1973 Schwinn Varsity

[dochoot]

[attachment=3451]How do I go about taking this apart? Would like to clean and grease well.
thanks in advance.

[Bill]

Not sure if that is a cassette/freehub or a freewheel?

[dochoot]

(08-26-2012, 11:46 PM)Bill Wrote:  Not sure if that is a cassette/freehub or a freewheel?

Neither am I! Any suggestions? A different pic?

[GeorgeET]

Bill, if its a 73 its a freewheel........

They do not come apart you can try spraying some oil in and move around or best replace. Under $20.You need a special tools to remove it. A chain whip and a freewheel tool.


http://sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html

[DaveM]

You don't need a chain whip to remove a freewheel, you need the correct freewheel remover and either a large adj wrench or a vise.

Freewheels can be taken apart for cleaning and regreasing, but this is generally not recommended or necessary. You can do a decent job of flushing the internals with a light lube and follow up with something heavier like motor oil. I don't recommend putting degreaser or WD40 type stuff in when flushing. Too hard to get it all out.

Cleaning the exterior can be done with any basic degreaser. Just be careful not to get it inside the freewheel or down into the axle bearings. You do generally need to remove the freewheel to service the axle bearings.

http://bikeride.com/replace-freewheel/
http://bikeride.com/overhaul-wheel-bearings/

[GeorgeET]

You are right Dave no whip needed. And yes theoretically they can be taken apart . I knew that that's why I provided the link. In practice if external oiling fails, just replace.

[dochoot]

What kind of light oil would I flush it with? Seems like it would be good to have a spray kind. Remington gun oil come in an aerosole version. Can I use motor oil that goes in a lawn mower? I have some of that sitting around.
Thanks in advance.

[GeorgeET]

Here is a list of penetrating oils I posted way back. However if you have spray oil on hand try that first. Than once clear use a good oil. I like Teflon spray.



"Machinist's Workshop magazine actually tested penetrants for break out torque on rusted nuts. Significant results! They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrants with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment.

Type of penetrating oil ..... Average load

None ................................ 516 pounds

WD-40 ............................ 238 pounds

PB Blaster .......................214 pounds

Liquid Wrench .............. 127 pounds

Kano Kroil .................... 106 pounds

ATF-Acetone mix......... 53 pounds

The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic
transmission fluid and acetone.

Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test. A local machinist group mixed up a batch and all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price.