PROJECT 1963 AMERICAN

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Rat Rod

Rat Rod

Owner & Founder
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Well...I ended up selling the gold 67 Raleigh Robin Hood that I had found for my wife a while back so that I could buy a 63 Schwinn American for her instead. I went and picked it up today. I had followed it on Ebay and it was one of those "Pickup Only" deals that always seem to die without any bidders. :mrgreen: I made contact and threw out an offer and the lady said she'd take it. Took me a couple of weeks to finally get over to see the bike. What I didn't realize, and never thought to ask was what size the wheels were. When I got there it turned out that it had 24" wheels...DOH! Well, once I got the bike home I stripped off the fenders and threw on a set of 26" S-7s that I had and they just barely fit. Had to let the air out of the rear tire to squeeze it on. The rear wheel has to sit at the back of the drop outs to fit...not sure how this will effect the chain. I'm guessing I'll have to add a link or something.

Anyway, the bike is starting to look pretty cool. It came with this nifty set of baskets for the back and also another Schwinn rear rack that I'll find a use for. I'm going to give it a complete overhaul and clean it up real good. I'm also thinking that it would look cool with a white glitter banana seat and sissy bar.

Here are a few photos of how it looked when I got it home and also after the 26" wheels.

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man that thing looks good, them wheels are in there tight
 
Thanks man...yeah, they just barely fit. The width is okay, but the height is really close.

Does anyone know what I would need to change out the bearings in the front wheel? It came off of my 67 Typhoon. It's got some back and forth play in it like they are worn out.
 
very nice Steve..
It looks cool with the 26's on it.
Their LOTS of room :mrgreen:

If I inflate The Tires on my RRBBO Bike to much,
The Front Fender Rubs..That's tight.

Very cool Bike.

Kev.
 
When you lengthen your chain, you may or may not get to that sweet spot in the dropouts. If you can't get the chain tension you need, you can get a 'half link' from your lbs.

http://homepage.mac.com/unsavorycharact ... erlink.jpg

While you're test fitting, have you tried 26 x 2.125's? I'd be curious to see how that fits between the stays and height-wise too.
 
Rat Rod said:
Thanks man...yeah, they just barely fit. The width is okay, but the height is really close.

Does anyone know what I would need to change out the bearings in the front wheel? It came off of my 67 Typhoon. It's got some back and forth play in it like they are worn out.
Click to expand...
broabaly just need to loosen the inner nuts regrease and tightrn it all bank up
it should have caged ball bearings that wont fall all over the floor but be careful sometimes they still will fall out
I always take axles out over a emptty 5 gallon buckett to catch the little balls if they tend to run off
 
Rat Rod said:
Thanks man...yeah, they just barely fit. The width is okay, but the height is really close.

Does anyone know what I would need to change out the bearings in the front wheel? It came off of my 67 Typhoon. It's got some back and forth play in it like they are worn out.
Click to expand...

Are the hubs worn or do they just need the cones adjusted? The cones are easy to replace if worn, but the bearing races may be integral to the hub. Worst case scenario (shot bearing races) would require a hub replacement.

The obligatory Sheldon Brown link for hub service:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html

-Mp
 
Thanks guys for the responses. :D

I've never messed with hubs so I have no idea what is going on yet with the front hub. I just know that when I tighten the axle bolts up as tight as I can, there is still side to side play (wobble) in the front hub.

Looks like I need to study the Sheldon Brown write up.

Thanks again for all of your input!

Steve
 
Great bike with the big wheels. I will leave all that hub talk to the experts. But you might try lowering the rear of the baskets to the next hole to level them out, then cut the lower hole off. Great Score. Important to keep the wife happy.
 
If it were mine I'd probably leave the baskets off, but my bride likes it. :) I may just paint them white or something....not sure yet.

I think a white glitter banana seat would look really cool on this bike, but I'm also thinking it would be really uncomfortable to ride. :?
 
The bannana seats look great, but are mostly for the youth. My RRBO bike has a Stingray one that isn't great for comfort. Maybe a new one would be alright.
 
sine the baskets give it width I think a wide exceriser seat would look cool on it
look on craigslist for an older real cheap one they usually have mint seats grips handle bars and pedals :)
 
i always dig the paperboy baskets, but it does trip me up sometimes throwin my leg over the saddle. they come in handy when you least expect em, (plus you can make her carry stuff for ya since she has the baskets :lol: or its a good excuse to take hers for a spin if ya gotta run errands) thats what i do to my wife anyways lol, i say keep em !!!
 
N i C e.......
Apes !! Needs Apes :D

I dont think the front bearings are shot. A simple
clean, grease and adjust will make them ride like
new ! Use grease to hold them in place when
reassembling ! :D
 
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