I recently restored this '59 Schwinn Fair Lady for a buddy of mine over the winter (Sept. thru Dec.).
The goal was to have it finished by Christmas but the last box of parts didn't show up until 3:30 the afternoon of Christmas eve!
This and two Murrays (I also restored a Murray Jet-Fire and I posted it as a separate build; viewtopic.php?f=21&t=35534) were found in a barn and belonged to my buddy's mother and her siblings.
Anyway, on with the before pics...
Overall the bike wasn't in too bad of shape considering it's age, I tried to use as many original parts as possible.
Per the owner's wishes, I replaced this light with a Nirve LED version.
I soaked the grips in Super Clean followed by a bleach bath.
I polished up the front rack and my buddy Greg supplied the front rim to replace the rusty original.
Here you get an idea of how bad the original chainguard was.
The fenders were pretty scratched and beat up. I bought another set and they were just as bad.
The rest are just detail shots prior to disassembly.
The goal was to have it finished by Christmas but the last box of parts didn't show up until 3:30 the afternoon of Christmas eve!
This and two Murrays (I also restored a Murray Jet-Fire and I posted it as a separate build; viewtopic.php?f=21&t=35534) were found in a barn and belonged to my buddy's mother and her siblings.
Anyway, on with the before pics...
Overall the bike wasn't in too bad of shape considering it's age, I tried to use as many original parts as possible.
Per the owner's wishes, I replaced this light with a Nirve LED version.
I soaked the grips in Super Clean followed by a bleach bath.
I polished up the front rack and my buddy Greg supplied the front rim to replace the rusty original.
Here you get an idea of how bad the original chainguard was.
The fenders were pretty scratched and beat up. I bought another set and they were just as bad.
The rest are just detail shots prior to disassembly.