Just picked up a 1956 Heavy Duti.
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HOT. Not sure that's a '56; what's the serial number? First year the HD showed up in catalogs in 1962 as a variant of the Schwinn American; the early HDs had clover sprockets and tended to come in Black or Red... yours looks more like a 70s jawn, based on the mag sprocket, chainguard, and Kool Lemon color... I'm betting '72 or later. Either way, there's already a lot of original bits on that one... stem looks to be from a Cycle Truck or it's a Wald # 511.... Nice bike!
Well, if your aim is to restore it, you'll want the forged Schwinn stem.... probably a new saddle. The bars might actually be the correct ones; i cannot tell from the pic. Fenders look to be the OG stainless ones, and the spokes look to be the 105s that would be correct for the HD... should be s7-sized wheels... Get us some more pics and i bet the Schwinn experts one here will be able to set you straight in no time... http://schwinncruisers.com/catalogs/1972.html#heavy-duti-26
PS- it could be that the "extra" serial on the BB shell was put on by whatever factory originally used this bike? It's probably an ex-industrial bike. Very cool bike; blank slate for customization, or restore it if ya'd like.
PS- it could be that the "extra" serial on the BB shell was put on by whatever factory originally used this bike? It's probably an ex-industrial bike. Very cool bike; blank slate for customization, or restore it if ya'd like.
Good bike to work with. The handlebars and stem both look like they came off a cycle truck.
That could go either way.... you gotta follow your gut. I'd be inclined to either fix the spokes or move to s2 wheels, remove the fenders entirely, pop on a fresh chain and rubber, and just roll it til i made my mind up...
It's been years since I've changed a spoke, or laced and trued a wheel. Where would I find spokes for S7 rims? It still has the original Schwinn Tractor tires on it, plenty of tread, but dry rotted all to heck.
If it were me, i'd measure the existing spokes and go from there, but some guys might just know off-hand what spoke length you'll need for your specific hub/rim....
For tires, you can still buy s7 rubber, but make sure you're getting real 571s... they'll be sold as 26x1 3/4" (not the same as 26x1.75") or s7. Kenda makes some; they even make a fatter s7 under the Sunlite label....
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You can buy Schwinn 14 gauge Spokes in various lengths from eBay. A whole set is cheap enough. It looks like your spokes are at least 12 gauge instead of the standard 14 gauge. They might even be 10 gauge. These heavy duty spokes in Schwinn length might be harder to find. They come in several lengths, but measuring what you already have is the best way. On an old bike you might not have both the same original wheels? Schwinn made their own rims for a while and if those rims are made by Schwinn they are so strong that replacing a spoke is a piece of cake as far as truing goes. It is harder to pull an old Schwinn steel wheel out of round compared to new steel wheels. If the wheels need truing the nipples might be frozen so you could need all or some new spokes. I cut out old shot spokes with a hand held grinder. If you respoke your wheels make sure that you notice the cross pattern. I once respoked a set for a friend and thought that the front and rear were both 3 cross. After I started to respoke the rear and nothing was working I figured out that it was four cross and the front 3 cross. Now I know. This is a very well built bike. New chrome after market fenders are cheap but they would not easily fit your bike as the Schwinn wheel/tire is bigger than other 26 inch cruisers. You can make the new fenders fit but there is a lot of monkeying and they never fit the radius perfectly but you can get them close but you need to do modifications. The fender stays will probably be too short. You could make a hammering dolly to get the dents in your existing fenders out. I do this by buying a 60 pound bag of concrete (cheap) and fill a 6 or 8 inch section of undamaged fender with wet concrete on top of a plastic wrap liner. After it dries you can remove your new dolly and place it inside the dented part and push and pound with a rubber hammer. It will come good enough to work again. It will look fairly good to. They wouldn't be perfect but they would work. It's an old bike and if you fix it up with original parts and old used parts it would really have character. A nice Schwinn replacement forged stem is about $20 on eBay including shipping. Make sure the diameter of the stem fits inside your head set top nut as there are at least two sizes. You can find aftermarket bars that are close to what was on there originally. You might have an in house Schwinn made front hub. If the dust covers are gone or bent then you have a problem as these are also hard to find. The old front Schwinn hubs that I have rebuilt have had loose ball bearing in there and if they have been repacked before sometimes there are missing bearings. What I usually do is just replace the front and rear wheels with new alloy ones. It's hard to fine a new wheel with nice wide alloy rims so I sometimes build my own. The new steel rims are junk as they easily bend and spokes even pull through them. You would then be able to use regular 26 x 2.125 tires. You would have to spread the front fork as the modern front hubs are about 3 to 5 mm wider that yours. You would also have to file the front axle flat on two opposite sides as they axles are bigger in diameter than the old ones. Don't file the fork dropouts wider, file the axle flat instead. I just built a front wheel for an old Schwinn springer using an alloy rim and an old correct sized hub. But that is only because I didn't want to drill out, file and spread the fork dropouts on the valuable springer. What a pain. Also your bike probably had different crank threading (Schwinn pedal threading is standard 1/2 inch) so replacement parts have to be Schwinn, unless you replace the whole thing. I usually replace the whole bottom bracket assembly and crank with a non Schwinn one as it seems that the cranks have become rusty and the pedal threads are weak. If the crank is not bent, has good threads for the pedals and races then keep it. I hope this helps. I have made a lot of mistakes rebuilding old Schwinn's and I am not and expert, more a hack and jury rigger.
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I use WalMart Bell brand bicycle chains for my cruisers but they are short, only good for a kids bike. I buy 2 and use the excess to add to the next Bell chain I buy. So, if you are planning to use these you will need 2 of them. I usually need a chain right now and these are about as cheap as you can find and quick. They are not a heavy duty chain but work for me.
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I don't know your gauge but here are some 12G ones, just measure and order if 12G works for you. Use a spoke nipple wheel wrench tool to see what size nipple you have. He turns his own spokes so you could have them threaded for the old extra long Schwinn nipples, if you have all 36 originals in good shape. If you are missing a few you could use new long 16mm spoke nipples to fill in where the original (I think) 19 mm Schwinn ones were. I have done this and you really don't notice a few shorter nipples in the rim. Ask if 19mm was the correct length as I just measured my old ones with a st. edge and got 19 mm. It would be nice if others chimed in here as I am not and expert and might not remember stuff that well, being elderly. If you keep the wheels you have on there now you could order a set of $25 chrome 26 inch fenders and put those on. They won't fit the curve well but it is easier to go this way than to try and make them fit Schwinn wheels. Here is the bike I am working right now where I built the wheels and put on inexpensive 26 inch fenders on non Schwinn wheels. As you can see they can be made to fit reasonably well on the non Schwinn wheel.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/36-Custom-l...hash=item41bdb29082:m:mgd4mf4IB5ZKBUKMdyTEWrA
Here are my homemade concrete hammering dollies for fenders that I mentioned. This example was made for peaked fenders but you can make them for any metal fender.
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