Overhauling a '75 Viscount Gran Touring *journal and pics*
 

Well I'm working on fixing up my father's 1975 Viscount Gran Touring. He bought the bike the year he graduated High School, and used it for fun and to commute in Chicago. Over the past couple decades the bike has been mostly forgotten, and kept in a shed/garage/basement and my father was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease about 8 years ago. I remember always seeing the bike around my house growing up, but had never thought anything about it until I came across it recently and asked my father about it. Hearing me inquiring about the bike made his eyes light up, and he got excited telling me about it's history. Afterwards, I felt bad seeing something that my father truly enjoyed to be hidden away in the shed, so I asked him if I could clean it, fix it up, and get it running strong again. He was more than happy to oblige, of course. I know he won't be able to ride a bike again, but maybe seeing his old steed back the way he remembers it will put a smile on his face. And maybe I can use it as my first road-bike as well, and keep it as a functional family heirloom.

I've fallen in love with this bike! It's not a fancy Italian masterpiece, and it's not a rare one-of-a-kind, but it means so much more to me than either one of those ever could. Just dismantling the bike and starting to clean in has given me such an intimate knowledge of something that my father had loved when he was my age. I've just had this amazing feeling anytime I'm working on the bike, or even just sitting out in the garage and enjoying it's beauty. It sounds kind of strange, but just taking care of this bike has made me feel connected in a deeper way with my father now - like there's some underlying bond through this bike. I had thought about getting the bike repainted, but as I clean it more and more I see every scratch as a memory, every ding has history, I think it would be a shame to erase all of that. So I think I'm going to try to keep it as original as I humanly can, and still maintain it's ride-ability.

But without further ado here's my journal! I'll update it whenever I make more progress with the bike. If you have any questions, concerns, critiques, or advice please feel free to let me know. I hope you enjoy it! I know I will!

- Jan. 25th - Got the Bike!

Well the bike is much more dilapidated than I thought. The pictures below don't do justice to how grungy this bike looks in person. It looks as if it hasn't been washed or ridden in 20 years. The rims are bent (or at least far from being true), the tires are flat (and look like originals from '75), the chrome is all pitted, the seat is torn, the decals are cracked and faded, rust in a lot of spots, and it just sounds like torture when I spin the pedals. It seems like the grease is the original from the factory, too. There's cobwebs, leafs, dirt and grime everywhere on it. Hope I can still make it run well again. However, I'm very optimistic!

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/p1262811.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/p1272821.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/p1272831.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/p1272832.jpg




- Jan. 27th - Initial Breakdown and Cleaning

Gave her a little scrub to get some of the caked on grime off! Holy carp! This thing is looking a million times better with just a little degreaser! I feel bad though, I'm having to scrub some of this stuff pretty hard to get it off, and I don't want to ruin the paint!

I've rigged a work-stand to hold the bike while I work on it. I've been able to remove everything besides the cranks/bottom bracket. I have to pick up a crank puller tomorrow to finish the job. Then I can inspect the inside of the frame for rust, and she'll be ready for a really good washing!

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/p1282862.jpg

That decal is White?!?!
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/p1272843.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/p1272837.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/p1272846.jpg


- Feb. 2nd - Damnit!
Well, I've been tapping and trying to gently pry off the cranks a little bit, but stopped since I really didn't want to break or bend anything on the bike. Finally today, I went out to my LBS and picked up a crank puller. I feel kind of bad though. I got to the LBS around 12:30 and I think I interrupted the guy's lunch, haha. Luckily it took me all of about 6 seconds to grab the tool and pay, so he had more time to go eat his Turkey sandwich. I hate myself though, since I was kind of tired earlier, and forgot to bring my wheels to get trued, and pick up a chain tool : ( I'll have to make another trip soon so I can finally get the chain off, and get this frame sparkling clean!

I removed the cranks, and found just a little bit of rust where the bottom bracket was. The inside of that part is really clean, and has the paint in there, but the rust looks like it came out of the tubes above it that lead into the bottom bracket. Do you guys think this will require a full rust treatment to clear out the frame, or is it not going to be that bad, and nothing I have to worry about? (It was more like a rust dust, not flakes) Otherwise, all the grease, threads, and bearings look to be in pretty good condition.

Here's my new little toy! Got the cranks off, and my BB removed in about 20 seconds : ) I'll take some more pics when my camera gets recharged.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...8/p2022954.jpg

The paint looks great, nice job cleaning it. Did you pull the fork and bottom bracket? If not it is probably a good idea since you have it stripped to the point that it is. Keep us posted.

-Matt

Thanks for the kind words :) And I did remove the fork, but not the bottom bracket. I'm picking up a crank wrench later today, so that will be gone soon. I'll update that pic, thanks for mentioning that :D

Thats the thing that really stinks about bottom brackets, so many specialty tools. I'm also a newb, the cost of removing my first bottom bracket was painful. I needed a crank puller, pin spanner and a wrench for the lock ring....ouch. On the other hand, I have done a whole bunch of bottom brackets since then, so I saved the money I would have paid to the LBS since I bought the tools. I think the biggest money saver for me has been buying a large tub of grease. I had been buying the tiny bottles of phil wood grease for a small fortune per tube, then I got a large tub of Park grease. The park grease was about 10 dollars and I still have tons left.

I did not read your story well enough, I missed that this is your fathers old bicycle. That's great, I understand the bond that you mentioned.

Great story and great job on the bike so far. It's possible that the bottom bracket is the peculiar sealed bearing one that I've seen on most Viscounts. If so, you need to replace those cartridge bearings, but they are only $5 a pop at loosescrews.com or at a bearing shop.

Neal

Looks pretty cool. Love the bright yellow :) Though, do I spot some rust pits in the chrome? Try to put a new black layer of ducktape around the rear fork. Should look better than the current half-black/half-yellow combo.

Thanks for the insight and the website. Yeah it's getting all new bearings, grease, cables, handlebar tape, and whatever else pops up :)

Yeah, I know I'm going to wind up paying a pretty penny for some materials/tools now, but I'm hoping to get my money out of them in the future. Thanks for the advice on the grease :)

Edit: Thank you sir!! I just took a closer look at that black tape thing. I thought it was put on by Viscount, but I noticed a small bump under it, and decided to pull back the tape (with my fingers crossed!) Lo and behold, it was just stuck on by someone! And there was another decal under there that I'm guessing hasn't seen daylight since the 70's! It's nice and bright, and the paint looks great under it too. It wasn't just some kind of duct/electrical tape though, it was some kind of heavier, stiffer plastic. Thanks again, I don't know if I would have given that a second thought!

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/p1282860.jpg

Updated, but I still need to make another run to the LBS.

Looks quite a lot nicer without the black tape. Wouldn't have imagined that the rear fork would be lookig that good!