Well this may or may not be a good idea but I think I am going to try and build up this bike frame I acquired today. I have never owned nor worked on a full suspension bike before. From what I can tell (and according to the guy who I bought the frame from) the shock on the bike is still in good working condition, no leaks etc. All the pivots seem ok (though it is probably hard to tell until it's built).

I guess there are still parts available from a company called BETD, that makes bearings and shocks for old bikes. But they look expensive so I hope the frame/shock/pivots will work as is, at least for awhile so I can have a little fun with it, and maybe upgrade later some if I love it.

What I am not sure about is if I should try and take the pivots apart and clean and lube things, or just try and drip some lube in them as they sit? Also, should I try and do any kind of service to the shock, or just ride it as is till it breaks?

And/or, does anybody know of alternative, somewhat inexpensive pivot and shock parts that might work for the bike?

Maybe something like this would work for a shock? New Fox Vanilla R Bicycle Mountain Bike Rear Shock 165mm DH Fr XC Enduro | eBay

I don't know much (anything) about shocks, but it seems like the eye to eye measurement is just a little under 6 1/4", also on the coil it says 1.5 and 750.

Bikepedia says the rear shock has 4.25" of travel, but that doesn't really look possible to me.

The shock is probably fine, the spring has a 1.5" stroke, and is a 750 lb coil. The 4.25 inches is the rear wheel travel. That frame may not actually need any new bushings of shock, I would definitely hold off until you knew for sure they were shot. FWIW, those were pretty bomber frames, a bit heavy but quite sophisticated for their time and smooth as butter on the trail. Good luck!

Thanks, nice to have some encouragement on this project.
I have already encountered my first challenge. The old junk bottom bracket seems to be pretty well stuck. Hopefully a good soak in liquid wrench will help the situation.

If you run out of options on the BB, try heating the BB shell(I've had success using a small flame, judiciously applied) it will expand and loosen its grip on the BB. A skewer works well to hold the BB tool firmly in place to get it started.

Hey thanks. I did end up getting the old bottom bracket out. I let it soak in penetrating oil for a couple hours, then put a cheater bar on my ratchet and it came out without too much struggle. Hopefully, I will have the bike pretty well ready to ride by this weekend. I have a few day's off, so I am pretty pleased that this little project came up.

That is a really cool frame. I don't personally like full suspension myself, but if I had the option I would totally build and ride one of those! If it were me, I would use a disc brake up front, just something to consider when fork shopping.

Thanks for taking an interest in my new bike! I'm really stoked on it. I agree on the disc up front. I got the bike out for a ride this morning, and covered 13-14 miles with lots of single track, climbing and descending. The bike is great, and was well worth building up. There is some noticeable pedal bob riding on asphalt, but I don't do much of that with a mountain bike anyway. As soon as the bike gets off road, it does really well both going up and down. The improvement in traction and braking on loose surfaces compared to my hardtail is phenomenal. I really think it will be great bike, especially after I get it dialed in a bit more. I think I will set the fork up for 120mm of travel (at 100mm now) and also try to find a good deal on a little nicer rear shock. I might even spring for a new bearing kit from BETD if it becomes necessary.