Schwinn Excelsior help !!

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Ok so this was dropped off at my house by someone who knows I collect vintage bikes, I started to look up serial numbers but then got really confused B49852= built 1957, which does not make any sense because schwinn did not sell any DX/Excelsior style frames in 1957 please correct me if I'm wrong. I also know schwinn's factory burned down in 1948 so I know it could be a reused serial number, really I just want to know if this is a real prewar Excelsior or a 46/47 Dx frame that someone put the wrong badge on. I also looked at the crank set for a date, it was stamped 11-50A which I think means 1950. I also know schwinn stopped putting sweet heart sprockets on bikes after 1954. I would also like to know a value just so I know if this is even worth trying to fix. there are a few things wrong with the bike, wrong fork, wheel set is dead, seat post is jammed down in the bike, i.e. really hard to get out. The frame has been repaired at some point, and it's really crusty rusty like beyond anything I've had to deal with before.
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I the serial is under the BB shell, you're looking at a frame built in '52 or earlier. The "B" prefix isn't on the charts; it's probably an early postwar bike, possibly with a replacement crank. HTH; nice frame regardless! Love the patina, but what's up ith the fork??
 
I like that patina with the layers of paint. That seatpost will be the deciding factor of weather to fix. Pretty sure that would have to be drilled out with that much stuck in the seatube. A hacksaw would be very tough. You can drop it off at my house for some yard art.
 
I the serial is under the BB shell, you're looking at a frame built in '52 or earlier. The "B" prefix isn't on the charts; it's probably an early postwar bike, possibly with a replacement crank. HTH; nice frame regardless! Love the patina, but what's up ith the fork??

The steartube is way to short, like by an inch.
Thanks, it sucks that's it's not a prewar bike oh well still really cool. So is the badge the wrong one then ?.
 
I like that patina with the layers of paint. That seatpost will be the deciding factor of weather to fix. Pretty sure that would have to be drilled out with that much stuck in the seatube. A hacksaw would be very tough. You can drop it off at my house for some yard art.

The original owner what's it back if I can't do anything with it. Your right about that seat post it might be the deal breaker.
 
I could still really use some help with this, I was reading some where that Schwinn introduced the welded on kick stand in 1946 so does that mean that if a bike has the intergrated kick stand it can't be any old then 46 ?.
 
We already know that bike is post war; '46 is the very earliest it could be, and we know it's pre-August 1948 b/c the serial is unknown. So, your bike is a '46, '47, or first half of '48. If you believe the crank is original, it should have a date code that will give you a clue. Fact is, there ain't much left to that bike; not sure what difference it makes if it's a '46 or an early 48....:grin:
 
We already know that bike is post war; '46 is the very earliest it could be, and we know it's pre-August 1948 b/c the serial is unknown. So, your bike is a '46, '47, or first half of '48. If you believe the crank is original, it should have a date code that will give you a clue. Fact is, there ain't much left to that bike; not sure what difference it makes if it's a '46 or an early 48....:grin:

Yeah, I pretty much just think 'prewar' or 'postwar' when it comes to Schwinn frames... ;-)
 
I could still really use some help with this, I was reading some where that Schwinn introduced the welded on kick stand in 1946 so does that mean that if a bike has the intergrated kick stand it can't be any old then 46 ?.

I estimated the number of bikes built for each letter on the old serial number lists, 48-52. If they built about the same number of bikes each year, then a B would be 1946.

A 1946 Schwinn bare frame is always a good thing to have. If that's the wrong head badge, when you take it off, the outline of the correct one may show.
Finding forks and getting the old seat stem out sounds like fun.
 
I estimated the number of bikes built for each letter on the old serial number lists, 48-52. If they built about the same number of bikes each year, then a B would be 1946.

A 1946 Schwinn bare frame is always a good thing to have. If that's the wrong head badge, when you take it off, the outline of the correct one may show.
Finding forks and getting the old seat stem out sounds like fun.
Yeah, I pretty much just think 'prewar' or 'postwar' when it comes to Schwinn frames... ;-)
We already know that bike is post war; '46 is the very earliest it could be, and we know it's pre-August 1948 b/c the serial is unknown. So, your bike is a '46, '47, or first half of '48. If you believe the crank is original, it should have a date code that will give you a clue. Fact is, there ain't much left to that bike; not sure what difference it makes if it's a '46 or an early 48....:grin:

Thanks guys, this really helps I have a 48 Spit-Fire and a 48 DX. So I'm going pass on this one, the original owner is going to hang it in his work shop.
 

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