Another new Minnesotan

[briancustoms]

Howdy folks! I just found a link to this site after searching on the H.A.M.B. for any car guys that build bikes. I'm a car guy mostly, but a customizer at heart and will try to customize anything I can get my hands on.
At the moment I don't have my own garage or place to call my own so I don't have room to build the Model A I would like to be building. Well, I started fiending for something to work on and remembered an older Schwinn I saw sitting in the yard where I work, asked around about it, found the owner and handed over his suggested retail price (case of MIller High Life), dug it out of a 5 foot snow bank, "and the rest is history". I pulled the bike out on February 14th, and other than some chain issues I'm in the process of working out, the bike is done. So for a couple of weeks worth of work, maybe a total of about 20 hours in all, I think the bike turned out pretty decent.

Here she is after unburial:

And my "rendering" of what I wanted the final outcome to be:

And some build-up pictures:

Some paint:

And the final product:

It's not exactly a "rat rod" by definition, more of a "kustom", but I think it may fit in on this board? So are there any other Minnesota folks on here, and does anyone around here get together and ride their creations?

 

[oldgreenbean]

Hey briancustoms REAL REAL glad to have ya here.You will fit right in & I hope to see more of your work in the near future.I really like the raw welds.Super cool bike & I love that you took something ruff like that & made it into what you did.Some people think that throwing paint at a canvas is art,THAT IS WHAT I CALL ART.I just can not say enough.I know all the guy will feel the same.

 

[sensor]

welcome aboard! and great choice on the paint :mrgreen:

 

[Boardtrack fan]

Welcome, Love what you did with the old Schwinn. The bike has great lines and I love the gussets.

 

[Heavy Pedal]

Wow! That's a great build! With your talent, you've got endless possibilities. Cool design!

 

[Rat Rod]

WOW...you chopped up a straight bar Schwinn...you'll get along here just fine...LOL!

 

[Schwinnspastic]

Welcome to the forrum, looks like another metal man in the mix and what a "Great" looking bike you created but I must admit I
cringed seeing that frame cut up. It makes me want to get the sawsall and welder out but I think I'll use a huffy as a starter :lol:

 

[tnt1]

You done what to a straight bar schwinn :? :x

 

[briancustoms]

Uh oh, did I upset some purists? :lol: I did about five minutes of research on ebay to see if the bike was worth anything in it's original/restored state and didn't see any others on there indicating I had a gem. Then I broke out the sawzall. :mrgreen:

 

[oldgreenbean]

AHH Don't worry briancustoms.I did not think about it for a second.All those purists better hope I never get a hold of the Schwinn Holy Grail.I have trouble accepting things the way they are. CHOP IT UP OR DOWN!! You gotta remember that that bikes belongs to YOU.

 

[briancustoms]

Not worried at all, I had fun building it! The purists can go ride around on their cookie cutter factory bikes, that's not my gig.

 

[Hooch]

cool bike and welcome to the forum!
its your bike and its your way

 

[Markm]

Welcome. Cool Ride!!! :mrgreen:

 

[DiscoStu]

Sweet, MN people! Nice work on the rig there, just got my bike today so I figure a few weeks and I'll have mine rideable... but I think we'll have to wait a bit longer for the big melt to get out and pedal these things around. If you are in the cities, let me know, would be cool to go cruise around the lakes.

Cheers

 

[Schwinnspastic]

uh oh,did I upset some purists?

I hope you dont mean me as I am no purist by any means but I dont have a straight bar in my fleet and I really like the lines on those frames.
Lord knows I been choppin bikes since '72 and plenty were Schwinn so....I had to come back to look at your bike again ...Sweet

 

[briancustoms]

That wasn't directed to anybody in particular, it just gets annoying to hear people complain about people chopping up old iron and making it look better. I agree with you, the bike has great lines, if it didn't I wouldn't have been able to stretch the frame out to the much better looking frame that I did. :mrgreen: It's been difficult to find an ebay bike with good lines for my next victim, though I think buying another parts bike like I used for this one could work fine. :wink:

 

[Firewalker]

you wrote

Uh oh, did I upset some purists?

lolol in no way around here....cut away!!! only the guys at the Schwinn site would throw a hissy fit :lol: it's just for some of us its hard to find a bike like that anymore :?

there are lots of car guys here so you will fit in great! here is a pic of one of my cars

I love what you did with that bike and love what you used for as a jig.....hope you do not mind if I copy them!?

Keep the sawsall going!! :wink: :mrgreen:

FW

 

[briancustoms]

Copy away, they helped me out quite nicely.

Nice car, I'd love to get my hands on one of those, but in not that nice of condition, I'd feel bad chopping/channeling something that looked that nice. :lol:
Here's a couple pictures of my truck:

Before/afterish:

Most recent, and with my old roommates VW "panel van" that I had a hand in:

 

[Firewalker]

Nice! :mrgreen:

 

[BASTY 76]

Nice work mate.Very cool ride!!