Sunday, October 26, 2014

Early 1970's Torpado Alpha Part II Disassembly

Standard FW on the left Racing on the right
The next step after acquiring the bike and giving it the once over is to take it down to the frame so it can be cleaned up and rebuilt.  I usually like to reuse as many of the original parts as I can, excepting the consumables like; rubber, bar tape, cables and chains etc., but in the case of this bike I am not sure about keeping the stock free-wheel.  As you can see from the picture above it has a minuscule range that while great for racing isn't a great fit for hilly Seattle.

One lesson I have learned is the importance of documenting how things are put together - before I take them apart.  With that in mind I tried to take a lot of pictures while taking the bike down to the frame.
rear brake attachment
Headset spacer order
Front brake attachment
Another thing about taking the bike down to the frame is you find things you can't detect from visually inspecting the bike while its complete.  Is the seat post stuck? is the stem stuck?  thank goodness neither of my biggest fears were realized.  I did find a few unexpected issues though:

a bent seat-post bolt
a bent cotter pin
In addition to the seat-post bolt being bent the cable guide is also pretty rusted so I am going to replace them both.  The bent cotter pin gave me a little fright as I was worried I wasn't going to be able to get it out and then I would have to deal with potentially replacing crank and BB.  Fortunately I was able to straighten out the cotter pin enough to drive it the rest of the way out with the cotter press and that was a big relief.  I have two new cotter pins ready to go and will be able to use the stock crank and BB.
Finally it was down to removing the headset and fork to complete the take down.  One thing I try to do with headset parts is keep them in order and then zip tie them once I have them removed.  They can even be cleaned in the sonic cleaner like that so that I can put things back in the right order.  That is especially helpful when it might be a weeks between disassembly and putting things back together.
Headset removed except for cups
Fork out with lower bearings
Keeping headset pieces together and in order 
So now the bike is down to the frame and ready for the next step - getting all those parts cleaned, polished, lubed and back together.
down to the frame
Speaking of polish I was pleased with how a quick Dremel with brass wire brush worked on the chromed head-tube lugs.
a little Dremel work in the middle of the lug
Now I just need to get motivated and start getting parts cleaned, framed cleaned and waxed, and all four main bearings rebuilt and we can get this Italian beauty back together.  Until next time; Ride.Smile.Repeat.

5 comments:

  1. Ryan, Can you clean up and re-use the wing nut axle bolts? I think those are very cool on old bikes. When you clean the rust off the chrome does it remove it and then you re-chrome??
    This is a nice project on an different brand bike that should bring it back to be enjoyed and admired. Do those brakes clean up, or just replaced?

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    1. Hey Jim, Yes I plan on cleaning up the wing nut axle bolts. My philosophy on paint and chrome is to clean it as well as I can without replacing it, I guess I like a little leave a little patina to tell the story that this bike has been used. I find that if I use a brass wire brush I can clean up chrome fairly well if its just surface rust and hasn't been pitted, we will see how that goes on this project. The brakes I will take apart put through the sonic cleaner and then use some polish (turtle was chrome polish) if needed and they should be fine, I will of course give them new pads.

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  2. I have the same bike and are doing the same rebuilding project. Can you help me in locating the labels? New to this format so may need some help. Is there a personal email I could send some pictures?

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    1. Hi Jim I sent you an email offline for pictures as for decals you might try Velocals http://www.velocals.com/servlet/Browse

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    2. Ryan and Jim probably will have the only two rebuilt and refurbished Torpado's in these United States. Good job guys!!

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