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HERCULES Ladies Bicycle help
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jimbo53
I live for the CABE
Those are tapered cotter pins that hold the crank arms to the spindle. They need to be pushed out carefully so as not to damage the threads. They are relatively soft metal intentionally so they can snug up tightly in the keyway on the spindle. I would recommend putting some WD40 around the threads after taking the nuts off. On an old bike they can be really stubborn to get off. There are expensive cotter presses but you can use a socket and a bench vice to get it loose. After soaking the cotter pin for a bit back the nut off so it’s flush with the end of the threads. Put the socket over the unthreaded end and put it in the vise. Carefully apply pressure to the nutted end and if you’re lucky the pressure will push the other end out into the socket. If it’s stubborn don’t force it. The threaded end is easy to bend but a little patience and you can get it off. Try to salvage these because they come in different sizes and could be hard to find at your local bike shop
Jimbo53 - Thanks for the quick response & the very helpful information. I have sprayed the pins with WD40 over the last couple of days so hopefully that's helped. I'll definitely try the vice trick & if that doesn't work I might have to make my own custom press. Cheers.
Jimbo53 - Thanks for the tip, I managed to get both pins out using the vice trick. My next hurdle is getting the part in the 1st pic off as there's not a lot of purchase & it's not budging & do you know if the bearing collar in the 2nd pic is just press fit in?
Also I'm not quite sure which route to go down with the restoration, do I keep the original paint & all it's chips & imperfections or do I sand everything down & repaint it, I was thinking original colour or something a bit brighter? What's your thoughts?
Also I'm not quite sure which route to go down with the restoration, do I keep the original paint & all it's chips & imperfections or do I sand everything down & repaint it, I was thinking original colour or something a bit brighter? What's your thoughts?
Oilit
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
The paint on your frame doesn't look that bad to me, and if you strip it, you'll lose the pin stripes and the darts. As for the fenders, I'd try an OA bath first, they'll look a lot better once the rust is gone. I like an old bicycle to look old, but not neglected. Here's an example of what an OA bath can do:
1941 New World race bike | Project Rides
Finally got the stones to try an OA bath on my 41' Schwinn New World. Did a test run on a girls bicentennial stingray with similar rust stains. Never tried it before, so quite nervous. Didn't want to ruin a great bike. Attempted to go with the 1 Tbsp per gallon, but only had a 1 tsp...
thecabe.com
If I do end up stripping it I was going to redo the stripes & arrows as I've got loads of photos with a tape measure next to it for reference. I've got a 5kg tub of OA & have been using roughly 100g> to 1L water for the rusty metal parts like brackets & some of the chrome work, but what ratio should I be using for the painted frame & will the paint/pin stripes be ok with the OA? I was going to see if I can get the paint laser colour matched to touch up some of the smaller areas & chips, which I would obviously test discretely first.
Any recommendations regarding getting the decals remade?
Any recommendations regarding getting the decals remade?
Superman1984
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
That BB being 3 piece is more than likely threaded & seized by time + grease & gunk. I would soak the crap out of it with Liquid Wrench penetrating oil or PB Blaster & use a good crescent wrench or a pipe wrench to work it back n forth before removal. I have had this issue with every 3 piece crank from 3 vintage to probably 20 modern with 1 coming out by hand after a quick mallet tap.
So I thought I'd throw up a quick update. The bike has been stripped & disassembled so far. I've used Oxalic Acid to de-rust almost all of the parts except for the frame & mudguards, they've come up really well but the chrome is still a little pitted & dull in places.
I've decided that the original paintwork is just too tatty to try & keep the 'patina' so I will be stripping it all back to bare metal, rust treating & repainting as I found a local guy with a laser spectrometer who has matched the original paint colour. I've got 1 can so far (at £25/can!!) so will get more if needed.
I had to cut the old hand grips off the handle bars but they were going to be replaced anyway. Instead of buying a BB tool & waiting for it to arrive I just ended up making my own then using some big washers & a long bolt I held it in place which did the trick finally releasing & removing it. I ended up using a 3M paint removal wheel to strip the rear guard white tail section back to metal, then I gave it a coat of Kurust before etch priming & repainting it white. It's come up really well too & I did the screws & little clamp bits at the same time too.
The thing I'm having trouble with is finding someone who can either make stencils or stickers of the original lettering, as I suspect it was hand painted It might be a bit difficult. Also the pinstriping was hand painted. I'm currently repainting the head badge as most of the original varnish cracked off & took some paint with it. I'll also need to weld up the rear hub mounting point as it's split apart but that's not a big job.
Here are some pics.
I've decided that the original paintwork is just too tatty to try & keep the 'patina' so I will be stripping it all back to bare metal, rust treating & repainting as I found a local guy with a laser spectrometer who has matched the original paint colour. I've got 1 can so far (at £25/can!!) so will get more if needed.
I had to cut the old hand grips off the handle bars but they were going to be replaced anyway. Instead of buying a BB tool & waiting for it to arrive I just ended up making my own then using some big washers & a long bolt I held it in place which did the trick finally releasing & removing it. I ended up using a 3M paint removal wheel to strip the rear guard white tail section back to metal, then I gave it a coat of Kurust before etch priming & repainting it white. It's come up really well too & I did the screws & little clamp bits at the same time too.
The thing I'm having trouble with is finding someone who can either make stencils or stickers of the original lettering, as I suspect it was hand painted It might be a bit difficult. Also the pinstriping was hand painted. I'm currently repainting the head badge as most of the original varnish cracked off & took some paint with it. I'll also need to weld up the rear hub mounting point as it's split apart but that's not a big job.
Here are some pics.
jimbo53
I live for the CABE
The drive side non-adjustable cup is ALWAYS difficult to get out because the flats are so shallow and difficult to get a wrench on. I've just cleaned the inside race from the non-drive side well, put in bearing grease with a finger inserted in the crank axle hole, added cleaned ball bearings, reassemble the refurbed bottom bracket and call it a day. There are expensive Park tools (aren't they all!
) for this, but I'm good with my easy workaround. Good luck!Similar threads
