Barely the middle of February, and I am already excited for the summer. This is the first of three big updates.
I'm not sure if I've ever posted about this rescue Summit I bought close to two years ago, but I'm finally making some progress. More progress actually. I was able to clean it up from the disaster it was when I bought it, but then things got stuck...
I'm not sure if I've ever posted about this rescue Summit I bought close to two years ago, but I'm finally making some progress. More progress actually. I was able to clean it up from the disaster it was when I bought it, but then things got stuck...
Everything on the bike involving threads was stuck. The quill stem bolt, the headset, the pedals, the water bottle bolts, the brakes. All of them were stuck with dirt that resembled espresso grounds. Super super fine grain dirt. Critically, the bottom bracket and the seatpost were also stuck.
But the BB came out! Or one side did anyway. And you can see the dirt that came with it. The bearings were also dirty as heck. Thankfully, everything is in good shape still. The bearing surfaces on the spindle and the cups are excellent.
So now the seatpost, and for that, I'm going with lye. Pretty isn't it?
I left it outside for a while because the fumes are seriously nasty, and after leaving it for a bit, I was laughing at the smoke clouds pouring out of the BB shell as the acid worked on the post. The next day I tipped it over and the black sludge that oozed out of it was unreal. Like a 50's sci-fi movie alien or something.
It's still got a way to go though. It really only ate off the polish on it. I'm not sure how many treatmeants it will need, but probably lots more. I don't have a vice, so it's going to be tough to break it loose. I'll keep you updated.
But the BB came out! Or one side did anyway. And you can see the dirt that came with it. The bearings were also dirty as heck. Thankfully, everything is in good shape still. The bearing surfaces on the spindle and the cups are excellent.
So now the seatpost, and for that, I'm going with lye. Pretty isn't it?
I left it outside for a while because the fumes are seriously nasty, and after leaving it for a bit, I was laughing at the smoke clouds pouring out of the BB shell as the acid worked on the post. The next day I tipped it over and the black sludge that oozed out of it was unreal. Like a 50's sci-fi movie alien or something.
It's still got a way to go though. It really only ate off the polish on it. I'm not sure how many treatmeants it will need, but probably lots more. I don't have a vice, so it's going to be tough to break it loose. I'll keep you updated.
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