Parts Bin Pathracer ('66 Hercules)

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I'll be setting aside my build off 14 project for a couple of weeks while I track down the parts I want. So....on to the next one...
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I'd picked this out of the same barn that Chickie's Butterfly Hunter came out of...another crusty $10 gem that went right into storage when I got it home. I brought it out to build late winter, but wound up doing the Firebolt project instead ( for the girl's bikes build-off that wasn't) so it went back up to the loft. I started thinking about the bike again when I scored the perfect old leather racer type saddle on the cheap. I also tracked down a quirky set or integrated grips with brake levers I had pulled off a salvage bike I had found out in the woods that should work nicely on here. Hoping to build it out quick and cheap and maybe make a dollar or two on this one."Retro-mod" path racer? Yes I can.

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Up in the stand and pulling apart easy. There paint is gorgeous...except for where it's awful! I also groove on the chrome thimble crown fork, but again, there are problems with the finish. Both wheels are round, almost true, and spin freely. Got some oil in the hub and the shifting came right back ( as you'd expect). The bottom bracket is gummy but not at all crunchy so I expect that to clean up nice. The cranks and chainring I like real nice. I'm a sucker for cottered cranks and actually have pretty good luck working on them except for this one thing....whatever size pins I need to put this back together...it's the other ones that I have. There are some 50/50 bets that I just always seem to lose.

Best, Ken
 

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Last bit of disassembly... I think this is a Sheldon Brown trick for the cottered cranks....what a legacy that guy left behind!

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Pulled apart, cleaned and re lubed the hubs, bottom bracket, and headset. Scrubbed the chain real nice with the wire brush. Tires came from the same wreck that gave up those grips. Polished the shiny bits. It all came together nicely.

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I really like how fast this thing looks just sitting still.

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Still need to dismantle and polish up the brakes and run some cables. Might call her done before the weekend runs out.
 
I had a 69 Hercules, same color and everything except yours has a Raleigh fork (looks better and extra $ if you sell it). I rode it where ever I wound up while in the Navy. It's either down at Gitmo still today, or got thrown overboard on the way back home, I had to fly out on emergency leave and it disappeared.
 

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