a small piece of pipe or a 7/16" (?) socket.
Don't forget, the smoke wrench is your friend in instances like this. Good luck!
Regarding those crank pins, if one side is a larger diameter than the other (hard to tell from the pix) then you probably have a tapered pin which must be driven out from the smaller side.
If the pin is in fact tapered (I don't know if this is a common thing or not for this application), then it might help to place the hub against a hard (but protected) surface so that all the force from your hammer strike goes into the pin. You'll need to place something around the head of the pin (the side sitting on the hard surface) so that the pin will have somewhere to move. Perhaps a small piece of pipe or a 7/16" (?) socket.
Don't forget, the smoke wrench is your friend in instances like this. Good luck!
KurseD
Look Ma, No Hands!
I tried ALL of this last night. Nothing worked. Even tried pressing it out with a vice. Both ends seem mushroomed. One side of the crank, the pin was actually recessed into the crank so I thought that side would be easy, not so. So in a last ditch effort I chucked it in the drill press to drill it out...
I drilled the dang hole crooked! ARGH! So, it's taking a trip to a machine shop for "Professional Help" this morning.
I drilled the dang hole crooked! ARGH! So, it's taking a trip to a machine shop for "Professional Help" this morning.
MR D
Finally riding a big boys bike
Good job. Cleaning a bike like this shouldn't be a labor of love so to speak. Just a mild going over to sell it for a slightly higher price...let the new owner take the time they want to make it perfectly detailed. This is unless you intend on keeping it and riding it.
I see bikes like this all the time, and while they still function correctly, they were not that desirable as a collector piece. Same as with cars and other things of different vintages, the cleaner it is the more interest it will draw. I owned and drove a Mercury Comet for a couple years and it was clean as a whistle (old lady owned). It ran like a top! I sold it for what I paid for it after I was done driving it.
That being said, don't underestimate what something shiny will bring. Even though a Murray bike is just a plain Jane bike it can hold it's value if it's cleaned totally. Fresh tires, touch-up paint doesn't hurt the end result. I call a bike like this a "practice" tool. I can try different restoration techniques without worry about ruining it or it's re-sale value.
I see bikes like this all the time, and while they still function correctly, they were not that desirable as a collector piece. Same as with cars and other things of different vintages, the cleaner it is the more interest it will draw. I owned and drove a Mercury Comet for a couple years and it was clean as a whistle (old lady owned). It ran like a top! I sold it for what I paid for it after I was done driving it.
That being said, don't underestimate what something shiny will bring. Even though a Murray bike is just a plain Jane bike it can hold it's value if it's cleaned totally. Fresh tires, touch-up paint doesn't hurt the end result. I call a bike like this a "practice" tool. I can try different restoration techniques without worry about ruining it or it's re-sale value.
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