Ok, Here's as far as I go.
I'll take it down to the shop either later today or tomorrow, so I thought Id get some uncluttered shots of it before it's presented to the manager. Honestly, I'm not sure they are going to like it. But I do. I think they may be expecting it to be in better condition visually. We'll see....
It was completely disassembled. All of the steel and chrome had been painted with alumacote MANY years ago, so I stripped all of it off except under the seat. Everything was cleaned, greased and oiled. Somewhere along the line a rubbing compound was used and not removed completely. There are still signs of it here and there, but most came off. Unfortunately it was heavily rubbed with it I guess because there is a lot of fading to the pin striping.
It had been maintained. Front and rear wheel bearings are great, no galling. Bottom bracket the same. Brake shoes are good and the handbrake works although the cable is at the end of its adjustment. The light and horn innards are rusty and missing a couple parts so they wont be working without some attention. Original chain is a bit stretched but is good to go otherwise. The pedals cleaned up nicely.
I bought a new headlamp lens (plastic repro) because I dont like the look without it.
The fork lock works and has an original AS/Yale Key.
Front tire is a Sears Allstate and is lightly cracking but is nice, new tube.
Rear tire is the OG Royal chain in the same condition as the front, new tube
I added some metal valve stem caps to keep it looking period.
The rims were disassembled. Insides have very little rust, both rims are very solid.
All original spokes and nipples came off nicely and cleaned up well
I rubbed a couple dents out of the rear fender with a serving spoon, cant even tell, but I left the front alone.
The seat post is a bugger. It will come out, but not by me. I was able to loosen and tap it down a scoshe but it wont grab and come out. I left the seat alone.
The only thing I had to fix up was the chain guard. It has a made-up rear bracket strap and 3 new bolts. Had to do a bit of straightening also.
One thing that annoyed me was the fork legs having one side open and one side closed. What a pain...uhg.
Over-all, it rides fine. No noise, and pretty much what one would expect from a 41' model bike.
I kinda like it. If It were a boys model, I think I would use my discount at the shop and keep it.
We'll see how it's received at the Collective later.
Fingers crossed.
