louis garneau vintage

[pupkin]

Hello,
I have an old (it looks like 1991) Louis Garneau "felix et william" kids MTB.
I took it apart down to ball bearings, but just can't separate the front fork from the handlebar stem. Looks like they are welded, but can't see as the previous owner spray painted the entire bike w/o taking it apart first.
Want to give this baby a new life.
Plus are the lubricants from 1991 toxic? Should I take some precautions?
Is the paint lead based?

Thanks!

[jlmuncie]

Does the fork rotate freely or is it frozen in place? That headset is most likely threaded, did you unscrew it? Just taking off the stem won't allow the fork to drop free. Maybe a pic would help.

1991 lubricants have the same toxicity of current lubes and no the paint isn't lead based.

[pupkin]

Thanks jlmuncie!
I contacted Louis Garneau and their mechanic told me I had a quill stem which proved one more time of how much of a noob I was. I poured some white vinegar into the tube and left it for an hour to soak. Then I placed the bolt back in almost all the way in, aligned a long screwdriver against the bolt from the bottom side and whacked on it a couple of times. The whole system fell off pretty easy.
Off to derusting now.