ColonelJLloyd 

My '73 Raleigh Sports restoration is coming along nicely. I need to get the wheels done now. I'll lay out how I was going to tackle this based on reading and advice from others. Please weigh in with your own experiences and advice. Am I missing something? Is this how you'd go about it? Thanks!

1. Remove duct tape rim strip
2. Flush hub with kerosene
2a. Oil hub (what type oil?)
3. Clean hub and rim with Simple Green and nylon detail brush
4. Bathe rim in oxalic acid solution (rotating in 1-2" pool)
5. #0000 steel wool on the spokes
6. True rim
7. Install Velox rim tape
8. Polish/protect rim with Blue Magic

stien

Is the hub nice and tight? My dad has a sports and the hub is loose as hell even though I tightened up the outer nuts (not the axle nuts).

ColonelJLloyd 

I'm not sure what you mean exactly. I notice nothing "loose". The cog seems to be just fine and there is no shimmy.

stien

Yeah my hub has a lot of side to side play in terms of the bearings and the cog. Makes clunking noises...

nlerner

Is the hub in working order? If so, there's no real need to flush it out. In terms of oil, a lightweight motor oil is fine, and just a few drops.

Neal

gbalke

1. Remove duct tape rim strip Is that vintage duct tap on the rim?

2. Flush hub with kerosene yes, if necessary

2a. Oil hub (what type oil?) Any 30 weight works good

3. Clean hub and rim with Simple Green and nylon detail brush Do this after the oxalic acid bath, letting the bath do the work for you.

4. Bathe rim in oxalic acid solution (rotating in 1-2" pool) See above! Also, make sure that the spokes and nipples are steel or the oxalic acid could possibly have adverse effect on them. You can verify this by doing a search in this forum.

5. #0000 steel wool on the spokes Good; use with WD-40 or a light oil.

6. True rim Good

7. Install Velox rim tape OK

8. Polish/protect rim with Blue Magic Any good chrome polish should work.

ColonelJLloyd 

Well, the fact is I'm not sure. Shame, shame. When I bought the bike it didn't have a rear tire and I commenced tear down without riding it. I have no reason to believe it isn't in working order. It seemed to shift fine when I tried it. I considered flushing it out just because it's really greasy now and I was going to have to clean everything anyway. I can certainly be convinced that it is unnecessary and/or it could potential do harm.

By lightweight motor oil, do you mean something like this? I already have a bottle of it.

sailorbenjamin

I like bronze wool. How old is this bike? The older ones had stainless steel spokes. They polish up really nice.

ColonelJLloyd 

In my experience oxalic acid doesn't work well on areas with oil or grease so I thought I'd give it a "once over" first.

sailorbenjamin

Anything but 3 in one or WD40. They are meant more for protection than lubrication and will leave sticky deposits that are hard to flush out. I just use chain lube but motor oil works, too.

sailorbenjamin

I'd agree, loose the grease first.

ColonelJLloyd 

1973. I'm worried about the spokes now. They don't appear to be SS. They look sort of dull like galvanized. Will a magnet test work to determine the material?

nlerner

Those are most likely galvanized spokes if original. They'll clean up to their original dull grey finish!

Neal

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I think you can be pretty sure the nipples are steel as well.

If they aren't they're probably fused to the steel spokes by now making truing impossible. If the nipples get eaten away by the Oxalic consider it a favor and rebuild with new spokes.

gna

Tighten up the left hand cone. There should be a slight amount of play at the rim. A 16 mm cone wrench will work, then tighten up the locknut.

ColonelJLloyd 

Yeah. One of the pics shows a pretty rusty nipple so I'd think they're steel. I'll put a drop of chain oil on each one after the OA bath before I true the wheel.

ColonelJLloyd 

I completely omitted a step to include cleaning the cones and replacing the bearing balls. Is this pretty straightforward like a non-IGH hub or is it easy to dump the guts of the hub everywhere?

David Newton

The 3 in 1 oil that you show is the regular petroleum based oil, not the vegetable base that Ben is warning about. It's good stuff. But plain 30 wt motor oil, like for a car, is best.
I don't know any reason to replace the bearing balls, unless yours are rusty or pitted. Vintage balls are great.

Roll-Monroe-Co

You can polish for an hour and they end up with gleaming like a 20-year-old battleship. Well, they do get a kind of deeper, darker surface with some luster ... they remind me of the cannonballs in the pirate's chest episode of Gilligan's Island that Mr. Howell thought were giant black pearls.

ColonelJLloyd 

Regardless, I should service them, right? Clean and repack with fresh grease? Is the procedure the same as any other hub? Which side should I leave "fixed"?

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

sheldon has a good page on 3 speed hub service

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer_3-spd.html