don't forget the bottom bracket service. even if the rest of the bike looks in good shape, the bottom bracket is usually neglected.

a guy who runs a motocycle shop in Oak Island opened a bike shop and offered up his tools and help to replace my brake and shifter cables for cost of the cables.

gotta wait until the paint is done but hey, 10 dollars for new cables, not to shabby!

looks like you guys were right freehub on the back and a good amount of play in the shaft, going to take it to wilmington to two wheeler dealer and have them replace the bearings.

missed a cannondale on craigslist for 300

You may consider no further financial investment on the Fuji and save your money for a better and safer bike. Money is going in to the bike but it sounds like you are still a ways from riding the bike.

yeah i'm thinking the same thing, i might just replace the tires and ride.

found a cannondale frame a CAAD4 50 dollars so I'm tempted to buy that and build one.

If you are unable to do the work yourself, then you are much better off spending your money on a functioning bike. You'll be paying the mechanic far more than the bike is worth to make it roadworthy.

well I'm feeling pretty unlucky right now with such a huge project and not enough money to get a decent bike.

So I decided to dig further into this, I bought a huge bikecycle repair book and started looking into freehubs, i guess the play in the axle is because its out of adjustment, so I'll adjust it put it back on and see if it will work- I'm not racing or anything this is just a fun bike.

I don't think the cogs need replaced all are in excellent shape with very little wear. the hubs is in excellent shape just dirty, the rim was rusty but i cleaned them up but only the side wall. I still have more cleaning to do of course but its a start.

ordered new tires and new pedals 45 more dollars- total investment so far is 75 dollars i have to buy a new seat but will wait untill all the rest is done.

this thread is useless with out pictures so here are some:
BEFORE



AFTER

anyone got any ideas on how to remove a chain without a breaker?

Large cable cutter, grinder, hack saw, ax, If you want to save the chain so that you can reuse it-----no tool -- except a chain breaker tool -- works well enough to guarantee the chain will be able to be reused. Buy a new chain.