Rust was a very happy dweller on all the chromed parts of this bike. I had no intention of having anything re-chromed since it's very expensive. So I took everything apart first and then went to work.
In the pictures you'll see the front hub being rebuilt and cleaned, but this applies to all the chrome parts on the bike. If you want to find out how to take these things apart, just go to bikeoverhaul1 site for all the details with pictures.
The outside of the hub was pretty bad with some pitting on the chrome. However, it didn't mean that it couldn't come out decent and it did. First off I used a steel brush for the first step of removing the big stuff. I then went and did the whole thing over again with steel wool. Lastly, I used a polishing rag to finish off the parts and give them that nice shiny look. The trick here is to use a polishing compound in every step. This lubricates the part while scrubbing and it will help out a lot. I use Mother's polishing compound, but anything else can do the job as well.
As for the internal parts of the hub, they got the same treatment. But before I went ahead and scrubbed like mad, I sprayed everything with some lemon Pledge furniture polish. You let it sit for a while and that grease will come out real easy. The lemon even dissolves that old caked on grease. Once your done, repack everything with grease and re-assemble. After the hub was done, I laced it to a new rim. I went with a 26 inch MTB steel rim that I painted the same color as the frame. I got a pair of Tioga City Slickers tires and it's looking real good.
I will post on the building of the rear wheel with some pics later so you can all see how it is done.
Keep posted.
Gerry :)
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