Schwinn Cleanup

I'm working pretty quickly on the Schwinn Project. Yesterday afternoon I took the whole thing apart, cleaned and polished the frame, cleaned and repacked the bottom bracket and headset, and polished up the crank and handlebar chrome.

I'll get some more photos this afternoon, but here's the top part of the headset after cleaning. I didn't get a before photo, unfortunately, but I had to show y'all how well this came out.

The bottom bracket was the same. Once I got the grime and old grease cleaned up, the internal works are in nearly pristine condition. I'm thinking that this old fella didn't see much use in its day, because there is virtually no wear on any of the bearings or cones. Still working on the wheels, but they're also cleaning up nicely.

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The Huffeigh's Stuck Stem Bolt: An Inelegant Solution

Last week, the Huffy/Raleigh underwent an operation to free the stuck stem bolt/expander wedge. You'll remember that the bolt was stuck fast, despite loads of penetrating oil (I even tried the WD-40) and about two weeks of letting it sit. To complicate matters, the head of the bolt was stripped so that I couldn't get a good grip with any kind of wrench, pliers, or grips. I finally settled on that ultimate in refined tools: the hacksaw.

I first sawed down through the washer, so that I wouldn't have to undercut the washer to get the head of the bolt off cleanly. I was also working partially on the theory that the head of the bolt and the washer, instead of being two pieces, were actually one. The photo below shows the status of things at this point:

Now, with a good vantage point to cut the bolt, I laid the bike down on its side and began cutting. I was able to saw through the bolt cleanly, flush with the top of the stem (I stupidly didn't get a photo of this). Turns out that the bolt and washer were indeed two pieces, but had partially fused with rust and an extreme case of over-tightening at some point. I then stood the bike back up (resting on the fork and bottom bracket now) and set about trying to tap the bolt down to knock the wedge loose.

Unfortunately, with the sawn bolt now flush with the top of the stem, it was quite difficult to hit the bolt hard enough to dislodge the wedge, and my efforts were not successful. I had already purchased a replacement stem and handlebars (a one-piece deal off a 1960s J.C. Higgins--very close in shape and spread to the original, but the bars not adjustable) on the assumption that I might have to do something drastic, like cut through the stem, in order to get the wedge knocked loose. So, I gritted my teeth and set about cutting through the stem to get better access to the bolt.

I again laid the bike down, resting on a couple of paving bricks padded with a towel, and started sawing through the stem near the top. I cut around the stem, rather than through the bolt in order to preserve as much of the bolt as possible to get a grip on. Here's the result:

Once I stood the whole works back up, I was able to grip the bolt with pliers and turn it loose, which it did maddeningly easily. So, the bolt wasn't rusted to the wedge after all! The problem turned out to be that the wedge was a bit too wedged in the stem tube--so much so, in fact, that just knocking the bolt (and quite hard) wasn't about to dislodge it.

With the bolt removed from the wedge, I was able to get a rather long and hearty screwdriver down in there and after a good deal of pounding with the hammer, managed to finally knock the wedge out. After that, I was able to separate the stem and fork easily, and I even managed to catch the loose headset bearings quite neatly as I pulled the fork from the head tube, allowing me to forego the swearing, muttering, hands-and-knees search for errant bearings.

All told, the only victim was one original, but very rusty, stem. I must say, I really hated to destroy the stem, but I'm not too broken-up about it, since I have the new stem already, and I can probably find an even better replacement at some point down the road. I might have puzzled through a better way to accomplish this whole operation, but I'm well enough pleased with how it turned out.

So, final verdict on a hacksaw as a bicycle tool: quite effective, if a bit drastic. Gives new meaning (or, perhaps, original meaning) to the phrase "bike hacks."

More on the cleaning progress soon, including a stow-away hiding in the frame.

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Surprise! Reassembly!

