Restoring a Vintage York Bar...

[GarageIron]

Yesterday I received my 1980’s York Power Bar from AttyGuy. He had shipped it out to me last week and I finally went over the border to pick it up in NY. The bar was shipped in a PVC tube and arrived in good shape.

These bars are a rarity in Canada so this was a big deal to me. I couldn’t have asked for a better sample of a Vintage split sleeve. Thanks again Atty.

When I got home I stuck it in the rack, not sure what to do next with it. I knew it was a 30-year-old bar and it looked it, but the bar is in amazing shape… There is not a single ding in the knurl. It’s like it was bought new and sat there for 3 decades.






I wanted to restore it but wasn’t sure where to start. Atty sent me some info and I found some other info on this site and others by searching around (thanks!).

Atty suggested the basic materials required to clean it up and the basics on tearing the bar down which I appreciated. It was basically CLR, WD40, 3-in-1 Oil and some scotch brite pads. I headed to the store to grab everything. I did need to use a wire brush in a few stubborn spots.

First order of business was to take it apart. I knew I would need a punch. I didn’t have the right size (I think its 1/4") so I used a Green Philips screwdriver, this worked even better than a punch when putting it back together as it held the pin while I tapped it in.






The CLR worked very well… better than I expected, this was the first pass on one sleeve.



Rust contined to wash away and the bar started to show its beauty. Here is the flange after some wire brush work and a comparison of the Donuts after some scrubbing on one of them.





Time to put it back together….

[GarageIron]

The results… The bar seems to spin forever after some 3-in-1. Its about a straight as you could ask for. Such a beautiful bar…









Below to the new model Power Bar…

[oicok]

nice pics

[BIgOrange865]

Very good job GI....Atty was very helpful with all the transactions I recently did concerning York products.

Kudos and reps.

[AttyGuy]

GI, glad it worked out! You know now that BloodType3R is going to be p---ed because he's been looking for one of these bars. They are easier to find than stainless steel York bars from the 80's. That bar looks great after cleaning. There is still a lot of the original bluing, or black oxide, on the bar. Great job! Reps, brother!

[GarageIron]

GI, glad it worked out! You know now that BloodType3R is going to be p---ed because he's been looking for one of these bars. They are easier to find than stainless steel York bars from the 80's. That bar looks great after cleaning. There is still a lot of the original bluing, or black oxide, on the bar. Great job! Reps, brother!

Thanks! This is a really cool bar! The construction inside the sleeve is unreal... I should have taken pics of it. There are bushings at either end pressed in that are about 3-4" long, and then a free sliding bushing (maybe 6") between them. There was a lot of old grease to pull out and I would have taken pics of that but its hard to operate a camera and clean up 30 year old grease by hand.

The coating must be Gun Blue. I've never seen it before on a barbell but I really like it. I know you suggested picked up a bluing kit... but in Canada you can't just walk into 7-11 and head over to the "gun" section . I'm sure its available somewhere, but not a household item. That said, I don't think it needs any help with the coating. The bar looks better than my 2012 York bar that is sitting right above it on the rack.

[morebarbell]

Nice work! I'm hoping to find one of these bars myself. It's neat to see it all pulled apart. The bar was in very good condition but I'm still a little surprised that the shaft really didn't seem to have any red rust. The 30 year old grease did a very good job preserving the innards. Are the bushings steel?

[GarageIron]

Nice work! I'm hoping to find one of these bars myself. It's neat to see it all pulled apart. The bar was in very good condition but I'm still a little surprised that the shaft really didn't seem to have any red rust. The 30 year old grease did a very good job preserving the innards. Are the bushings steel?

The bushings on the ends (you can see the bare spot from one of them on the end of the shaft near the donut in the photo above) appear to be steel. The long center bushing that is free sliding between the two could be anything. I couldn't get a good eye on it.

[jackbravo]

awesome thread, GI. I've been waiting for thread like this for a while!

[clarkecm]

The coating must be Gun Blue. I've never seen it before on a barbell but I really like it. I know you suggested picked up a bluing kit... but in Canada you can't just walk into 7-11 and head over to the "gun" section . I'm sure its available somewhere, but not a household item. That said, I don't think it needs any help with the coating. The bar looks better than my 2012 York bar that is sitting right above it on the rack.[/QUOTE]

They will have gun bluing kits at canadian tire probably $15 or so.

[AttyGuy]

The bushings should be brass.

Keetman talks about his York Olympic Power Bar here in the Barbell thread. He discusses disassembly and cleaning, IIRC.

[owasM]

damn that looks beautiful.

anyone fancy sending me one to the uk?

[Huck43]

Wow, can't believe how awesome it looks from before to after. Crazy cool transformation. Thanks for posting!

[tmhan]

Where do you find something as beautiful as this in Southern Ontario? Kijiji is a nightmare for anything good. Are Americans the only way? I'm currently using a very flimsy Fitness Depot made in China bar, but I'm only a beginner.

[AttyGuy]

Where do you find something as beautiful as this in Southern Ontario? Kijiji is a nightmare for anything good. Are Americans the only way? I'm currently using a very flimsy Fitness Depot made in China bar, but I'm only a beginner.

In a word: yes.















Couldn't resist, eh?

[FastCatChamp]

I recently cleaned up the same model of bar and it looks good......but now I have to go back and do it again because it doesnt look quite as good as your's.

Damn You GI or putting me back to work!

[jormone]

Looks good. I'm also curious if Blue would make it even better. Haven't seen someone do a barbell.

Blue job instructions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNrX9LFzjUU

Blue kit at Canadian Tire if you can't find his Wonder product
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

[Skidmarx]

What a piece of junk.




















j/k that's sweet !

