Friday, June 18, 2010

Fuji S10S Restoration Progress

Hello and Welcome,
It was very hot and extremely humid here today. I did not get as much done as I would have liked to. But enough with excuses, lets get on with it :)

I managed to finish cleaning up the wheels, hubs and 5 speed free wheel. As well as truing both wheels on the truing stand. The bloody free wheel would not break loose. When I removed the quick release skewer I could see the probable cause of the frozen free wheel. There was absolutely no trace of grease on the skewer or remnants that would have indicated there ever was any. So I`m guessing that the free wheel was mounted without first lightly greasing the threads. There is a good thing to remember " bicycle assembly grease". Always lightly grease the threads before screwing on the free wheel. The Sun Tour free wheel would not budge. Had I put anymore torque into it, I would have bent something. Now before you start thinking that maybe I was not strong enough to break it loose. Let me remind you that I am a Journeyman Mason / Mason Contractor recently retired. I can turn a wrench as hard as I need to. Anyway, I ended cleaning it up "in place". I Used White-Lightning Clean-Streak and my Park Tool bicycle brushes. After wards I was able to lube the free wheel by holding the wheel drive side up. Then while spinning the free wheel just adding few drops of oil in the gap where the free wheel spins on it`s axis. I did this one drop of oil at a time maybe 5 or 6 drops all together. Making sure to wipe the oil off the exterior each time. It worked fine. The free wheel is not binding at all. It`as smooth as it could be. The bugger is, I was not able to remove the pie plate. Cleaning the back side of the pie-plate is a pain with it in place. Fortunately this one is in pretty fair shape on the back side. I will probably break-out the Q-Tips and Turtle Wax Chrome Polish/Rust Remover before it`s over. As you can see I did manage to get the tires mounted. Due to a defective valve stem I had to do the front one twice. Then I thought I would mount the new Tek Tro side pull caliper brakes. Of course they don`t fit. So now I have to decide if I`m going to re-drill the mounting holes. Or rebuild and polish the original center-pull brakes. Yeah this day just kept getting better and better..lol. At this point the heat and humidity was getting unbearable for this native northerner. I was about to throw the whole mess in the road and take-up drinking again! Instead I decided to call it a day, and put the tools away. I also took a few pics of a "department store" girls bike that I just fixed-up. And I did manage straightened-up the shop a little.
So Sunday is Fathers Day (: My Wife and Son got me a new Campbell Hausfeld air compressor for the shop! It will also be a sad day remembering my own Father who passed-away Dec 2008. And my "Father in Law" who passed away May 2009. They were both good men. Two old soldiers who survived World War Two.
That`s all I got for now. I will probably do some work in the shop early tomorrow before it "heats-up." Sunday is all family stuff. I think it will be cooler by Monday. Maybe I will know what I`m going to do about the brakes by then. Till next time RIDE SAFE and "stay hydrated" and remember to always RESCUE,RESTORE & RECYCLE
Cheers,Hugh

6 comments:

  1. Are the brakes too short a reach or ??? Why the possible redrill?

    I've had a few frozen free-wheels. Oil and a bit of persuasion have freed them all up.

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  2. The Fuji is looking good, Hugh. I'll remember my Dad this weekend, too. I miss him. Think I'll crank up the air compressor in his honor.

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  3. Hey Steve, The calipers themselves are fine. The problem is the holes in the fork-brace and the seat-stay brace are to small for the mounting bolt. The older brake-mount bolts do not have a sleeve type nut that goes inside the hole. They just go all the way through and have a typical nut and washer. So they are a smaller diameter.It should not be a big deal to drill them out a little bigger. It will make for a nice flush look. Should be well worth the small effort.
    As for the Free-Wheel I guess I don`t have that much patience (: Especially when the dew point is in the 70s! (in the morning hours anyway) My God it has been muggy here these past few days.

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  4. Thanks John,
    One of the many things my Dad left me was his Flag.
    Every time I put it out, it reminds me of him.

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  5. Rough Saturday. Makes you wonder whether it'd be worth it to just break the freewheel out of frustration and just get a new one. When I get to that point I just have to put the tools down and get out on two wheels for a while.

    Hope you have a better father's day!

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  6. Thanks Everett, Sometimes it is better to just walk away for a while. The good news is, The new roof is finished. And it looks great. And now the carpenter is working on the Cedar T-1-11
    siding. If all goes well I should be staining latter on this week. And you have a great Fathers-day too (:

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