Bent peg mount - what are options?

[adidasguy]

So far everything going OK with Phenix. I found problem with one peg mount. Seems pretty bent. Took measurements in a variety of places and the frame is straight and true. Looks like an engine had been put in and a rear wheel. Not sure the story - as if someone was spending lots of money to rebuild a bike then gave up. Other than this, the frame is beautiful. Many screw holes were never used - that is they were clean with either surface rust or paint over spray. I do not think this bike was ever put back together and driven on the road. Too clean and shiny. Main signs of any use are the engine mounts. Maybe they gave up due to a bad engine? 

This black peg mount is there just because I wanted to see how bad it was and this was the first one I grabbed out of the drawer of pegs. (Probably will put Gimbel rear set on him.)

I post here as this is a general type of problem I am sure others have encountered so lets discuss what to do. I have some ideas, but want to hear suggestions and not discourage any suggestions other than "Live with it".

Now what to do about this:


How would this happen? Hit broadside? A drop at speed and the peg caught on something (curb?) and got bent back? Obviously the frame was completely cleaned, sanded and repainted by a pro - it looks so beautiful.

[mister]

I don't know addy, I'd say you might just have to live with it

[adidasguy]

I don't know addy, I'd say you might just have to live with it

Good one!

[Kijona]

Well, there's only two possibilities here: either the peg mounting bracket is bent or the frame is bent. If it's the bracket, best you can do is try to bend it back or replace it. If it's the frame...well you'll just have to live with it. It'd be easy enough to check...just take the peg/bracket off another bike and put on there to see if it's still bent like that or not.

As far as bending it back...well, that might be kind of hard to do. One way would be to find a big enough and long enough pipe to fit over the peg and just bend it forward while somebody held the bike. Though, obviously, you'd run the risk of stripping/breaking a bolt. It also seems like the little metal flaps that hold the peg onto the bracket might just give instead. Though, if they did, at least it would be closer to "normal" than it is now.

[Tombstones81]

Do the bolt holes go all the way through?  I cant remember.
If they do, can always get some from a hardware store that are stronger and longer then normal and try to bend it back with those.  (if they can go all the way through)

or maybe putting a, or some clamps on it and try to slowly bend it back.

that def. does suck tho!

hard to help not being close to my bike to look at it.

[BaltimoreGS]

Heat it with a torch and whack it with a hammer.

-Jessie

[Paulcet]

I've seen the bent peg mount twice. One of those is my bike. When it was knocked over by a truck.

The frame is surprisingly thin right there. There are two nuts tack welded inside. I just bolted up my rear set adapter plate really tight and grabbed it with my 12" adjustable wrench and bent it back. That 6mm aluminum is stronger than the steel frame.

[adidasguy]

OK. We got some good ideas started.

As mentioned, the bracket was just one I pulled from the parts drawer. It is not bent. I do not have the original bracket that was on the frame. Probably it was so damaged it was disposed of by the PO when the frame got painted.

The mounting holes/nuts in the frame are bent out at an angle as if the original mounting bracket (and peg) were hit hard enough to bend the back of the bracket back and inward. That resulted in the nuts/mounting holes to be pulled out and at an angle. That can be seen when you note the angle of the bolts.

This shows it. The frame is OK. The mounting spots are at an angle are appear pulled out a little - as if the mounting bracket were struck at the back end (or peg caught on something while going forward) causing the back of the bracket to be forced in, thus pulling out the screw holes/nuts.


The frame itself is not bent. When I saw this, I got paranoid (maybe even tri-noid) and I took lots of measurements from each side to swing arm ends, center to each side and side-to-side. Everything measures within 1/8 " which is probably as good as they get.

Torch is out of the question. Can't destroy all the paint in that area. If I was going to paint a frame, that would be the way to go.

