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Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
#1 2013-12-23 4:35pm
Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
1st post here! Great community!
As the topic says, I plan to restore my childhood bike. I was inspired by midschooljohns 94 rebuild, man that's nice! - http://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.p … 10&p=5 Likely this build will take a while and I will do my best to document as I go. Here's the story of the bike so-far;
My dad bought me this bike new in 91/92 (not sure which year) when I was 10. I remember asking for this bike after falling in love with it, not sure where as no local bike shop had bikes like this. I remember specifically not asking for the team model because I thought I would never get it, so I asked for the non-team version and got it. We bought this in the next town over (2 hours away) and I remember the day I got it. About 6 months to a year later, it was stolen from my back yard. My dad managed to track it down via a reward tip off and with the help of the RCMP the recovered it in a town 9 hours away. We went and got it and I was super excited to have it back.
Fast forward to age 14 when I discovered motocross, cars and girls. I kept this bike up until about 6 years ago when I gave it to the neighbor kid as it was just taking up room in the garage. I've always regretted giving it up. Last Friday I had a major major bout of nostalgia and regret and I asked for it back. As neighbor kid is 15ish and is 6'4" and after clearing it with his mom, they agreed that it would fine to give it back as he's not riding it much anymore. I offered to either buy it or replace it, but they declined.
I picked it up this morning in about the same shape as I gave it to him; well ridden. I have boatloads of questions about restoration. I'm also not sure what my intent is. Am I building a carpet queen, or something to ride again... I'm just not sure. Maybe through the rebuild I will figure this out. I guess I should figure this out as it will help me figure out at what level to rebuild it. Part of me says show-room new (new parts, etc) and part of me says keep all the original parts. Here are a few things about the bike:
- I removed all logos, stickers, etc a couple years after I got it. Boy am I regretting that now!
- I re-routed the back brake cable to make way for my foot. I've since lost the bit for the cable.
- I shortened the lower gyro cable
- I replaced the upper gyro cable for a "cool" white one
- I gave the fork standers away - This bike had them when we bought it
- I likely tossed the bash guard, but can't remember. I really hope I can find it somewhere in a corner - This bike had them when we bought it
- The rear rim is in pretty bad shape (lots of flat spots)
- The chrome seems to be in decent shape
- The hub stickers are very faded (I thought I've seen replacements for these)
I'm no stranger to working on bikes, but I've never attempted a resto before. As I'm new to this, there are a few things I would love direction on:
- Dipping chrome bits: I've read posts about a couple methods on this way. The part I'm really unsure of is the stop process after a vinegar dip.
- Stickers! I'm guessing I will likely have to recreate these. Are there resources for figuring out which fonts were used? I can't find many pictures of a 91.
- Tires: these seem to be hit or miss for locating them, is there a go-to resource for them?
- Paints: I sanded down the pitbull. what paint would I use to restore the brake if I don't replace it?
- If the rear hoop is hooped (sorry, couldn't resist), are these easy to find?
- Chain ring: I sanded the logo off.
- Pedals: they are beat. I've seen a few people file them. Is that a good way to restore? Or should I be looking for replacements?
Anyways, here are a couple crappy cell phone pics. I will follow up later with better pictures. Any help, guidance and/or interest is greatly appreciated.
Spencer
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#2 2013-12-23 5:20pm
- DemonGT
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
here is what a 91 looked like as for decals
http://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/gt_bicycles/53414
WTB: 1992 Yellow splatter GT Performer, 1992/1994 PFTs, 1992 Dyno Slammer
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#3 2013-12-23 5:20pm
- DemonGT
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
WTB: 1992 Yellow splatter GT Performer, 1992/1994 PFTs, 1992 Dyno Slammer
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#4 2013-12-23 7:59pm
Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
The frame is stamped July 91, but I seem to remember the decals looking like the 92. Is it possible it was manufactured in 91, but built as a 92 (decals?)?
