An update:
After I finished this project and started using my Performer, I realized that the frame was quite rickety as I moved it around. Took it apart and found out that the connectors inside the bottom crossbars (which connect the two ends of the frame together) were rusted and disintegrating.
The actual tube connectors (above) are available from Carpin Mfg. (
www.carpin.com) but only in wholesale quantities. Another member in the recent past was fortunate to have the company mail him some connectors for free when he emailed them to enquire about where to buy them.
There is another fix using a bike part called a star nut - the 1" or 1-1/8" size is needed (see above).
I was impatient and so went with the most readily available fix, as suggested by another member - 1/4" threaded rod with SS acorn nuts on the ends. I was worried about the crossbar rattling around the rod, so I braced it internally with 2 nuts - 2 5/16" washers- 2 nuts at both ends of the threaded rod.
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Seems to work! The Performer rolls like a tank now - All Terrain Performer!!!
There are 4 bolts I did not mess with yet on the frame, and i'm going to try and leave them that way.
[I added this info to try and make this as complete a Performer restoration thread as possible. I thought I would not have to repair the frame at all, but eventually ended doing that as well.]
