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El Jefe

El Jefe

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I have gotten my Flightliner tore down. Basic goal is to loosely copy the Drag King since it the same frame. And I just tore down an old BMX that I want to restore. But since I never done this before, I am a little stumped what to do next. I know all the bearings will have to be replaced. But how do I go about figuring out what parts will work on what?

Like are bottom bracket bearings pretty much universal? And cranks? I am going to need a new crank.

This saturday is my VW clubs car show and swamp meet. There will be a bunch of vintage bikes as well. Wanted to try to find parts.

I know my thoughts are kinda scattered here. Just not sure what to do.
 
Pretty much any used bookstore will regularly have 70's how to fix bikes books on the shelves...They don't apply to some of the modern stuff like threadless headsets or cartridge BB's but otherwise they are good. Look for one that tells you how to build a wheel or at least true one and it should have everything you'd need. Before long you won't need a bike book and it'll all be in your head anyway.

Pretty much most American style BB parts will interchange as well as older headsets. Watch out for obvious differences and don't force anything to fit that won't. It's when you get into some European stuff that things start to not interchange. (we won't mention the French bikes...:shake:)

A hint...Check into Evaporust and other chemical methods or rust removal. Research how to preserve old finishes if that is your aim.

It helps to use a lot of containers or ziplocks and take lots of pictures of how stuff comes apart- especially good when when you start to reassemble.

Procedure for bike restoration:
Clean off loose grease and dirt (Careful around fragile decals)
Document with pictures of everything possible and notes.
Dismantle -use manuals, books and the Internet if needed..Don't force anything.
Clean and restore individual parts and assemblies including rust removal.
Do paint work if desired. Send out plating work if you have the $$$$$$ and it needs it.
Reassemble paying attention to not scratch up anything.
Tune,touch up, and ride

Like the TV shows, it takes just a few minutes to describe days or weeks of work.
Somewhere in there is "spend way too much $$"
 
Thank you very much. That helps. I did put everything into baggies when I took it apart.

I'm really excited to get building it up. I built up my Genesis but that doesn't really count since its a new bike with just aftermarket parts thrown on.
 
some basic answers for your build. there are 3 standard sizes for the bottom bracket (crank bearings) american, euro, and spanish. yours should be american. unless you have a wide crank housing, you should be able to use almost any 1 piece or bmx 3 piece cranks. measure how wide the area were your cranks go on the flightliner to the bmx. if their the same size, then you can use what ever american crank you want. if you go with 3 piece cranks with sealed bearings you will have to replace the bearing cups. you can buy a crank set with all of the bb. for the headset, i'm 99.9% sure it's a 1 inch headset. if the bmx is older then say early to mid 1990s then it should be 1 inch as well. try taking the bearing cup from one bike and put it on the other. if they are the same size, then you will know to get 1 inch threaded head sets. i use bmx headsets like odyssey for all my cruisers.
 
Good info on here... i just wanna clarify that the Flightliner does have an American bb shell, so any opc or bmx 3piece for American shells will fit,m but the BB has to match the crank. Basically, for normal 1piecers, there's the Schwinn/Mongoose 28tpi or the 24tpi sets used b every other maker. The BB hardware has to match, plus they use different bearing sets, plus even the cups are a bit different. And, for 3piece BMX cranks, you gotta make sure the bearing ID matches the spindle; it can be 19mm, 20mm, 22.0mm, or 7/8" and probably others, over the years. If you're buying it all together, just make sure you're getting compatible products. If you're piecing together from donor bikes, just be aware of these pitfalls.

As for the headset, yes, the Flightliner takes a 1" threaded, and the fork is a standard 24tpi threading, but the Flightliner is Murray-built, so it has an enormous headtube. I strongly suggest trying to clean and service the stock headset if possible. Keep and clean all the hardware, and regrease it with some fresh bearings. (You'll want to get identical caged bearings, or just run loose balls of the same size.) If you can't run the stock headset, look into a Wald 4080. The Odyssey set that @SMUT PEDDLER mentioned is a quality headset, but it will fit loose in a Flightliner headtube; you'd need to shim it.

Best bet, beyond the other excellent advice above, is to be patient. Take your time. Don't spend any money on anything til you're sure it will fit in with your plans. Have fun!
 
There are a lot of helpful bike building tips on You Tube as well. That's where I learned to respoke rims. Seeing it happen and being able to pause and or go back is awesome. Hard for some to read how to do something and apply it. :crazy2:
 

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