Rotate rims & hubs correctly

While the scoot lived in Ted's garage, he was kind enough to tackle a bit of the reassembly. One item he took care of for me was to purchase the new tubes and put the tires on the rim. I hadn't noticed until a reader pointed out, but the tube came through the rim wrong and the rims were connected to the hubs backwards.It was an easy change for me and just one more item that needed to be done. So I tackled the front tire a week ago and the rear tire today. An item worth investing in for me is a torque wrench -- a nice Craftsman for $90. I purchased mine on sale at Harbor Freight for $12 or $20 or something like that. I figured since it is a hand tool I should be safe. I was wrong. I just pulled it out and I can't remember, but I am not sure the last time I used it if I put it on the lowest setting so to preserve the intricate mechanisms. All I know is it no longer works and I now need to invest in a quality one.

I did not fix the spare tire set up yet, as the tube inside it was pinched between the rim halves when put together (make sure to pump up with air before sealing the halves) and I figure I will fix that when I put a new tube in. No rush as the visible tires are now correct.

Front fork assembled

The fork/steering column is fully assembled. Though my front hub pivot was in okay shape with not too much wear, I opted to replace it. Ted removed the old one and installed the new one. Back in his shop days, he learned to use a thicker grease on roller bearings like these, because it acts as a "glue" and holds them in place when packing the bearings and makes your life a whole lot easier.

As you can see below, I reused all my hardware, only replacing the grease nipple, which is a moot point, because we installed sealed bearings in the front hub, but I want this mildly custom SS180 to look true to the period.

We replaced the brake pads and sealed everything back up. The paint job sure looks sharp and I am so happy we rebuilt the front shock and kept it stock.

The bottom race on the steering column was a little misshaped. Ted straightened it. These pieces are easy to replace if need be.

One thing I did not do is to use fiberglass tape around the bearing races and any other surfaces that should not be painted. Make sure that you take the time to research and think about all areas that should NOT have paint on them and then to cover them with fiberglass tape pre-medium blasting and painting (you can change the tape to a painter's tape after medium blasting). Then you will only need to clean the areas.
Ted used his wire wool and sand paper, and when appropriate his Dremel, to clear paint where there should not be paint, ie my bearing race.

You can see the bearing race is clean here.

Before reinstalling the front fender and steering column Ted greased and installed the bearings.