[-aesop-]

Man, the knurling does look just about perfect on this one.

[Detrus]

Is that the knurling Rogue is trying to imitate and failing?

[rlundregan]

That is a beautiful bar!

[morebarbell]

The bushings on the ends (you can see the bare spot from one of them on the end of the shaft near the donut in the photo above) appear to be steel. The long center bushing that is free sliding between the two could be anything. I couldn't get a good eye on it.

The bushings should be brass.

Keetman talks about his York Olympic Power Bar here in the Barbell thread. He discusses disassembly and cleaning, IIRC.

Thanks! I'm going to reread the barbell thread. It's worth rereading anyway but I don't remember the part about the brass bushings.

[AttyGuy]

Keetman's bar has the same bushings as GI's. I can't comment on their bars as I haven't seen them but mine have brass bushings.

[xephonics]

damn nice restore

[BloodType3R]

GI, glad it worked out! You know now that BloodType3R is going to be p---ed because he's been looking for one of these bars. They are easier to find than stainless steel York bars from the 80's. That bar looks great after cleaning. There is still a lot of the original bluing, or black oxide, on the bar. Great job! Reps, brother!

Haha! No worries. That bar is in very deserving hands. For me, a 70's-80's York Power bar (and a 60's Oly bar) is just an excuse to continue the searching, seeing as there isn't much left that I'm seeking to "collect".

GI, do you have an intended usage(s) for this bar? I have a feeling that it would be a great bar for low bar squatting with that wide centRE knurl.. Does anyone have a measuremet of just how wide it is? Remember when I told you that no bar's knurling has impressed me nearly as much as vintage York bars? Your thoughts on this???

That's a fantastic resto GI.. and great photos too.

[GarageIron]

Haha! No worries. That bar is in very deserving hands. For me, a 70's-80's York Power bar (and a 60's Oly bar) is just an excuse to continue the searching, seeing as there isn't much left that I'm seeking to "collect".

GI, do you have an intended usage(s) for this bar? I have a feeling that it would be a great bar for low bar squatting with that wide centRE knurl.. Does anyone have a measuremet of just how wide it is? Remember when I told you that no bar's knurling has impressed me nearly as much as vintage York bars? Your thoughts on this???

That's a fantastic resto GI.. and great photos too.

Right now I just keep looking at the bar. I considered using it tonight but don't feel my current plates are deserving. After 30 years of near perfect condition I'd hate to scratch it up with some rough cast plates. While it will be a bit of a "garage trophy" (as Vmango called it during his last visit), It will get some use and I'm looking forward to seeing how it compares to some of the newer bars in terms of spin, etc.

The CentER knurl is 8". For comparison sake, a TPB has a 4" and the current York Power Bar is 5". It makes for a very small unknurked section on either side (maybe 4").

As I noted and you can see in the pics the knurl is in amazing condition. Those were not just highlight reel pics, it looks like that entirely across the bar. There is a great feel to the knurl which is quite similar to the current offering however when you compare the 2 bars the diamond patten is considerably different between the two.

The whole "bluing" idea has given me all kinds of wild ideas. I'm tempted to grab a current naked York bar and blue it. I realize now even more than ever that York was SO close to hitting the mark on the current bar. While i can't make a spilt sleeve, I think if I can replace that chrome with "Blue" I might be able to replicate a great tribute to this 1980's beauty.

Also, I'm still convinced that the bushings are steel. I'll check out the OBB thread again also. If they brass, it is an alloy that looks very much like steel. I didn't spend a lot of time inspecting them (start to finish restore time was 3 hours) so I could be wrong. There is also that mystery bushing or sleeve on the inside that I'm still trying to figure out.

[AttyGuy]

The inner one is the one I'm thinking of and it should be brass.

[jackbravo]

Right now I just keep looking at the bar. I considered using it tonight but don't feel my current plates are deserving. After 30 years of near perfect condition I'd hate to scratch it up with some rough cast plates. While it will be a bit of a "garage trophy" (as Vmango called it during his last visit), It will get some use and I'm looking forward to seeing how it compares to some of the newer bars in terms of spin, etc.

The CentER knurl is 8". For comparison sake, a TPB has a 4" and the current York Power Bar is 5". It makes for a very small unknurked section on either side (maybe 4").

As I noted and you can see in the pics the knurl is in amazing condition. Those were not just highlight reel pics, it looks like that entirely across the bar. There is a great feel to the knurl which is quite similar to the current offering however when you compare the 2 bars the diamond patten is considerably different between the two.

The whole "bluing" idea has given me all kinds of wild ideas. I'm tempted to grab a current naked York bar and blue it. I realize now even more than ever that York was SO close to hitting the mark on the current bar. While i can't make a spilt sleeve, I think if I can replace that chrome with "Blue" I might be able to replicate a great tribute to this 1980's beauty.

Also, I'm still convinced that the bushings are steel. I'll check out the OBB thread again also. If they brass, it is an alloy that looks very much like steel. I didn't spend a lot of time inspecting them (start to finish restore time was 3 hours) so I could be wrong. There is also that mystery bushing or sleeve on the inside that I'm still trying to figure out.

you can try bluing your b&r bar first (can't remember if you sold it?)

[matrix563]

what is the best kind of wire brush to buy if you have to remove rust from knurling? i asked before but forgot, i think was told something a little different than a wire brush, but similar.

is 3 in one different than clr? my lil bro put some break free stuff (that breaks down rust like on car brakes so you can disassemble) in the bar i have and its started to spin alot better. i think its time to add some more .

[BigAlexG]

Thats beautiful work GarageIron. I hope to be able to get an old York and restore it some day. And when I do I will use this thread as a reference. Thank you.