New ATC 70 added to the fleet

[Rockman]

I picked up a 1985 ATC70 yesterday for my 6 year old daughter. I have been searching Craigslist for about 2 years and passed up about 10 of them due to their poor condition.

The one I bought is in really good shape, almost looks new. Gas tank clean, good stickers, good rear plastic. Plug was a bit carboned up but I cleaned it out for now and it starts easily and idles well. Only cosmetic problem I noticed is that the front fender is craked where it bolts to the fork and due to this crack, the fender has scraped up against the front of the motor when turning causing a big line wearing away the middle of the fender. I plan to get a new fender but not necessary at the present time.

The only real thing that needs to be fixed are the hubs / rims. All three are leaking. The tires are only about 1 year old and have the knobbies still on. The rims look good with no bends. The leaks are all in the inner hub (if you woukld call it that). It looks like the previous owner used some kind of calk as a gasket or sealant and as a result, all 3 rims are leaking.

My plan was to take the tires off the ATC, unbolt the hubs, clean them as best I can, put some type of sealant or gasket on them and have the local tire shop check the rims for corrosion, etc. and remount.


What is the best way to fix these leaking hubs/rims? What is the best and correct way to get these things sealed up so the tires do not go flat?

Hope to get a few pictures up between tonight and tomorrow.

My daughter's face lit up like a fire cracker when we pulled in the driveway at the guy's house we bought it from. She has managed to work herself thru the first 3 gears already and she just starting riding yesterday night. She absolutely loves it!


Thanks in advance for your help!

RM

[jr315rn]

get tubes for the tires , simple and no fuss

[Rockman]

Any good web sites for tubes?

[briano]

Your fender is rubbing in the head because the frame is probably bent. It is an easy fix though, just do a search on it. For the leaking tires I just tried the tire slime in 6 of my 70 tires and it seems to be working great so far. I had a couple that would go flat over night and now they have been holding for over a week now.

[Rockman]

Awesome, found the bottle jack bent frame fix and that looks pretty easy to do. Wll be doing this in the next couple weeks when I change all the fluids and fix the tires.


Thanks!!!

[jfaulkner02]

Yeah, I would say that your frame is bent too. It is notorious on the
70s. From what I can tell, its an easy fix though.

[Jon Boy]

would agree on the frame being bent, but not always the case. thought my 74 was bent, but ended up being the fender was mounted too high on the fork for some reason.

take the rims apart and clean the mating surfaces between the rim halves. wire wheel would be easiest. slap on a coat of paint and get a set of new o-rings for the rims and you should be good to go. very most i'd say maybe add a bead of chalk around the new o-rings if they're still not wanting to seal. if your still having problems then you might check to see if the mating surfaces are warped or bent then.

[Rockman]

Thanks for the comments JB.

Here are some pics...

[Jon Boy]

yeah, i'm gonna say check the fender. looks a bit high to me in those pics, but i've only dealt with my 74 so it could be differant for the newer ones. it should be sitting right above the tire, unless you've got smaller sized tire on there.

dang, looks pretty good IMO.

[DRKCYDE]

Nice bike.
Welcome to the club!