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#5 2013-12-23 8:06pm
- DemonGT
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
Spencerb wrote:
The frame is stamped July 91, but I seem to remember the decals looking like the 92. Is it possible it was manufactured in 91, but built as a 92 (decals?)?
Yes, my red 92 i restored is stamped 7/91 also
WTB: 1992 Yellow splatter GT Performer, 1992/1994 PFTs, 1992 Dyno Slammer
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#7 2013-12-24 9:21am
- DemonGT
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
Spencerb wrote:
That's awesome, thanks Demon!
Feel free to PM any questions you might have.
WTB: 1992 Yellow splatter GT Performer, 1992/1994 PFTs, 1992 Dyno Slammer
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#8 2013-12-24 9:34am
Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
Thanks Demon, I appreciate that.
I tore the bike down to the frame last night, it went super quick. What I did notice was the chrome has been worn through in two spots down to the nickel (copper color). Will an OA or vinegar bath be an issue with this? I'll grab pics later.
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#10 2013-12-24 3:52pm
- punkbmxer
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
a vinegar bath should be fine since it takes the rust off of the frame. are you going to paint the frame or re-chrome it?
/The Rev foREVer\
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#11 2013-12-27 5:22pm
Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
I'm going to see if I can avoid re-chroming. I think I'm going to buff up the chrome as is and see how it looks. The forks have lots of wear near the pegs, so we will see how that goes.
2 questions: 1) who made the chain? It's got a little planet (Saturn?) on it, made in Taiwan. 2) what brand are the rims? I de-stickered them and the rear is really bad...
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#12 2013-12-27 5:38pm
- DemonGT
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
Spencerb wrote:
I'm going to see if I can avoid re-chroming. I think I'm going to buff up the chrome as is and see how it looks. The forks have lots of wear near the pegs, so we will see how that goes.
2 questions: 1) who made the chain? It's got a little planet (Saturn?) on it, made in Taiwan. 2) what brand are the rims? I de-stickered them and the rear is really bad...
Rims are Sun rims
here is a pic of the sticker
WTB: 1992 Yellow splatter GT Performer, 1992/1994 PFTs, 1992 Dyno Slammer
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#14 2013-12-31 11:00am
- brian65
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
sun levanter rims.
84/85/86 GT Pro Performer
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#16 2014-01-02 11:58am
- NOPOSERS
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
Aren't those sun rims polished ?
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#17 2014-01-02 11:48pm
- brian65
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
those sun rims kinda had a polish to them..
both my 91's have a W.S/M.S. chain.. light gold/black color..
Man that bike needs alot of TLC..
I would love to have an all chrome PFT like that. chrome out and polish everything with some black repop '92 decals would be sweet.
84/85/86 GT Pro Performer
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#19 2014-01-03 1:08am
- brian65
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
that sucks. not easy to find them rims. can you measure the width of them for me, I may have one..
84/85/86 GT Pro Performer
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#21 2014-01-04 1:32pm
- DemonGT
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
brian65 wrote:
that sucks. not easy to find them rims. can you measure the width of them for me, I may have one..
This is true, i ended up using Ukai rims on my 92.
WTB: 1992 Yellow splatter GT Performer, 1992/1994 PFTs, 1992 Dyno Slammer
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#22 2014-01-04 3:57pm
- 90Aggressor
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
Very cool story, gonna watch your build. I too am basically doing the same thing.
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#24 2014-01-04 7:15pm
- 90Aggressor
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Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
I am, here is my build thread....
http://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.p … 8#p4593978
Sorry to hear about the chrome. I got lucky with mine. My Aggressor still looks like it did back in the 90's. It does have it's scuffs on certain areas, but nothing for me to go nuts picky over.
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#25 2014-01-07 4:55pm
Re: Restoring my childhood bike - 1991 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
OK, so I'm putting together a game plan and I think due to economical and marital reasons, I'm going to limit my purchases monthly. I'm going to start in on the wheels since they will take me a while to restore. I found new hub stickers at two places, but they want almost the same price for shipping as the stickers for something that would fit in an envelope. Is there anywhere else I could get these stickers?
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