Totte86

Im making a restomod of an old Maraton(old swedish brand) for my younger brother. Im on a shoestring budget but I got lots of time to make everything look nice. I got a set of old clb fc 1165 centerpull brakes that I want to take apart to polish up with a buffing wheel. The rest of the non painted/non chromeplated steel and aluminum parts on the bike are all shiny af from being polished so they would look really out of place otherwise.

I just cant figure out if the bolt is seized or Im not understanding how to take them apart. There is some open barrel on the front with some threads 1/3 of the way in and a torx on the other side that is seized. Any more pressure trying to unwind the torx lefty loosy and the torxhead will be f****ed.

Anyone got experience with clb stuff? Its an old French brand?

Mr. 66

I think you are at a point of diminishing returns. I would just keep them all together and polish as-is. You can do just fine.

That said, you can try PB Blaster or Kroil penetrating oils on that. May help, you may be able to take apart but you may also have troubles getting back together and working.

I am not a fan of disassembling centerpull brakes. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

juvela

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recall this model as being part of series of similar models which launched about 1976

checked over at Tonton forum for this model and the search function there says it has never come up


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Totte86

I've never worked on any centerpull brakes before so I have no idea. Looking at the spring and considering how difficult it is to get the arms off I can understand why you are not a fan of taking them apart 😅. The arms are just pressed on from the front? There wasnt anything but a small plastic tab on one side "holding them on".

I like taking things apart to be able to fully clean, polish and wax if it applies, and lubricate them. The only things that hasnt been apart on this bike, built from parts from probably 20 different bikes, is the lock, and the shifter that I bought as NOS.

I've got plenty of time and doing things 100% to completion is satisfying for me while taking shortcuts nags on my mind haha. I got some health problems with my hands and arms so I always use machines where I can to aid in the process. In the end I just cleaned them with some extra fine aluminum wire wool(which I mostly use to clean old chrome, softer than aluminum foil) together with water and autosol. Cleaned up way better than I thought, for sure not as nice as buffing with tripoli followed by white compound. But really easy to clean, old parts were never anodized?

I didnt want to use a buffing wheel cause it would be too easy for the buff to grab the brake while trying to polish the different nooks and crannies while the brake is assembled and Im opening it with my hand. Also I didnt want to buff off what I assume is a galvanized coating on the spring.

I think now the fc 1165 is the specific part number for the bridge. The sales listing listed it as fc 1165 but the individual arms have other codes. The little plastic tab that came on only one of the arms says clb 1. That does come up on google so I assume that is the model. Do you know anything about clb 1 brakes? 😅

juvela

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catalogue page of 1984 with parts drawing for the CLB 1 model

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spclark 

... and curiously naught in that parts schematic that indicates the bits holding everything together can be removed / replaced down the road?


Hmmmm. I'd leave 'em as-is; the polishing can happen around those parts/

oneclick 

Tell us; there appears to be a steel stud on which the arms rotate - do they; i.e. does the stud move with the arm, or does it stay put?

spclark 

I'm thinking those open-barrel-w/threads are the posts, maybe screwed in (or pressed, with the inner threads to hold 'em on the press mandrel?) that receive the TORX-headed fasteners from behind? Those thread into the other end, the inside-threaded portion of the barrels that act as pivots?

Tough to know for cert barring: 1) 'sectioning an assembly; 2) convenient access to an x-ray device; 3) reply here from someone who's gotten a unit disassembled beyond what that parts diagram indicates is possible, maybe with pictures?

I know the Weinmann / Universals I'm familiar with can be disassembled quite easily; done it many times for a variety of reasons (none of which involve polish).

repechage

those clever French engineers, adjusted and lubricated for life.

Trakhak

Like the early Simplex derailleur model with the white all-miracle-Delrin parallelogram. Chances are no one ever had to lubricate one of those, if you take my meaning.

clubman 

CLB2 brakes sometimes had short centre bolts, so ensure there's enough purchase on the front. Some French fork crowns seemed to be a little slim front to back

chain_whipped

Like the GB Coureur 66 centerpull, don't mess with them. Use a fave penetrant in the pivots, let it drip out and then a few drops of Tri-flo. If you must, hand polish with Mothers.

Totte86

The studs are probably screwed in from the back of the bridge and does not rotate with the arms. Most likely just oxidized over the ages and will never come out.

Yes they must be even more clever than NASA 😄. They have designed the perfect brake which never needs service...

This is what I did pretty much. Wish I could do more but I guess its better to source a better designed brake in the future, if needed, than continue to mess with this one. Needed something cheap and decently powerful that would clear the fender. With swissstop pads Im hoping they prove to be good enough.

oneclick 

Why can't the arms just pull off from in front then?

Totte86

Idk but my thought is perhaps they expanded the posts at the tip after pressing on the arms to keep the arms from moving out, but thats just a guess. I cant get the posts out by unscrewing them from the back. Any more force and I will just be destroying things.

oneclick 

Are they held on the post by the ends of the springs in a groove?

If so, pop it out of the groove and see if they pull off.

Totte86

No I really doubt its just the spring. With all the force Ive tried to get them off they for sure would have at least moved a bit but they are where they are, rock solid.

Bad Lag

Are the arms swaged/crimped in place? The fourth photo shows an indentation which might be a swage.

I wonder what they perceived to be the benefit to be for their assembly method?

oneclick 

Sometimes - especially with dissimilar metals - when you have a fastener frozen and it is that hard to turn when UNscrewing - try the other way.
Yes, tighten.
You know how hard you are willing to turn it for unscrewing; turn it that hard the other way, it might break free.