Restoring Seven 1980's Panasonic bikes.

[jamesdak]

Busy with other problems today but finally got some time to get back at the bikes. I installed the new chain stay protector on the DX-2000. I also took off the freewheel on this bike and gave it a better going over. Removed the dork disk while I had the freewheel off. Put the freewheel back on and now this one truly is done and ready for a new owner.




There really is a clear vinyl chain stay protector on there now, LOL!

 

[jamesdak]

Thought I was done with this second DX-5000 but I spotted several minor things to sort out. Better cleaning and wax and then things like glue the decals on the headset and such. Had to piece together a unicog cassette for this one since it came with some sweet Sante hubs. These are beautifully made and looking bikes.

 

[jamesdak]

And a few more of the DX-5000. Tires have been replaced. Didn't spot the cracks until I took the pictures.

 

[jamesdak]

Wound up stripping down the DX-4000 yesterday. When initially going over the bikes I felt some minor distortion in the top tube and down tube indicating a front end collision. I put it aside at the time. Yesterday I decided to see if it rode ok. The plan being if it rode ok I'd built it into a beater. But on a short test ride it pulled badly to the left. I also found a broken guide on the top tube and that someone had smashed in the bottle cage braze-on's located on the seat tube. So this one is dead. It's a shame since it's a Tange 2 (think Columbus SL) that appears to be fully chromed under the paint.

 

[Ecurie Peril]

What a fabulous cache of bikes!

 

[jamesdak]

Just as an update of sorts. I completely stripped down the damaged DX-4000. I kept a few of the parts, put others in the donation box for a local bike charity, and threw some really rusted bits away. I was going to keep the frame around to do something creative with but would up throwing it away the day before I went in for some surgery. After I recovered enough I got back to messing a bit with the remaining two bikes. These are the ones I plan to keep for me. The PT-3500 was finished last night in it's first configuration. I may make some changes to it once I can ride it. I'll post up pictures of it later today. The Team bike is also ready to finish. I was waiting on hoods for the brake levers to come in. I did play around a bit with the Team the other day in terms of wheelsets. At first I put on a modern spaced Cane Creek Team Ti wheelset. The RD could only cover 8 of the 9 gears on the Campagnolo cassette on these wheels. Then I tried the Superbe Pro/Araya Red Labels wheelset I actually have on hand. I think the silver of this wheelset looks better on the bike. So I will use that for the final build. That keeps it all as a Suntour Superbe/Cyclone mix of parts. Here's a teaser shot of the PT-3500 as I finished it last night and then two of the Team bike with the different wheelsets.

 

[jamesdak]

The PT-3500 is done for now. I expect to make some changes after I use it a bit. This is one of the bikes I wanted for myself from the group buy.

This is another 1987 bike. I've kept the original Deore derailleurs and 50/44/28 Biopace crankset. Also the stock Shimano Cantilever brakes. I did swap the original 27" wheels for some Ritchey Zeta Classics I had. Mounted up some Gravelking SS 700x38 tires I bought here. Put on a brand new 11-32 8 speed cassette that should give me all the gearing I need. Swapped out too tall stem, narrow bars, and brake levers. I used a nice Dura Ace stem with Dura Ace brake lever mounted to a wider handlebar. New cables, housings, chain, Gran Compe Roller Bearing hangers for the brakes, Gran Compe ENE 11S shifters. cork bar tape, and bottle cages finished things up for now.

 

[jamesdak]

Pretty much finished up the other one I want to keep out of this group. The 1984 Team made with Tange 2. I still need to finish some paint touch up on it and polish the crank but the basic build is done. For this one I swapped on some Suntour Superbe brakes and brake levers also with Suntour Cyclone derailleurs. It had a nice wheelset that came with it but I swapped them for a Superbe hub/Araya Red Label wheelset to match the other parts. This morning I put my last set of new Veloflex tires on the wheels also. I used those super cool Suntour Symmetric shifters on this one. A neat piece of kit where the two shifter levers are connected. So when you shift the rear it actually trims the front for you. And it works! New chain, new Nitto stem, new cork bar tape, and a nice used Avocet 02 Air R saddle rounds out the build. With thos temporary old pedals on it the bike weighs 22 lbs and 12 ozs.