I thought i’d share my trial and tribulations ive experienced during my wheel rebuilding process for the mags off my long term tracker project. The bike is a ‘78 special with disc mags front and rear. I had already painted and put new bearing in the original mags last year but am not happy with my paint job. I should have taken more time taping them up before painting. Here’s an older picture for reference.
For round 2 I have secured a couple pairs of 19” front mags as well as purchasing an Omar’s conversion kit. I bought 2 pairs because quite frankly the price was right. I figured I would try drilling 1 set and leave the other with just fresh paint. After I got them home and inspected closer, I found one of the wheels is off a 750. It will still work though as long as I keep it on front.
The drilled mags did not work out as well as I had hoped, so I will stay focused on the pair to be repainted. First up was removing the old bearings. One wheel was pretty decent but the 750 wheel was pretty grungy. To get the bearing out I had to knock the inner spacer to the side. Then I used a large screwdriver and a long 3/8 ratchet extension to pound them out. Saving the best spacer for later as I will reuse it on the front 750 wheel.
For round 2 I have secured a couple pairs of 19” front mags as well as purchasing an Omar’s conversion kit. I bought 2 pairs because quite frankly the price was right. I figured I would try drilling 1 set and leave the other with just fresh paint. After I got them home and inspected closer, I found one of the wheels is off a 750. It will still work though as long as I keep it on front.
The drilled mags did not work out as well as I had hoped, so I will stay focused on the pair to be repainted. First up was removing the old bearings. One wheel was pretty decent but the 750 wheel was pretty grungy. To get the bearing out I had to knock the inner spacer to the side. Then I used a large screwdriver and a long 3/8 ratchet extension to pound them out. Saving the best spacer for later as I will reuse it on the front 750 wheel.