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39-41 Sears Collegiate: My First Project!

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I soaked all of the rusty parts in rust remover to put some more live into them, then soaked them in WD-40 to prevent flash rusting. I was taking apart the hub at the crank set the other day only to find new, clean bearing grease. Probably within the last 10 years. Figured I'd just close her back up than give myself the heartache. I soaked shop towels in rust remover, wrapped the assembly, and covered in cellophane to keep it from evaporating. This is a great technique for parts you don't want to remove...

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Got the chainguard in the mail the other day. After 5 min of elbow grease and Acetone, I was pleasantly surprised to find a chrome finish in pretty good shape underneath. I've had to put the project on hold because of school activities, but got it "mocked up" in a sense. I ended up taking apart the downtube hub, giving it a thorough cleaning, and filling it with clean, fresh grease. I got nearly all of the rust off of the crankset, although sadly about 98% of the plating is gone. Should I put a clear coat on the bare metal parts, or leave it be?

I'm a little nervous about working on the rims. The front rim spins about as true as it'll get (no truing stand, just me 'eyeing the rims as they spin, lol'). I intend on stripping some of the primer off to see if any of the deep red finish is still there. If not, I think I'll strip it all, sand down the rusted areas, then repaint with a rattle can primer and color that matches the deep red as much as possible. As for the spokes, some of them I can feel some corrosion under the primer... I was going to tighten the loose spokes and gauge if that trues the rim because right now the rear rim is spinning too OFF for my comfort level. But I think I may ultimately want to buy new steel spokes and redo the entire back rim, though that might be too time consuming and advance for a first timer. Decisions, decisions...

I'm also nervous on taking apart the Musselmann hub for a full cleaning. Might ultimately be easier with the rim taken apart completely, I don't know...

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Well I decided to tension some of the loose spokes on the rear rim to see if it would improve the spin. Made it worse. Luckily, I found the nipples tighten and loosened relatively easily. I'm leaning more towards removing all of the spokes, stripping the paint, removing the rust, repainting them red, then reinstalling them. I'd have to learn how to spoke but I think if I can control the level at which the spokes are tightened equally will allow for a truer spin. Front rim is good enough, so I want to leave that one alone. It might make the stripping harder though. Decisions...decisions...
 
Time for the 'daily' update. I got the musselman hub disassembled and the old oils cleaned out. What should I lubricate it with once it's back together? I'm guessing the multipurpose valvoline grease will work fine with the bearing races, but what about the shoe/coaster break part???

In lieu of this, I decided to remove all of the spokes. Most came out no problem, while a few had to be cut. This revealed a slight bend in the rims and a very very slight oblong-ness to the rim. Luckily, with my muscles and some new inventive yoga poses, the rim was bent back fairly straight, and the oblong-ness eradicated to within a 1/16th in. I think this is as good as it'll get.

My question for y'all is whether I can just replace the broken ones with replacement spokes, or do I have to do all or nothing? I'm probably going to have to find a way to build a hillbilly truing stand. It seems as though this bike is getting a full check-up whether it deserves it or not...


Also with some fine steel wool and acetone I found only bare metal under the primer. I'll strip the rest of the primer, re-prime, and find a close match to the original red. might try hand-pinstriping an acrylic white line when I'm done if I feel crazy enough...

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Hmmm, I'm thinking if I went as far as tearing down the wheels and rebuilding, I'd probably replace those old spokes for safety if it's going to be a rider. But then again, I'm an idiot and thought no big deal about driving my car on the freeway with 16 year old tires. :D
 
Hmmm, I'm thinking if I went as far as tearing down the wheels and rebuilding, I'd probably replace those old spokes for safety if it's going to be a rider. But then again, I'm an idiot and thought no big deal about driving my car on the freeway with 16 year old tires. :D

Where can I get new spokes? Any good sources you all use?
 

Son, you are what is called 'committed' or ba**s deep as they say at this point in the build ! Don't fiddle-fart around with painted old spokes and nipples. You need 72 spokes, not a bag of 50 or two bags that make 100.
Here - https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...eDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=vintage+spoke+nipples. There are multiple choices and the price is right. Marcus will cut and thread them for you any length you need.
Here's a link for the nipples you will need - https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Torrin...m=331829349545&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

You will also need an appropriate size spoke wrench to do the job and youtube is your friend regarding wheel lacing tutorials. It would help if you didn't break down the front wheel so you could use it for reference. It ain't no big deal and it's a good investment in pride when the job is done. Remember, 'key spoke' on the right, twist the hub counter clockwise, 'key spoke on the left, twist the hub clockwise.

If you have any questions just ask the tinker here on the CABE :sunglasses:

Go for it !
 
I've got the rear wheel stripped, sanded, primed, and painted with a near-original red. If there's one thing I've learned, its that surface prep is the difference between a great and horrible paint job. It's definitely crucial when you can only afford to do rattle can. I got the musselman hub thoroughly cleaned. Thankfully, there was little minimal wear. For lubricating the hub, will general wheel bearing grease suffice for the bearings? And, can I use that same grease for the shoe of the hub?

Lastly, I tried to tense up one single, loose spoke on the front wheel, and it snapped. Looks like I'm going to deconstruct and respoke the front rim after all...

Just gotta tell myself it will all be worth it in the end! Haha

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