Fuji Basketcase

My brother found a cheap Fuji Sports 10. I fixed up something similar 2 years ago, but this one definitely needs a full restoration:

The brake calipers and derailleurs are locked up from corrosion, so this will be fun... (at least the frame looks ok). It takes a special kind of negligence to mess up 2 Suntour derailleurs. Alright enough complaining about it, let's dig in. These cottered cranks need to come off, so first I'll unscrew the nut holding the pin in:

 
Then I'll press the pin out with a C-clamp and a wrench socket:

This one was stubborn, so I hit the end of the clamp with a hammer. The shock loosened the pin, and then the crank slid right off:

Now it's time to take that bottom bracket apart. I had to use a hammer and punch on the lockring because it was too tight for my lockring tool:

Thank goodness for mineral spirits:

The right side cup came out without too much trouble:

With that nasty chain soaking in motor oil, I can remove the rear derailleur to take it apart and get it working:

Using lots of penetrating oil I was able to unstick the front derailleur. It took about half an hour of wiggling it around with pliers before it would spring back on its own (this probably wasn't the best use of my time).

The brake calipers weren't working either, so I had to remove them:

Now for those headset bearings:

Without bearing retainers I get to chase the loose ball bearings all over my basement floor:

Here's the bike as it sits now:



Time to put this thing back together. First the wheel hubs:

I found lots of black gritty crud in the wheel bearings, so I'm pretty glad I cleaned and repacked them. It was the same story with the bottom bracket and headset. The cables surprisingly weren't very rusty, so I just cleaned, oiled, and reused them. Now the headset:

Handlebars and shifters:

Wheels and saddle:

Brakes and cables:

Derailleurs:

The Suntour Spirt front derailleur is pretty tricky to set up since the cage is so narrow. I ended up bending it outward slightly to keep it from rubbing the chain. This bike came out surprisingly well, and I didn't have to replace any of the mechanical parts.

After a few test rides and some more adjustments the Fuji rides great. It has a very light, springy feel and it's very agile. You would think it's a much more expensive bike if you didn't see the "Sports 10" label on the top. All that's left is to replace the old front tire and give it some fresh handlebar tape.