'64 Schwinn American

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Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
586
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1,140
Location
Fresno, Ca.
Hola mis amigos. You may feel like that is a strange way to begin this post considering my project is a Schwinn American but when the finished product is revealed it will all make sense. ;) Originally I hadn't planned on entering this years contest but I traded one of the bikes I entered in last years MBBO ('66 Huffy Cheater Slick) to a friend of mine for something that's a little more my size. As stated in the title, the bike is a '64 Schwinn American. It's a 26" with a two-speed red-band kickback. I've decided that I'm not going to use that rear hub. I've already got a nice Bendix RB2 that I refurbished last year for a project that never got off the ground. I'll end up selling the two-speed off to offset the cost of this build. The bike is currently in pieces. I had the bearings and related pieces soaking in the secret sauce and yesterday I pulled them out and prepared them for reassembly. I also completely disassembled the front wheel since it was so nasty (never done that before). It made it a heck of a lot easier to clean and surprisingly, I got it back together correctly. For the rear wheel I'm going to use a Schwinn replacement S-2 hoop instead of the stock S-7. I've got all the parts except for the seat which will be a Supersecret™ design until I post the reveal photos on deadline day. ;) I'm not planning on breaking any new ground here or 'winning' anything, I'm entering mainly to keep myself motivated to actually work on this thing. Anyway, here's the before photo...............

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Hey Muttley, that was part of the challenge, riding 'a bike like this' ..! :21: I rode an early '60s Schwinn Typhoon around our neighborhood ( 4 mile loop of rolling gravel roads) and through the pastures and across creeks as a kid. You can imagine my delight in 1986 when I got my first mountain bike with flat bars, knobby tires, and 18 speeds! A kid getting started in mtb riding / racing now would laugh at my fully rigid rig from the late '80s. If it doesn't at least have a 120 mm suspension fork, lightweight aluminum frame, and probably full sus at that; it isn't a mountain bike in their eyes.

Have fun with this build! Looking forward to your ideas taking shape. RaT oN~!
 
Yesterday I stopped by the LBS to have the front wheel trued and the threads on the forks cleaned up. Also dropped off the rear hoop and hub to have the spokes made and the wheel laced up. Picked them up this afternoon..............great service and about as fast as anyone could ever ask for. Tomorrow I'm planning to wash, de-grease and polish the frame. Then it's on to reassembly. Stay tuned to this channel for further updates.......
 
Didn't get around to cleaning the frame today. There's so much time left and I do my best work up against the clock. OK, that's stretching the truth a little more than a little. ;) I just really didn't feel like doing it this afternoon. I did, however decide to do something so I mounted the tires and checked the rear for clearance issues.......

Here's a before closeup of the front wheel.......

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Like I said in the original post, I completely disassembled it (first time ever doing that) cleaned up all the stuff, put it back together and then had the LBS true it up. Here's the after shot.......

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And the rear, with a Jerald Slick.......

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Hey, you've already met one of the 3 requirements: tires of a different size! ;)

Those Jerald tires are, well, slick. :rolleyes: I've got to try one on a future build. Nice work on the wheels!
 
Got the frame washed and de-greased Monday morning and spent about an hour and a half polishing the paint yesterday afternoon. It looks beautiful in the sun. The quality of original Schwinn paint and chrome is fantastic. You cant beat Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

Meguiar's.jpg
 
I'll post some photos tomorrow when I start reassembly. I had planned on starting this afternoon but my hands and shoulders are still barking at me from all the polishing yesterday. I did a little work on it by polishing the seat post/clamp and kickstand but that was all I could take today. All those little pieces seem to take forever.
 
Hey Muttley, for those of us in 'November' here in the cold, cloudy north country; a simple photo of your Cali sunshine would be inspirational at this point! :21:
 
Got a late start yesterday.........between that, having to make my world famous spaghetti & meatballs and the front axle giving me problems I didn't get the photos as I promised. I also found about ten other little parts that I had to take the wire wheel/brush to. I had planned to do all the bearings yesterday but the threads on the front axle were really messed up and I ended up monkeying around with that for what seemed like forever. I also spent a bunch of time searching my parts pile for a replacement and then going through my toolbox to see if I had the correct die to fix it (no such luck). It was starting to look like the axle and the cone nuts were going to need to be replaced so I thought I'd try one last thing (I figured I couldn't make it any worse). I stuck the axle in my vice and cranked both cone nuts all the way down and back out a couple of times with a deep well socket.........now they are finally able to turn by hand so I can adjust them. Pictures soon, no more excuses.
 
Got the wheels mounted, the forks on and the cranks in. Also got the stem and bars on but I'm not 100% sure these are the bars I'm ultimately going with. I've also got a nice set of Wald '63/'64 Stingray style butterfly bars that I may end up using. I really like these '68 Stingray bars though. Stay tuned to this channel for further updates..............

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