Nokton

I may jump into this, but maybe I'm just happy with a score this morning and gloating, too.

I thought about this contest and have been scouring Craigslist for a likely entrant. I'd had my eye on an old Peugeot that had been modified by an earlier owner (and posted about here: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...g-peugeot.html). I wasn't able to go look at the bike for a while because the seller was out of town. This morning I went to get the Peugeot figuring that $100 would be a good deal and a good place to start a restoration/restomod project. When I got there I found out that the rear hub was missing a spindle so I made an offer of $100 (the asking price was $120). The offer was accepted and I got a Lotus America as a throw-in on the deal. Two bikes for $100 with some desirable parts (the Lotus has Campy hubs, for instance).

I may actually be able to enter.

AdventureManCO 

Well, Fuji time. Or was that 'Fudge-it' time?

I wanted to strip everything down to the frame just to see what the thing weighed. That was the excuse any way.

By the very first thing, I could tell we were off to a great start.



Not today, sucker!


I made this great little tool to clean threads, and it works pretty well. I had a recent experience stripping crank threads, so not going back there again. Fresh threads and a fresh crank pulling tool.





Despite it's 'ugly', it came off easily -



These, on the other hand, were ugly and coming off just as ugly -


And here she is, all 5.7lb of klunk (were rounding down for this one)-






I found at an interesting thing. It has fake head lugs!



Which I don't mind, because it is interesting.


Ah, Fuji. The only bike that can strip pedal threads being removed in the correct direction...



Now that her deepest, darkest secrets are revealed...will she learn to trust me?

I almost don't want to put on all those crappy parts again. I want to treat her like the lady she could be. Those 165mm cranks will have to go. Need to find a wheelset. She's got her issues, but at least were in therapy now!

Phamilton

ryansu

Honey are you using the nice kitchen scale to weigh your rusty bikes again???
mumbled response
Didn't we talk about that?

AdventureManCO 

Aha! The wife left for a trip yesterday! *deviously clasps hands in anticipating of more kitchen scale frame weighing*

RandolphCarter

Wow, the Clunker Challenge has started up again?

While I'm all fired up about entering, reality is setting in - I have entered every year, but not once have I finished a build in time for the deadline.

Riding one of these basket case heaps fine pieces of machinery 62 miles is also something I've failed to do.

But, the town I live in did just have the 'large/bulk trash collection' event - it is held every other year.

House after house drags piles of crap out to the curbside. The goal is to snag the bikes before the scrappers do. I came away with three this year, two are viable Challenge candidates. The other I snagged for parts.

(The tires are purple! Oh, come on, don't look at me like that! They're hardly used! The chain, bearings, and brake cables are in good shape too! Really, you can stop rolling your eyes now...)

So I'll add these to the list of bikes to be worked on - it presently includes:

- A Schwinn hybrid I'm rehabbing for a friend
- A Mongoose hybrid I'm putting together for my son
- A 2005 Diamondback Joker I'm doing over for a buildoff on another site
- A 1997 Schwinn HydraGlide for a buildoff on another site

So, between upcoming vacations and large-scale system implementation/rollout at my work, I suspect time to wrench on old bikes will be less than available.

What the hell, I'm in. Pics to follow.

AdventureManCO 

Good. Now, on behalf of everyone who had already entered this fine spectacle of an event, would you be so kind as to enter one of your BMXs so you can ride it 62mi and we'll all follow along?

GrainBrain

Oh yeah this is the embodiment of the clunker challenge. You know it has a not that awful derailleur and crankset. I'm laughing at the cable routing

Maybe if you use a little lube, some heat and a touch of patience Let's see if I can practice what I preach when I crack into mine!

grayEZrider

Last year (after I DNF to injuries) I set a goal of building a keeper for the clunker challenge this year. In the true spirit of restoring a C&V bike to real use I started searching last summer. And I was picky. After only a few miles of riding last year's entry of a too large 64cm Centurion Elite RS I wanted another Centurion. Actually I needed two. I also wanted an Ironman. I found an '86 Lemans frame for $50 in August and then on new year's eve a 250 round trip drive got my '85 Ironman. Original except for tires. So as the junk mail always says "You are already a winner!" I've put over half the miles in already and I will post pics and numbers at random over the next few days.
Hey, I'm retired and no longer organize anything. I did track the costs though, since things are tight after spending A LOT on my dog's two ACL surgeries recently. I'm thinking of renaming him Eddy Merckx.

fleslider 

Nice keep us posted on the rebuild of these two, FWIW, the Ironman is a 1986 and the LeMans is a 1988

ryansu

Better late than never, after 15 km of riding I finally did more that put air in the tires, reconnect the front brake cable and WD 40 the chain for the Trek 520. On Saturday I; cleaned and lubed the chain, deglazed the brake pads (sanded), and wiped down both stem and seat post and applied fresh grease. On Sunday I rode another 4.2 KM bringing me up to nearly 20% of the challenge total.

dweenk

Love VO silver braid cables


Crank threads were filthy. Threading the extractor was a chore.


A shout out to Testors paint.


