Originally Posted by
dweenk
I replied to a CL ad yesterday for a free Nishiki Sport mixte. The seller told me to come today at noon and it would be mine. Before I could leave his home, he insisted I take a big-box Schwinn as well - so I got 2 bikes for free. He told me he bought a lot of 50 bikes at a police auction in Ocean City, MD and was only planning to keep the single speed cruisers. That explains the rust on the steel parts - the ocean air is not friendly to steel. The Schwinn MTB will be donated, so I am passing it on quickly. I was expecting the Nishiki to have either a stuck seatpost or stem, but both are free. The cables will need to be replaced. Other than that, I plan to service it and sell it in the spring.
A bump to the dis-assembly:
I stripped the Nishiki today (except for the fork) and it was in better shape than I had hoped. The bottom bracket shell is clean except for some residue at the bottom.
I was sure I would need to replace all of the BB internals, but they were in good shape. They are having a mineral spirits bath now. Even the fixed cup came off easily. The fork will come off tomorrow so I can rebuild the headset.
The brakes came out of a six day Evaporust bath. The rust on the steel bolts, nuts, and such is gone; but I was amazed that most of the white aluminum corrosion was gone as well. That was not expected.
The derailleurs and shifters are soaking in Evaporust now along with a couple of small steel nuts & bolts.