Possibilities?
1. Clamp a vice there to try to force the pulled out spots back in. Damage to paint would be hidden be the bracket
2. Put in a strong bolt and hit it from behind, hoping to straighten out the mounting nut. As the nut is welded on the inside of the frame, that risks breaking it lose on the inside. Probably would still need a vice clamped on to push it back in and flush.
3. Drill all the way through the frame. Put in a bolt and tighten it really hard to force the mount back into place
4. If internal nuts come off, drill all the way through and use a longer bolt with a nut on the inside of the frame, insuring it does not interfere with the chain.
5. Grind the area flatter than it is, as much as is practical. Grind the mounting bracket a little to match so it sits flat. The bolt obviously will not be straight, but if using the heavy duty Gimbel mounts, I could countersink a bolt with a smaller head that the stock screw and it should look OK.
6. Last possibility is grind the back of the Gimbel bracket to fit straight. Gimbel brackets are 1/4" or thicker hard aluminum, so there is room to grind the back mounting area and not risk structural integrity except if the bike were to fall hard on the left side. there will be engine bars to take most of any fall. And the bracket can be replaced.

The frame itself is pretty tough. Pounding on bolts to straighten them probably would break them off inside. I'm tending towards trying a vice to push the pulled out area back in, then grind flat to complete the task. Torching would make it easier - but understand I can't risk the paint. I have no idea how I could match it. Right now, it is nearly flawless over the entire frame --- like a freshly painted one.

See - straight frame. Only localized damage to the left peg mount. Suppose it could happen if  driver were to strike a low concrete barrier or dropped it going forward and the peg caught something on the street (like a curb). There is no indication of scratching of any part of the frame unless they expertly sanded and prepped the frame. Believe me - this is one incredible paint job. Worth a couple hundred dollars extra because I do not have to prep or clean the frame in any way at all. Like it is brand new in 1993.

(FYI: $500 total shipped from Florida with a CLEAN TITLE! So he already has a WA license plate.)

Believe me - worth it for the title and not having to do any cleaning or prep work on this frame. If I wanted to save a couple hundred bucks, I would have a frame that had rust and grease, needed sanding, cleaning and repainting.


Comments or tips & suggestions? Has anyone ever fixed this type of thing before (without damaging the paint)?

By the way, I'm really excited about this project. Learning where every bolt and spacer goes. This will be a like-new 1993 bike when finished. This perfect frame (well, 99.5% perfect) makes me want to clean every bolt, part, nut and properly grease everything before assembly and probably use a couple gallons of thread lock.

[gsJack]

Very easy to straighten, have done it on both bikes.  When my 97 was totalled and I restored it and also I bought the 02 for a very good price with the left peg bent back a bit and the forks twisted which popped back into place when loosened up.

I got a couple of longer, grade 8 socket head capscrews and nuts of the size that hold the peg plate to the frame.  I screwed the bolts into the frame a half inch and locked them down tight with the locknuts so I wouldn't break the lugs loose that are welded inside the frame that the screws go into.

I then heated the frame around the screws with a propane torch mostly just ahead of the nuts because the the pegs bend to the rear and frame bulges in front and then just tapped the bolt heads forward till they were straight.  Worked out great for me twice and when the peg plate was bolted back in place it didn't even show where I had heated the frame.

[Paulcet]

Well, that's 3 peg mounts bent back in line.  2 with heat, one without.  Really, it's easier than you think.  If you fashion some heavy plate steel with holes drilled in the appropriate places and bolt it in (I do suggest high grade bolts), you can get quite a bit of leverage on it.

[mister]

If you don't want to risk heating and banging, then you'll need spaces and some tapered spacers to bring the plate out and flush.

Michael

[agave248]

I see three options.

1) My favorite, use a a torch, heat shields and a big pipe wrench, not a hammer and straighten it out.

2) Cut the bent part with a cutting wheel, clear off the the paint around with a a flapper-wire wheel, weld a suitable  piece of steel in place.

3) Replace the frame.

[adidasguy]

Tried something based on suggestions. Worked easier than I thought.
I inserted a rear axle in the bracket as shown. I PUSHED on the end of the axle. I could grab the frame with my left arm and pull with my right. Good leverage.
I think this worked because:
1. Mechanical advantage of a long lever
2. Fulcrum was the frame mount. So as I pushed, force went into the frame to help push the 2 screw mounts back in
3. While the end of the lever pulled the back of the bracket out and straightened it.

In the photo, I am holding it with my left hand and camera with my right to take the picture.
I used right hand to PUSH in the end while holding onto the frame with my left hand for leverage and so the bike would not fall over.

[Toogoofy317]

Heat it with a torch and whack it with a hammer.

-Jessie

Thats what I was gonna say!

Mary