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Gramp’s 1941 New World - Trying to get it running as a rat rod bike

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Thanks BlkB!! It's a personal treasure and I want to keep riding it for thousands of miles to come. I hope other people will take the time to get these lightweight diamond frame bikes rolling too. Worth it IMHO, especially since they are so affordable when they need a little love.
 
Easy to love these pre and early Postwar Schwinn Lightweights!

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Pedal clean and re-ball pics from my tune up. Torrington 8
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Not much different than when I cleaned them up in Jan.
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The balls are 3/16” diameter. There are 7 balls per cage, 2 cages per pedal, two pedals on the crank = 28 balls to replace after scrubbing the empty cages.
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Greased them and reassembled. The part you actually have to concentrate on is when you tighten the cone and lock nut. Like all the cone - caged ball - cup arrangements in a bike, you need to pay attention when you lock it in place. It’s really easy to tighten the nut down against the cone slightly too much as you seat everything. It’s a game of very slightly pre-loosening the assembly, then tightening it down to the right spot. You shouldn’t be able to move the axle in and out of the assembly, but it shouldn’t feel tight and bound up either. It doesn’t take that many tries with the small blade screw driver adjusting the cone and cinching down the nut to get it right. But if you don’t screw with it a little, I bet it won’t be smooth and as sealed as it can be.
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@GTs58 I’ve been looking at the Brooks since I started this project. They are beautifully made, look the part, and are supposed to be comfortable, but it just wouldn’t be Grandpa’s bike. Kind of like putting lipstick on a pig. I like how ratty the bike is.

I’ve been trying to be patient, and have been keeping my eye out for an original “Lightweight” saddle that would have been on the bike when it was sold. The war-time Worlds mickeyc found last week had them but I’m not interested in buying a whole bike or 2 just to get the beat up saddles.View attachment 978707
Others have said this saddle is not comfortable at all. But really, how much worse could it be than the old compacted carpet foam version of the Monogram S seat I just rocked for over 100 miles, or my MTB seat that has NO padding? I’d like to spend some time restoring a Lightweight saddle with good closed cell foam and new fake leather if it needed it. Might be good enough for me.

Still looking and thinking while I ride my restored Monogram S in matching maroon...
The original saddle for my dark red 53 is like this one, it looked cool but like said horribly uncomfortable. It was switched out for a very comfortable Brooks B-72. Still have the original on my parts shelf’s though.

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@Alan Brase - Rollfaster nailed it with Simple Green. I'm pretty sure the bike will wear me out before I wear it out. :)

@rollfaster I'm keeping my hopes up that I can find a crusty men’s Mesinger B6 that I can afford and can make comfortable. They are out there. o_O We'll see...
 
TROXEL TRANFORM IN TWENTY SEVEN

I won a “Prewar Messinger Long Spring Saddle” on eBay this week and it came in the mail yesterday around 3PM. I kicked off the weekend a little early and started transforming the rusty cobweb infested kootie saddle. Once I tore into it, I realized it was actually a 1930s Troxel Long Spring. Nice too, really nice.
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First trip through cleanup.
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Reassembled and went for a ride last night on the bare metal pan. It was super comfy. :) That was a really good sign.
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Broke it down again this morning and attacked the yellow over-spray paint. It was a formidable foe. I put a lot of love into the carriage using paint thinner, wire toothbrush, and steel wool. It always does wonders.
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The ‘tornado” springs were looking a little short on altitude. More like a southwest dirt devil. Last night I could feel the pan flopping when I unweighted it. It made clacking noises too. I’m not cool with that.
I threw a figure 8 stopper knot on the end of some rope and made a figure 8 on a bight for a foot loop. I hung the spring from a sky chair hook we have on the porch and put a little weight on the spring to stretch it a little. The moccasin insured I didn’t put too much weight on it. :p
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Peened out some of the stuff I didn’t like at the nose of the pan and around the side where it must have crashed a little.
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Painted the top of the saddle to try to stop it from rusting further and preserve it as long as possible, as well as give the adhesive a clean layer to bond to.
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Time to recover...
 
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