The idea of this area is to share any ideas or practices that will help other people work on their Grifters with a little more ease i will start :

if when you are removing the headset or the front forks on a bike it is always handy to have one of them magnetic pens to hand , then as you reveal the bearings they will be attracted to the pen and not to all four corners of the earth , and if you do drop them on the ground you can drag the pen across the floor and they will be picked up    

--Last edited by wood5tock on 2007-01-04 00:25:45 --

when removing any part that hasnt been removed for a long time, soak it in wd-40 or simular things everyday for a few days before hand

As posted elsewhere and told to me , if you are cleaning your chrome , its a good easy idea to use brillo pads , you dont need to press hard so you wont damage the finish and it brings them up really great  

Quote :

steve edwards wrote : As posted elsewhere and told to me , if you are cleaning your chrome , its a good easy idea to use brillo pads , you dont need to press hard so you wont damage the finish and it brings them up really great

just to add to this, if it does scratch get some t-cut and give it a good hard polish and the should fix it

To remove cotter pins is difficult.
I have a Vice.  So I get a large nut.  Car wheel nut maybe.  Loosen off the cotter nut a bit.  Put the frame up on the vice with the cotter in the jaws.  So that the nut is on one jaw ant the plain end is in the other jaw, straight across.  The Wheel nut is a loose fit on the plain end of the cotter.  With that on the plain end.  Keeping the crank straight in the vice.  Maybe having an assistant from the studio audience, to hold it.  Tighten the handle.  It must stay straight as you'll bend it.  If ok it will go bang, then loose in the vice.  Then just push it out.  This way the pin and the cranks will not be damaged and they will be reusable.

Yeah I brillo pad wheels and brakes and stuff.  Brillo pads were designed to polish alloy pots and pans.  
I wipe down the parts after as theres sometimes residue after they dry.

Quote :

Alecw35 wrote : To remove cotter pins is difficult. I have a Vice.  So I get a large nut.  Car wheel nut maybe.  Loosen off the cotter nut a bit.  Put the frame up on the vice with the cotter in the jaws.  So that the nut is on one jaw ant the plain end is in the other jaw, straight across.  The Wheel nut is a loose fit on the plain end of the cotter.  With that on the plain end.  Keeping the crank straight in the vice.  Maybe having an assistant from the studio audience, to hold it.  Tighten the handle.  It must stay straight as you'll bend it.  If ok it will go bang, then loose in the vice.  Then just push it out.  This way the pin and the cranks will not be damaged and they will be reusable.

this is 100 times easier than trying to hammer them out

Hey Guys

Some good hints and tip here ( I love the cotter pin one )

But If you have a new tip can you open a new topic as all these great Ideas will get lost in one big post and I think it will be easier for people to pick which one they need out of the list. I will split these ones already on here up.

Cheers all

=W=