Captain Gold Rush

[Robertk]

It's been a while since I've documented a build. I've been thinking of this one for a while. It starts with a 1961 26" Schwinn Skipper as the foundation. I have learned that this frame has the same geometry of the 1962 Typhoon - both have the twin bars that extend to the rear dropouts. The plans are to amass a ton of gold anodized parts for this Cruiser with the exception of the headbadge which will be a Schwinn Starburst badge. This particular Skipper proved to be a real beast to disassemble with almost every threaded connection rusted to a complete frozen state. Some luck with Liquid Wrench and other products, but some connections had to be cut. At any rate, I'm stuck on the headset / fork combo. Going to have it soak in lubricant for a few days and try again.

Promoted 'Skipper' to 'Captain' hence 'Captain Gold Rush'

Proposed parts list
New Tan wall Snakebelly tires
Ukai Gold rims with coaster
gold Sugino GT cranks and ring
13/16 solid gold aluminum ano Santa Barbara Cruiser seat post
34" wide solid aluminum gold ano Santa Barabra Cruiser bars
Black Brooks saddle
Gold Suntour BMX stem
Gold Tuf Neck Seat Clamp

Pics of actual Starburst Headbadge on its way in the mail. And the Skipper platform.

 

[Wildcat]

I'll be watching to see how this turns out. Will the frame be gold also?

A perfect candidate for the easy way to straighten the forks. Turn the front wheel 180 and gently run the bike into a solid object, like a brick wall. You can judge how hard to bump it by watching the angle of the fork. Once it's straight check for any cracks near the crown.

The alignment of the forks should be in a straight line with the head tube.

 

[Robertk]

If I can find the right shade of gold, the frame and fork will be gold too. Thanks for the fork straightening tip. I actually plan to use a set of Tange BMX forks

 

[Wildcat]

That's even better!

 

[Dizzle Problems]

Heck yea! Lookin forward to this one!

 

[sdframe]

That's a GREAT frame! I'm watchin'.

 

[Robertk]

Finally disassembled. I’ve never had to cut a fork out due to rust... not fun! Off to the powdercoater!

 

[Robertk]

One thing that is interesting with this frame compared to the '62 Typhoon of the same geometry, is that the '61 Skipper did not have an integrated Schwinn kickstand. It used a bolt-on. Maybe some of you Schwinn experts would know if that was a cost saving effort or maybe the different years of Schwinns changed the type of kickstand from '61 to '62?

Oh yeah - also shaved the chainguard tabs

 

[Robertk]

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Looks good so far! I've always really liked that style frame with the twin bars.

 

[Robertk]

Some fresh decals!

 

[TroutFishingInAmerica]

 

[Robertk]

Thanks!

 

[RustyGold]

I'm pretty sure I'll be liking nearly every post in this thread

Jason

 

[TroutFishingInAmerica]

One of my favorite 60's era frames. I have 2, thats how much I like them. Nothing this clean though. Usually I'm not a big fan of yellow, but this looks fantastic! Nice choice, looking good!

 

[Starnger]

Nice looking result! What technic did you use for making decals?

 

[Robertk]

@stranger I ordered a gold set from EBay. Thanks!

 

[Robertk]

Big big progress today.
Caps installed on the Tange 1200’s.

 

[Robertk]

 

[Robertk]

Getting things coordinated with the ‘right’ shade of gold.

ACS clamp not exactly the right shade.