Blue Sky

Wow - seems like it would just be easier to replace it. I just typed 'new Suntour freewheel 6 speed' into eBay and this popped up. Brand new old stock - $5.50. (https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Suntour...8AAOSwBRVaW~H8

Sestese

I like to use WD40

Livingsim24

I work on a lot of old rusty parts and skip tooth chains etc. rust removal can be accomplished by using a diesel or vinager bath. Since this is a
Rear freewheel I would go diesel. Then a complete cleaning with wd-40. And a repack with a good axle grease. Wd is only for cleaning and no good as a lube as it doesn’t stay. Use t9 or tri flow for chains etc

ThermionicScott 

It won't stay at $5.50, that's for sure.

Blue Sky

Still - there are a ton of them. There are a few used ones that are in much better condition for around $10 - $15 that are 'Buy It Now'. Considering what the consequences are of soaking that freewheel in soapy water - I'd chance a difference freewheel.

ja1124

So as you've already learned, soaking steel parts in soapy water was a mistake. Most of the damage will occur as the part is drying. Diesel fuel is a good degreaser and does not cost too much. If you remove the freewheel from the water bath, set it in a container on some nuts or something to keep it off the bottom, then cover it with diesel, the water should get displaced by the diesel and sink to the bottom. Turning the freewheel while submerged in the diesel might help dislodge the water.

pastorbobnlnh 

Thanks for that link for WD40 Bike products. Worth checking out!

In the case of the Perfect (and ProCompe) the pawl springs are the wire brass pusher type and I seriously doubt they can ever be "contaminated."

...or diesel or jet fuel! For so many reasons (just read earlier posts in this thread) this is bad advise. I'm sorry to disagree, but this is not a good practice.
IMO, the two notch Suntours are more robust then the 4 notch Suntours. I've seen more notches ruined and the inner body twisted "out of round" on the 4 notch versions.

Why does the inner mechanism fail on a vintage freewheel? Because it has not been properly maintained.

To the above posters just quoted: I realize it takes quite bit of time to read through several pages of posts to make it to the end, but it is important to do so in order to see what the OP has decided. In this case he has sent the Perfect for servicing, thus eliminating the need to "put it in (a combustible fuel)," or to "toss the freewheel," or to "disassemble" himself. Take the time to read what has been written.

Road Fan

I hope it's still PC to talk about special mellowing agents!

rootboy 

Probably not, but that's OK. Not enough mellowing agents to go around these days.

IrishBrewer

Just had an experience with one of these last evening. I am in the process of restoring a circa 1986 Bianchi with a 6 speed Suntour freewheel. It appears as though the bike has very low miles but has been sitting in a garage for the last 25 years. All of the grease has dried and thickened (like peanut butter) to the point where nothing spins freely anymore. It cleans up fine and the bearing races are pristine after an easy cleanup. However, the freewheel wasn't freewheeling at all. It would spin backwards with a good bit of force, however.

I don't have the tools to disassemble this type of freewheel so I just flushed it with WD-40. After just a bit of flushing, it started to spin freely but in both directions so the pawls hadn't been freed up yet. Just a bit more flushing and they broke free too and it was operating normally. At this point, I assumed there was little if any lubrication left in the freewheel so I worked in some Phlls tenacious oil which seeped in nicely. The pawl is quieted down and now it spins like butter. All of this took less than 5 minutes. Not bad for something I thought would be a total loss and need to be replaced.

texaspandj

I decided to overhaul my dura ace 6 speed freewheel. When I took it apart I noticed all the original grease had dried up on the 30 year old freewheel it literally looked like peanut butter. It had enough original grease in it to spin smooth as butter. But since I had it open, I decided to clean it with mineral spirits and put fresh grease and it was good as new. Had I just put oil in, it probably would have been rackety sounding. So I'm glad I rebuilt it or could've left it alone it may have been fine. But if you only use oil with not enough original grease youll probably have to keep using oil through out the life of your freewheel. With grease as long as the freewheel is used on ocassion probably never have to rebuild. Btw I pmd the good Pastor Bob a question about that particular freewheel overhaul, he answered right away and I was good to go.

