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Anyway, long story short, make sure you get that grubby one still in the wheel if possible. £20 to have a crack at it is fine imo. And don't spend on the tool, try @benjaminbunny's approach first!
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Didn't mean you were cheap, just handy ;)
I was flattered you thought I'd be able to file the end of a copper pipe so the ID was 26.6mm and cutting sharp :D And then not fuck something up with it!
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Ah that’s great, thanks for info.
I did fully service one a couple of years ago. The idea of taking off the face plate with a pin spanner is a joke, I’ve had to use a punch and a hammer both times I’ve taken one off. Maybe now I know what penetrating oil actually is that might help, but still servicing can be destructive.
When I got it open I just found I really needn’t have bothered. And to get the balls and pawls back in and the outer body on, you need at least three hands.
Getting the sprockets off with 2 chainwhips is ok as @benjaminbunny says. You probably won’t be able to get the last one off, but at least you can give them all a good clean including the one left on the body. I’ve started just soaking in paraffin scrubbing and spinning for a few soaking cycles, then flush with wd40, then I feed in Phil Wood Tenacious Oil (I’m sure there are other equally good options - I have a little bottle and pretty much only use it in freewheels).
That has made a couple of gritty feeling freewheels turn nicely again.
If there’s play in it I don‘t think you can do much about it. And it probably came like it. The one I fully serviced was an Oro so should be the best quality but it had play - just felt like the 2 thin (shim?) washers inside were too thick. I tried without one and it bound, and with both there was play. I couldn’t get it just right.
As far as I know tolerances were just a bit sloppy. Why Japanese freewheels took over! A Suntour from the 70s is likely to be more precisely made than European equivalents.
@benjaminbunny thanks for corroborating! I suspect your method is appealing to @absurdbird as it doesn’t involve buying an expensive tool!
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This is the one I removed recently. Correction to the above I just needed to take off the smallest sprockets to get at the face plate. The notches weren’t too bad but my tool is pretty ruined (in pic too) and was slipping.
Teeth on the tool are 5.2mm wide. You could always file down a copper pipe 😉
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I used to read all those posts about Regina freewheels being a pita to remove and thought yeah yeah. But they are. You need it to be in the wheel or it’s a whole lot worse. The wheel gives you a lot of leverage.
I bought a Var 2 prong Regina tool and chewed it up removing one. You use a skewer to hold it in the notches of the freewheel and then a big spanner or a bench vice and turn the wheel to release it. Then undo the skewer and continue.
I’m sure penetrating oil would help - I got my can of Plus Gas yesterday, been having fun with it already!
The last one I did, I can’t remember if the notches were knackered when I got it or if I knackered them ... but you can take off the sprockets, take off the face plate (a pita in itself) and clamp the internals of the body to get purchase. By the time you’ve knackered the notches you’ve already lost!
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I meant to grab a pic of some when they come up on Ebay. I always remember just how obvious it is when you actually see one of those trapezoid shaped rims.
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Not completely sure looking on my phone but don’t think those are pista. Early 60s road I reckon. Some geeklordery here https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15541363/
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Not to be too 🤓 but any hint of a year stamp on the back @Nbenja3?
@absurdbird unless you get lucky I think you’ll need parts from a couple of freewheels to get what you want. You’re obviously also going to need a Regina Gran Sport chain to match!
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Very nice body. Good spread on the sprockets 💪
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I hadn't seen this before tonight either https://condorino.com/2019/03/30/regina-freewheels/ - must have been after I was doing all my Googling about Regina freewheels! Good to see the second 2 digits must be the year as off his 1959 bike.
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Can only be the cogs surely?
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Well what the heck, this is on Classic Rendezvous as a 1938 ad
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Regina/Regina_poster_1938.htm -
Ha I'm not actively searching for Regina freewheels, just had a look yesterday after your post. There's A LOT of Regina freewheels on Ebay. Many are rubbish, many overpriced. Searching for "regina gran sport corse" turns up the right ones pretty easily, the "G S Corse" ones are later - like the later Campag Gran Sport stuff. You can also find some under-priced gems just searching for Regina freewheels and wading through it - sellers that haven't had the sense to write what's on the freewheel in the Ebay listing.
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I thought that one was a decent option. From what you can see in pics engraving, notches and teeth on front cogs look ok. 20 quid is alright, clean up the hubs you might get 20 quid for them. You also might bollox up the freewheel trying to get it off!
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Yeah I saw that. 4 speed and a pretty narrow spread though. So classy putting that nice engraving on the back. You can’t see it, you just know it’s there!
I would agree that Regina is more like 60s or 70s. I don’t think the freewheel design itself changed much, if at all. Maybe quality declined 🤷♀️
There was a nos 4 speed one with a red box that looked like the attached (but multispeed) on Ebay for a while a year or so ago. That was sold as 1950s (or maybe seller even said 1940s) but my conclusion was that was 50s. Either way the engraving and everything else apart from the box looked just like the one you’ve got your eye on.
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The 4 speed helps, more aesthetically please having the first cog in the same plane as the plate! I'm sure I'm telling you stuff you know ... the quality of the Regina freewheels declined over the years but I think 50s/60s and in to 70s they were certainly seen as the best you could get. I never managed to figure out exactly when the Extra was introduced - there are some older Italian catalogues like Holdsworth Aids or Fonteyn or whatever but I've never managed to get a look at them. I spent some evenings Googling it a few years ago and think it was probably 50s but couldn't say for sure.
The Moyne ones are gorgeous and look similarly well made. I've got my eye out for one as my build is Brit with a bit of French.
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@absurdbird re freewheels ... I couldn't find this in my watch list the other day
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Japan-Sun-Tour-PERFECT-Madea-Industries-Ltd-5speed-Freewheel-14-24/143616240976
Admittedly it's not exactly cheap, and there is a little rust, but a) it's quite pretty, b) I bet it works well and c) you could have 6 of them for the price of that Campag 50th anniversary one. -
Surely you can find red fibre washers in the size you need? I found tiny little ones to fit hub oilers - copied from one of @BigBlock's builds. And I found something off the shelf that's pretty close to my Blumfield front that's rattling around in it at the moment.
What are your washer's measurements?
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And ... they make blue ones tfft 💪
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This looks like a reasonable option for the felt:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/516711575/116-thick-thin-high-density-industrial -
Thanks, that is some good info. There doesn't seem to be a rush on my offer either 😂
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It's the ID that's the important bit I guess, if that's a snug fit so long as the OD is inside the housing it'll be ok. I measured the rear housing at a hair under 27mm, front at 22.5mm.
Setting you up for a gag, but my rear washers are ok, it's the front that are knackered. If I was doing it myself I wouldn't bother with the rear.
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🙄
My toxic masculinity can't handle that in my toolbox.
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I suspect they are compatible. It would have been a pretty bold move to change the theaded diameters. I took the smallest cogs off that 83 Regina to try in the first position of my 54. I'll try and have a go at that next week and let you know.