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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - After Restoration |
Today is the start of Jose's 1983 Trek 620. In my own list the Trek 620 and Trek 720 are Holey Grail bikes. My list of bikes started in the 1980's and usually involves Japanese stuff mainly just because my age and when I grew up so often my Holy Grail bikes differ from a lot of people.
The Trek 620 is in a little bit of a rough state when you look closer but I am confident it will come back very nicely! The brake levers are nice Die-Comps and the brake calipers are Die-Comp G's. The crank is absolutely beautiful Sugino with a 28 tooth triple ring. The front derailleur is a very cool Sun Tour Cyclone II and the rear derailleur is a Heurret that I am a little worried about restoring because they are a very complicated derailleur and can be tricky. The rear wheel has a cool Helicomatic hub that I like a lot.
The Trek 620 will get a complete restoration with new bearings, break pads, cable, cable housings, handlebar tape, tires and I think Jose chose new brake lever hoods. I am very excited to restore the Trek 620, I think its really going to be a cool bike when finished!
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Handlebars |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Handlebars
& Stem |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Head Tube |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Brake |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Wheel Hub |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Wheel Hub |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Wheel Rim |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
SR Stem |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Sun Tour
Shift Levers |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Saddle |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Reynolds 531 Decal |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Trek Panel Decal |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Beautiful Sugino Crank |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Derailleur |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Bottom Bracket |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Trek 620
Poor Photo |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Rear Brake |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Derailleur |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Rear Hub
Helicomatic Hub |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Wheel Rim |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Pedal |
I broke the Trek 620 down to the frame, there are some chips and scraps in the paint and it is dull but should polish very nice, a lot of the chips will blend into the color of the frame also.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before - Top Tube |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before - Down Tube |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before - Seat Lug |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before
Reynolds 531 Decal |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before - Trek 620 Decal |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before - Brake Bridge |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before
Brake Bridge |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before
Drop Outs |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before
Fork |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before
Fork Crown |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before - Fork Crown |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before
Fork |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Before
Fork Drop Outs |
The frame polished very well, the Perter color polished very nicely. I will have to mix up a good match to fill the chips and scratches, the chips and scratches stand out way more then I thought they would. I am happy with the polishing I think maybe a new decal set would really make a big difference in the Trek 620. The polished Perter color is hard to photograph but you can really see how the paint and finish pops in the down tube photo.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Frame Polished - Head Tube |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Frame Polished - Head Tube |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Down Tube |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Lug |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Bottom Bracket |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Bottom Bracket |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Brake Bridge |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Trek 620 Decal |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Drop Outs |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Crown |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Crown |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Blade |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Crown |
Right now the headset and bottom bracket are in the crock pot soaking.
I am impressed with the bottom bracket, the spindle is surprisingly light. The headset and bottom bracket polished very nicely, I did replace the bearings and one of the bottom bracket bearing cages, it was to damaged to reuse.
With the new bearings and grease both the headset and bottom bracket spin very smooth and look great!
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Before |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Headset Cups
Pressed |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Headset Cups
Pressed |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Headset Bearings - Packed |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Headset
Complete |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bottom Bracket Bearings
Packed |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bottom Bracket
Complete |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Complete |
I like the road champion handlebars, after cleaning and polishing the handlebars will look great installed with new handlebar tape.
The stem had a few small gouges i filled out with a very fine file. with the gouges removed the stem polished beautifully, I am very happy with the results.
The stem and handlebars look great installed.
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem
Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Stem - Before |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem
Polished |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Handlebars - Polished |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Stem - Polished |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Stem - Complete |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem
Installed |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Installed |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Installed |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Installed |
The brake levers are in good shape, I gave them a good cleaning and then filed down a few gouches in the lever. I could not remove the gouges completely because they are deep just touched them up a little. I am happy with the results of the brake lever and they look great installed.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Brake Levers - Before |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Brake Levers
Cleaned & Polished |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Brake Levers - Installed |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Brake Levers
Installed |
I disassembled the crank and cleaned the grease of the chain rings. Found what could be a major problem under the grease on the gear teeth. The chain was badly worn and started cutting into the shape of the chain ring teeth. I highlighted the wear on the teeth in the red square in the photo below. This is called shark fins or shark tooth
I don't think this would be a major problem on the crank but if the crank is worn this badly that means the freewheel is probably worn even worse, that would not be a big deal if it was a normal freewheel because that could be easily replaced. Being a Helicomatic freewheel I don't know how easy they are to find, we will have to tackle that hurdle as things come together. The chain is shot and completely unusable so we may have a lot of problems coming,
The crank cleaned very nicely and polished very well. Assembled it is a great crank and looks wonderful I really like this crank now just time will tell how worn it is.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Crank - Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Crank Exploded |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Crank - Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Worn Teeth
Shark Finned or Toothed |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Crank - Complete |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Crank
Installed |
I like the brake calipers, one thing about Die-Comp G calipers is that the caliper arms have a textured finish I have not know how to polish nicely with out removing it and making the finish blotchy. I have thought about this for a while and came up with a new way of polishing them, I think it work fantastic and couldn't be happier with the results, the caliper arms polished very nice and kept the textured finish.
The small G decal on these calipers are the worst decals ever. The G pretty much wipes off in cleaning. Assembled the calipers look fantastic and the new brake pads will help a lot. The calipers looks fantastic installed, I love it!