IrishBrewer

I would agree with you with an application of conventional light oil but have you ever used Phil's Tenacious Oil? This stuff is aptly named and I've used it on other freewheels in a similar manner with good results (used this method on a winter/ice bike). I'm sure a full overhaul is the best if you have the time and means to do it but if not, the flush and oil method seems to be a good substitute. After the WD-40 and prior to oiling, the thing didn't sound as rackety as I would expect but I knew that over time, if left in this condition, it would start to get noisy or fail to operate normally. Oiling with the Tenacious oil quieted things down a bit and will keep things moving for some time. If it starts to get noisy, I'll just rinse and repeat.

texaspandj

^^^Yep, said the same thing on post 14 of this thread.

pastorbobnlnh 

Great news! Poly's Suntour Perfect was not lost, only delayed by USPS and has arrived. I should have time to open it up this evening and will take and post more pictures.

He did a great job cleaning the externals and it spins freely. It does smell of copious amounts of WD40. A good degreasing in the ultrasonic cleaner, new grease, bearings (if needed), and it will be good to ride well into the second decade of this century.

IrishBrewer

On the plus side, WD-40 is the cologne of mechanics. My preference, however is the scent of cleaning out a shotgun bore with Hoppes #9. My wife doesn't quite agree.

pastorbobnlnh 

More pictures: Disassembled sprockets and spacers before cleaning



Dirty interior. Don't forget that Poly soaked this in soapy water and flushed it with WD40. This is what was left afterwards upon first opening.





Interior after cleaning in the Spa.



Grease, bearings, pawls, and spacers added. Note the Blue Loctite on the threads of the outer bearing race/retaining ring. Ready for assembly.



Almost done.



Body ready for clean sprockets and spacers.



Ready to ship back to the OP. Note this is an Ultra Spaced Perfect.

Road Fan

I know I need more mellowing agents these days! An ounce of good bourbon has more effect that a hot dog with ketchup!

jonwvara 

Nice work, Bob! A really clean freewheel is a beautiful thing.

I love Ultra spaced Perfects. Cheap, easy to find, easy to work on, and you can customize them to accommodate pretty much any wacky gearing scheme you can dream up. I'm pretty sure those are the only freewheels I have on any of my bikes (though maybe half of them are regular five-speeds).

Salamandrine 

Wow, Ultra spaced. That was the extra trick set up when I first got into "10 speeds".

It's always nice to see another one of these beautifully rebuilt, and ready to ride again. I have to say I admire Bob's passion for (and knowledge of) this humble bike component.

polymorphself 

This is great, thanks Bob! Can't wait to get it back.

Great communication, speedy service and top quality all at a more than fair price

merziac

It has a thankless job that most of us take for granted. Many of them keep going despite often being neglected beyond reason, they have to be the toughest component we have. Some of them, especially the Suntour's could last forever especially with @pastorbobnlnh onboard.

dddd

That is a nice Ultra freewheel to find in the 14-30t configuration.


Looks like a lo-mileage example inside and out, so good as new.


I've had freewheels that were gummed up particularly bad and I used the Finish Line Citrus Degreaser sprayed into the internals while I put on gloves and first scraped the cogs with a metal ruler then finished with a brush and the Citrus Degreaser getting all the old chain grease from the cogs.


But I always flushed them out with water after the degreaser seemed to have done it's job, and then whirled out the water with my arm in the direction of the NDS.
In each case I followed up with a blasting with a hair drier, got it hot, spun it and made the hot air go through the mechanism, so it was good and dry, followed up with my old standard, motor oil, 20 drops into the driveside end of the mechanism, spin it a bit then whirl the oil out with the freewheel wrapped in a rag, my arm's radius creating enough centrifugal force to extract any excess of oil, same way that I got the water out of it.

pastorbobnlnh 

@dddd, I'd contend that your cleaning method takes almost as long as mine does and yet you'd still have residual grime on the inside as did Polomorphself's Perfect. He did nearly everything you do with the exception of the oil drip. You are correct about it being low mileage. I could only find a tiny amount of minimal wear on the underside of two sprockets. The rest appeared to be NOS.
@merziac, @Salamandrine and @jonwvara, thank you for the kind words of appreciation.
@PoLomorphself you are welcome! Other than the delay by the USPS, I had the time last night to complete the work. It helped that Mrs. PB went to her monthly book group and she didn't have to listen to the ultrasonic cleaner!

It's snowing hard at the moment. I'll let you know when I'm able to head to the PO.

texaspandj

Excellent!
Pretty dang Cool. Thanks for the pics.

jimmuller 

Good follow-up from someone named @IrishBrewer!

I'm in favor of experiencing a mellowing agent every so often, the sort that comes in bottles and requires that I do exercises of the 12oz curl variety. Exercise and mellowing, good after a bike ride.