Now I need mileage.
So now I am finished except for a test ride and clipping the cables to length. No mileage yet because the wind is blowing a gale outside, but I do have photos.

rustystrings61 

No photos today, but I worked late last night on the Bottecchia De Luxe and brought it incrementally closer to rideability. I cleaned most of the grime off the Universal Sport centerpull calipers and remounted them. The curved washer behind the front caliper was too shallow, and when cinched down the return springs were pressed up against the crown. Fortunately, the bin o' scavenged parts provided a thicker unit and I was able to fit that AND make it so my Y-wrench's 9mm socket worked properly to attach it. The rear brake's curved washer was cracked and actually broke while I was handling it, so I got to use a different one. Hmm. Then I removed and degreased the pulleys on the Simplex Prestige rear derailleur, scrubbed them reasonably clean and reassembled them with fresh grease. I had already slathered the derailleur body with oil to make it slightly less brittle, and it all seems to work relatively smoothly now, so I remounted it.

Then I went to work on the front hub. I didn't see a name on it, which, if I had marketed it, I wouldn't have put my name on it either. Nice wide alloy flanges, stamped steel center section, no dustcaps to remove, and the worst looking, most galled hub cones I have ever seen in 45 years of messing with bikes. But hey, it's the CLUNKER challenge, so I swabbed out the worst of the old mucky grease and washed the balls and cones with degreaser and wiped them down and stuck it all back together with more fresh black grease. It felt acceptable, but not great. Fortunately I have enough room in the budget to do a wheel swap, and the wheels I would use come from a bike I paid $10 for. It may become necessary to swap wheels, because I am not at all certain I can lay my hands on a puller that will remove the Caimi freewheel. and that rear hub just feels wretched, as in Wally World Huffy left out in the rain for a decade wretched.

Clunker challenge, though, so if need be I just flush everything with WD-40 and dump some Tri-Flow in after it and run it into the ground, right?

Phamilton

tiredhands 

That's what I did last year, just get it working enough to make it to the 100 km mark. It was protesting very loudly by the end, but it made it.

This year I intend on donating the bike, so I had to at least get it to where it might last a few more miles after I'm done with it.

Started with a pile of dirty junk:



Ended with a pile of clean junk:



There's a teaser in there for what I might try to do with the rebuild.

noglider 

@Phamilton, you're breaking too many spokes. I want to say you're doing something wrong, but probably, the original owner of the rear wheels did something wrong. I see learning the skill to build wheels in your future. I just taught yet another person to build wheels, and he's very satisfied. You will love it, and you will not break spokes any more.

@tiredhands, I don't see your pictures. Check the permissions.

tiredhands 

Thanks! I'm getting the hang of switching to Google Photos. Should work now!

noglider 

ryansu

@dweenk is that even the same bike? Wow nice job

ryansu

Huffy TT bike??

dweenk

Thanks. I went for the test ride this afternoon - shifting and braking is fine. It feels light and responsive, but I need to adjust the saddle height and turn the stem a few degrees to the left. It may turn out to be too small for me, but if that is the case I'll get my wife to try it. It is way better than her Trek 820 Antelope.

Phamilton

These have all been older used wheels anyway, probably machine built. My understanding (and please correct if wrong) is that older machine built wheels often have issues with drive side spoke breakage at the "elbow" or whatever you call that part, where it goes into the hub flange. Something about needing stress-relieving. All my broken spokes have broken there. I have some old tall flange hubs w/ 27" steel rims that I think I'd like to lace up to some alloy rims and replace the 5 spd FW with a single speed. That would be my first wheel build project. I think tall flange hubs look cool.

CraigMBA

Challenge accepted.


My favorite thing about this bike is the iridescent pearl over teal paint!

I purchased this 1988 Haro Impulse at a local thrift store for $16.15 (tax included) with the intention of making a bar bike out of it. It was mostly there, save the munched derailuer hanger, and seatpost that was mounted backwards. Came with a Tigoa Farmer Johns Cousin, but I wasn't perpared to ride on a 30 year old skinwall tire.

To get it rideable, it needed to have the derailleur hanger straightened (free) and new derailleur cables and housings ($7). To get it nice, I added a new chain ($8.25) and a Juliana seat from used seat box from my LBS ($15), plus a set of grips ($3) and a couple of used Specialized Armadillos ($10) and a new set of generic platform pedals ($15). Oddly, the tubes were good.

Overhauled and trued the wheels, my friend rode it about 10 miles, and I noticed the bottom bracket also needed to be overhauled. So I haven't got the 100K on it yet, but I'm working on it.

$74.40.

t_e_r_r_y

i started an account on here just to participate! i'm a long time lurker, but never got around to signing up.

biggest issue is i'm pretty rural and finding a project might be pretty tough, especially considering that while the official budget may be $100. i really can't swing that on another bicycle right now (i have 3 sitting in my living room as it is).

if i can't find an actual bicycle, maybe i can find a bso that i can stand to ride for 100km

Random Tandem

Time for a rod brake clunker...

Here is the 1978 Raleigh Tourist DL-1 that I found in a local sale for equivalent of US$75:



Not sure how I will get 100km on these tires...


Almost all of the original parts are still there (even the original tires and tubes), but a few things that will require some aluminum foil and and polish. The fenders have some surface rust. I have a seat and a pair of period-appropriate pedals that I purchased recently for a total of US$7 (bringing my running account to US$82). Now I am heading to the local bike co-ops to see if I can find 40-635 tires. More to follow.

-Will

Edited to note that this was my 100th post - its a sign!