First day working on the Azuki! It's still behind a few other bikes in the queue, but I wanted the bars and brake levers for another project, so decided to tackle the cockpit.
I planned to put a set of Sakae Super Champion bars on it, with the stem and cheapie aero levers from this frame.
The 4mm ball-end of my tri tool snapped off inside of the brake lever.
It's ok, I have other brake levers, let's get the stem out.
The stem won't come out, and I tacoed the front rim trying to use the wheel for leverage. That's fine, I have other wheels. I also have other stems. I found an origin8 in my parts bins with a nice long quill and short extension. But...
The steer tube ID of the Azuki is 21.1mm. I'd hoped to save the forged teardrop stem and polish it up for some classier project, but it looks like it's going to stay with the Azuki. I decided to sand and polish it anyway. This is something I'm trying to get better at in anticipation of building up a new personal bike this summer. I filed the forging marks and sanded with 220 grit, 600 grit, then 1500 grit wet with WD-40. Then I did some polishing with a small buffing wheel on a dremel with red compound, then meguiar's auto wax. Took about an hour, not including drying time for the wax. It turned out OK.
I realize now the focus on the pictures is slightly off, sorry :/ It's an improvement but there are a few spots I could have taken more time with the 220 grit. Didn't quite get all the file marks I left behind where the forging lines were. And of course it's got plenty of dings. The buffing wheel also left a few cloudy streaks. Maybe because I didn't use a fresh wheel, or maybe my RPMs were too low? I was working at 20,000. After polishing the stem is clearly marked .833.
For comparison, here's a hub I did a few weeks ago, sanded with 220, 600, 1500 wet with tri-flow, then meguiar's. The finish isn't as high but more uniform and I'm happier with it.
After all that, the Super Champion bars were 26mm and the stem takes 25.4. I went through my bars and fortunately these Modolos fit. I put on the butterfly shifters and some 105 levers with decent hoods, deeply pitted plastic faces, and wobbly pivots. The Modolo bars I found on top of a trash can last summer. I don't remember what bike the 105 levers came from, something long since flipped or parted out. I had decided the levers were too beat to use on a bike for sale and was keeping them around for the spare hoods.
I threw that wheel on for leverage overhauling the headset, which I decided I ought to do before installing the stem and bars. I had overhauled the headset five years ago the first time I rebuilt this bike (sold it to a friend who rode it til it broke. It sat in a yard in New Orleans for four years until coming back to me.) The grease was thick and gunky but still there, barely, and the overhaul went smoothly. Along the way I checked the brake reach for my planned 700c conversion.
Looks like I'll be making some drop bolts!