rebuild a John Deere Bike?

[SouthernBelle]

You may be able to get some type of John Deere decals. Try places like TSC or a county coop. Or he could just paint a 'frame' around the John Deere stuff.

HTH,

[mimitabby]

have you looked on Ebay? You can buy a bike and have it shipped to you!

[Tuckervill]

Deb, you're a treasure.

We figured out they were cottered cranks, and we got them off. We need to get a c-spanner to get the lock ring off on the bottom bracket.

He hasn't even considered the freewheel, yet. Had a hard time getting many of the bolts loose on the brakes, etc. He's got it down to just the frame and the bottom bracket now, and he's begging me to come out right NOW.

I'm sure I'll be writing again. Thanks everyone!

Karen

[DebW]

Yup, you'll need a lock ring spanner. The cup will require either a pin spanner or some older bb cups came off with a large crescent wrench. Don't remove the fixed cup unless you decide to replace the whole bb.

[Tuckervill]

Funny thing is, dh got home and son was so excited they went straight to the garage before I could tell him we need a spanner to get the lock ring off. It was so loose, Dh got it off with his fingers, which I didn't even attempt. He also had an automotive tool that took the cup out easily.

I don't see how we'll get new cranks and chainrings without a new bottom bracket anyway, due to the inelegantly cottered cranks. I think they destroyed one of the cotter pins during removal, too. I don't think it needs new chainrings, but the cranks, he'll probably want new ones, which means he'll probably get new rings, too. We're going to take it in to the place where we bought our bikes and see if Jason can measure stuff for us and give the boy guidance. I'm pretty certain after reading Sheldon Brown that the diameters of the tubes and bottom bracket, etc., will not give us any unsurmountable problems. We can always reassemble it with the original parts if necessary, after it's repainted.

Thanks again!
Karen

[SouthernBelle]

Another thing I should have mentioned is John Deere green paint hould be easily found too, assuming he wants to hang with that. Also check with a John Deere dealer.

[DebW]

Funny thing is, dh got home and son was so excited they went straight to the garage before I could tell him we need a spanner to get the lock ring off. It was so loose, Dh got it off with his fingers, which I didn't even attempt. He also had an automotive tool that took the cup out easily.

You could have gotten it off with a hammer and punch if you really wanted to.
But best to get the spanner to put it back on and do a good job adjusting the bearings.

I don't see how we'll get new cranks and chainrings without a new bottom bracket anyway, due to the inelegantly cottered cranks. I think they destroyed one of the cotter pins during removal, too. I don't think it needs new chainrings, but the cranks, he'll probably want new ones, which means he'll probably get new rings, too. We're going to take it in to the place where we bought our bikes and see if Jason can measure stuff for us and give the boy guidance. I'm pretty certain after reading Sheldon Brown that the diameters of the tubes and bottom bracket, etc., will not give us any unsurmountable problems. We can always reassemble it with the original parts if necessary, after it's repainted.

Thanks again!
Karen

You can buy new cotter pins (try www.loosescrews.com or Sheldon Brown). Sometimes you have to file the flats to make them fit, though. They often get munged in the removal process. You can probably replace this with a used cotterless crank if you can find something. If you put the original steel cotered crank back on, your son can learn to true chainrings - a skill not many people have these days.

[Tuckervill]

I'm not sure the fine art of bike building is what he's after. lol. But, maybe if I got him a good book about it, he'd be interested in truing cranks.

He really wants to replace all the components. We've read up and the bike is not worth much as a JD restoration. If it was worth something, we would have paid more than $135, I'm sure, because this bike only needed to be cleaned up, and a little rust removal, to be all original again. We're going to bag up the parts individually and see if we can sell them on ebay for a pittance. There is one guy in Texas that found and restored one of every bike JD ever made. Maybe there are others who need parts. The original price on the bike new was only $109 in '73-75.

We took the frame to the bike shop yesterday. They thought the frame was great, in great shape, and will be easy to build up. The bb is English, 68mm, so that's a relief. My son is really focused on new cranks, so I think that's what he'll start on, after the paint.

He's talking gloss black with flames (I'm going to try to talk him into JD green flames) and then a sticker that says "nothing rides like a Deere" instead of the JD logo. It has a JD medallion that he plans to keep. Should be pretty cool when it's all done.

Thanks!
Karen