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Exploded |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Brake Calipers
Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Brake Calipers
Complete |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Brake Caliper
Installed |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Caliper
Installed |
The front derailleur is a very nice Sun Tour Cyclone derailleur. There was slight chrome damage in the front corner that when polished flaked off, I wish that didn't happen but the chrome was very thin and the flake doesn't look to bad polished. I love how the alloy polished on the derailleur, is shines so well and looks great against the paint. Lubricating the pivot points and the derailleur functions perfect.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Derailleur - Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Derailleur - Polished |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Derailleur - Installed |
Still working on the rear derailleur.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Before |
I like the Sun Tour shift levers, they are pretty basic (Which basic means works very well!) but they have such a nice shape to them. I cleaned and lubricated the shift levers and got to polishing, the levers really polished nice and look great and will work great.
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Sun Tour Shift Levers
Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Shift Levers - Polished |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Shift Levers - Installed |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Pedals - Before |
The seat post was pretty rough and had a good deal of rust. I did a lot of cleaning and got the seat post to a point I could polish it. After a few grits of polishing the seat post came back pretty nice considering all. I m happy with it and with a greased seat tube it won't rust again.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Seat Post - Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Seat Post - Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Seat Post - Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Seat Post
Installed |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle to this Point |
The crank showed a lot of wear, the chain is shot, the Helico Matic freewheel shows some wear in the gear teeth. I won't know if either the freewheel and crank are usable until I install a new chain and am able to give the Trek 620 a test ride.
The wheels are is somewhat of a rough shape to start. I disassembled the wheels and got on with cleaning, I used a strong penetrating oil to remove all off the grease, dirt and grime from the wheel hubs and they cleaned nice. With the wheels cleaned I got to polishing, the hubs polished pretty nice, the hubs have a little bit of staining in the alloy but after polishing they look great and have just the slightest bit of patina I would call it and it looks great!
The wheel rims where also in a little bit of a rough shape, I cleaned the rims and did a lot of polishing, there are a few rough spots but over all the wheel rims really went through a transformation and look great!!
I deep cleaned all of the axle hardware and there surprisingly there was very little wear. I installed new bearings and new grease and assembled the wheels, the wheel spin very nice with the new grease and bearings. Overall I am very happy with the results of the wheels.
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel
Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Worn Gear Teeth |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Before |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel Rim
Before |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Old Grease |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Old Grease |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Freewheel |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Wheel Axle Hardware
Cleaned & Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Polished |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel - Complete |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel Rim
Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel
Before |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub
Before |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel Rim
Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Old Grease |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub
Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel Rim
Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel
New Grease & Bearings |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel
Complete |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Wheels
Complete |
This weekend Jose and I are going to look for some parts for the Trek 620 at the Harper College Winter Bike Swap & Show, if your around the Chicago area check it out, it is one of the better swaps in the area. The Swap is this Saturday January 17, 2015 from 9:30-3:00.
We found a few things need at the Harper College Winter Bike swap but still needed to find a few things. Jose found a fantastic deal for a Helico Matic freewheel on eBay and it came with two rear hubs and a front hub, maybe something can be done with the hubs in the future. The important thing is the freewheel is in much better shape then the old freewheel.
I installed the freewheel and the new Panaracer tires. The Panaracer tires look fantastic installed, the perfect look for the Trek 620.
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Replacement Freewheel
& Extra Hubs |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel
Compelte |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel
Complete |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Front Wheel
Compelte |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Rear Wheel
Complete |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Wheels Complete |
Next is wiring the Trek 620 and installing the handlebar tape. I choose the silver/gray Ice gray cable housings, I think the gray is good with the frame color, it won't contrast the frame and stand out. The blue Cinelli tape was found at the Harper College swap and I think the blue is quit stunning on the Trek 620.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - New Bits & Pieces |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Wired |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Wired |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Handlebar Tape - Installed |
The seat is a nice Avocet Touring model. Its a little rough but cleaned nice. I think maybe a black Brooks would fill out the Trek 620 perfect but we can figure it out down the road a bit.
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Saddle
Installed |
Jose also found a fabulous deal on these pedals, they are in good starting shape and after some cleaning and hand polishing they look good too.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Pedals - Before |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Pedal - Polished |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Pedals
Installed |
That completes the Trek 620. When the weather clears some hear I will test ride the Trek and make sure we solved all the worn gear and chain problems. But until then the Trek 620 looks fantastic, it really restored nicely, a true 80's classic,
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete |
Final photos coming alter today when the day lightens up a bit.
I am a little biased to bicycles from this era just because when I grew up and the bikes I wanted when I could not have them but I love the Trek 620. The 620 turned out fantastic especially considering it was a little more rough then most at starting point. The rims are amazing, better then new! The wheels as a whole are great, the crank is beautiful even with a little wear. The alloy and chrome have an amazing shine, I love it!!
The final photos may be a little dark being so gloomy here today and all winter.
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Handlebars |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Stem |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Head Tube |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Front Brake |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Wheel Hub |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Wheel Rim |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Stem |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Shift Levers |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Half |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Saddle |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Seat Lug - Reynolds 531 Decal |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Drive Train |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Crank |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Derailleur |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Derailleur |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Brake |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Wheel Hub |
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Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Wheel Rim |
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| Jose's 1983 Trek 620 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Rear |
Thank you everyone,
John Z.
Looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to ride this one John!
ReplyDeleteLooks absolutely great. I have a 1982 728 that I purchased new. It needs some paint touch up, especially at the cable holders. I also have a 1984 620 that I have been restoring/rebuilding as a 'travel bike'. I would appreciate some information about how you polished things, and how you touched up the paint. Hand polishing? Electric polishing wheel? What? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey! I have a 1984 trek 620 that i have toured on extensively. I would love to know how you did the polishing and cleaning/soaking. The bike deserves a complete rebuild!
ReplyDeleteThanks, peace love and trek
Matt
Im also interested on how you polish the frame.
ReplyDeletedo you know if the decals are available anywhere, working on a 1983 620 as well.
ReplyDelete