I had planned on doing the second clear coat today, and even started on it, but the first piece I coated (the front fender) got all bubbly and cracked and spotty-looking. I think I must have put on a too-heavy coat, but I decided not to push my luck with the other parts. So, instead of doing two coats of clear coat on everything, I'm calling it good with just one. Tomorrow, I'll buff off the botched clear coat on the front fender and then try to reapply it more smoothly. I put a coat of Turtle Wax on everything else, which will also act a protecting layer. Then, I took off the masking tape from the bearing cups and head badge and started putting the whole thing back together. As you can see below, I got the fork and handlebars, the seat, and the crank put back on the frame.

Nothing too technical here. I just put the seat back on so I could flip the bike over later to work on the crank, fenders, chain, etc.

Here's how I put the fork and stem on: 1) pack the bottom bearings of the fork and set on the bottom bearing race; 2) insert the fork into the tube and let the frame rest on the fork; 3) grease the bolt and expansion wedge on the stem and pack the top headset bearings; 4) insert the stem into the tube and tighten the stem bolt.

Tips on the process: 1) don't tighten the bearing races too much, just enough to hold the bearings in the cups. If you tighten the races too hard, they won't turn freely; 2) same goes for the stem bolt; it should be tight, but not so tight that it affects the steering of the bike; 3) try to line up the fork and handlebars with each other and with the frame; you can fine-tune once the bike is ridable, but the straighter everything is now, the easier it will be to make fine adjustments later.

And then, the crank. Pretty straight-forward: pack the bearings and grease the cups, lightly tighten the bearing race on the left (non-chain) side, and put the hardware back on. Again, when you tighten the nut on the outside of the left side, don't make it too tight, as this will push the bearing race into the bearings and affect the turning of the crank. Remember, the nuts and the bearing race on the crank turn counter-clockwise so they won't spin off while you're riding, so they don't have to be made too tight.

So, there you go--clear as mud, right?

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Removing the Stem and Fork

Well, the bike is all apart now, with the exception of the stubborn bearing cups on the crank and headset, which I guess I'm just going to have to tape off when I paint, 'cause they're not going anywhere. The last things to come off were the stem and fork, which I did yesterday. I should take this opportunity to mention that I'm going largely from the book How to Restore Your Collector Bicycle by William Love (Bicycle Books, 2001). It's not perfect, by any means, but it's proving to be a good general guide.

I have to admit that as a new-comer to this, I was most confused by the headset assembly; and after taking it apart, I still don't quite get how it works. As a result, I meticulously documented every step with the digital camera just to make sure I could put it all back together in the right order. These are some of the more useful photos.

Photo 1 shows the stem after I removed it, with the expansion wedge at the bottom. To take off the stem, back out the bolt at the top of the stem about 1/2" and give it a good whack with a wooden or rubber mallet, or a regular hammer and piece of wood. This will dislodge the expansion wedge--it's very obvious when you are successful, as the stem will just slide out.

Photo 2 is probably a "well, duh" image for more experienced bike folks, but I wanted to remember the correct order for the hardware at the top of the headset once the fork was removed.

Photo 3 is looking down at the bearings at the top of the headset after removing the stem and hardware (and my feet make an appearance, as well).

Photo 4 shows the bottom bearings resting on the bottom bearing race.

Photo 5 shows the chrome plate on top of the fork removed. There is a tiny lip on the front side of the chrome plate that holds the plate to the fork. You can see where it attaches by where the metal on the fork is worn. I took this for my reference so I would remember later how to fit the plate black on.

Most of the hardware I've taken off now has been cleaned and bagged for reassembly. I took the front hub apart today, but didn't take any pictures, since it actually is pretty self-explanatory once you start it. Next, I'll take as much of the rear hub apart as I can, although I will not be venturing into the more intricate mechanics of the internal hub. I'll just be cleaning the dirt and grease off the external components and cleaning the bearings. I will take some photos of this and post them soon. Then, cleaning the frame in preparation for sanding.

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