Well... what'd I buy???

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I had another thread with a horrible picture of this bike, trying to determine if it was a 16" or a 20". The seller was less then helpful, and a bit further away then I wanted to travel... but he priced it to me cheap... well... I think it was cheap. So I went and got it. It turns out that yes it was a 20" bike. It's showing some wear, but I like that. It has the correct rims with one incorrect tire... and a crooked pedal (yea they're incorrect too). What I'm not sure of is... well... Did I bring home a Stingray missing the correct seat? Or a 20" typhoon with the wrong bars. I don't really care either way aside from I'd like to be able to answer people correctly when asked "is that a Stingray?" The left chainstay #s are HD55486 which I looked up as being 1965. The right chainstay has H78... no idea what that means.

Anyway...

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Couple passes with wd40...

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Showing marks where a sissy bar may have once been mounted?

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Suggestions? Help? comments?
 
You got yourself a Sting-Ray there :D Clean the paint up with some polish and clean the chrome with steel wool :wink: The holes on the back are for a fender :) Great find :mrgreen:
 
HD yields a frame date of August '68. I have a CD bike, March of 68.

Being a small frame, that's a Stingray Junior, or as you've guessed it could have been one of the little kid's bikes like a Typhoon or a Fleet.

That chainguard is just no help at all, is it? Not a bit of decal left on it. Oh well, original coppertone always looks great, just clean it up, wax it, and put on a new guard decal.

I wouldn't repaint it unless you really want to have a perfect one. Looks like most original chrome will clean up fine as well. You definitely have correct 1968 Stingray handlebars so I'd go with that.

Time for detective work. You will find date codes possibly in the following places:

Front tire: sidewall of the Westwind should have a Carlisle stamp like ( C 8 8 1 ) - C is for Carlisle and 8 8 is August '68 for example.

Inside front fork leg: A tiny number near the bottom, like 08+8. Again that would mean Aug. 68, but fork dates are often off by a couple months.

Rear hub: Should be a Bendix RB-2 or a Bendix Junior. (looks like its not a RB2 anyway).

Crank: should have a month and year forged right in the middle of it.

Stem and bars: may be legible, may not, but there were Schwinn date stamps in the hidden areas of stem and bar clamp knurled sections.

To restore it:

You would want to locate a sissy bar with clamps, a shorty (Junior) banana seat with a Stingray tag, white Schwinn grips (or copper if you can find) large block no-reflector pedals, and maybe an actual Schwinn rear tire. Those can be tough because of the S-7 size on the rear of these bikes, but most Fairladys and Lil Chiks have the same tire.

Have fun!
--Rob
 
Thanks for all the info!

Front tire (the correct one) I saw what looks like C108... followed by 559... and up in the tread blocks 483.

Appears to have 88 stamped in the inside of the fork.

Couldn't find a date on the bars only "WALD"

Haven't pulled the stem yet.. but it's gotta come out. I'm going to clean and grease all the bearings. No repainting or stickers... I like the patina. Just curious if I'm going to have to buy original parts or are there suitable reproductions for the sissy bar and the seat?
 
Looking closer, you might have gotten an interesting if not technically correct part.

Could you read the tire size on the rear? And look for the stamp in the rim, if present?

Looks like a double knurl rim from a 70's bike, which should be an S-2. They're generally more valuable than S-7 rear rims because they came on regular Stingrays, not just Juniors.

If it is a 20x1.75 or 20x2.125, you've got an S-2 rim and that's a good thing. You'll be able to use a repro or off-brand slik and not spend an arm and a leg for it.

I really can't tell what it started as. It was either one of these:

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1961_1970/1968_25.html

Or one of these:

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1961_1970/1968_34.html

And they were all offered in coppertone in 68.... With the bars being Wald it kind of points to it being a Typhoon, most likely, that was customized. You can see in the first link the odd small banana seat used that year. There are several variations, and the one in that picture is an odd one.

I wish these prices were current...

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1961_1970/1970_43.html

Have fun with it!
--Rob
 
Check the length of the seatpost. A really long post = StingRay. Short post = Typhoon. I'd go with StingRay if I was a betting man. Gary
 
B607 said:
Check the length of the seatpost. A really long post = StingRay. Short post = Typhoon. I'd go with StingRay if I was a betting man. Gary

Good point about the seatpost, and I forgot about this:

The Stingrays got long, chromed ones. 14" I think. The smaller bikes got cad-plated ones and I've never seen a long one. That doesn't mean they don't exist, or that this one was changed out from another bike or a store.

I'm not certain what a Junior came equipped with.

On one of our Lil Chiks, I've replaced the short post with a Stingray one so my wife can ride it with us when we take the 20" bikes out.

Either way a few parts will be needed to complete this and have a rider quality Stingray Junior.
 
The rear wheel is definitely a Schwinn wheel... but I haven't cleaned it up yet and haven't seen any markings. The Brake arm does read "Bendix 76". The tire is wrong for the wheel, it's a 20x1.75 and doesn't seem to "seat" on the rim correctly... which if I understand correctly, it shouldn't anyway. I removed the seatpost and it's definitely not chrome... and it was installed upside down. It's about 9.25".

I've already bought a correct sissy bar with clamps... but the seat... I may end up with a reproduction. I can't justify paying nearly $100 for a seat just to cruise around the block every now and then... But... I'll keep lookiong for that "bargain". :wink:
 
ratina said:
Try looking at the chainguard in different lights, you can usually see a faint outline of some lettering.

I've tilted, craned my neck, indoors, outdoors... misted with water from a spray bottle... there's not a trace of the original screening...
 
aceuh said:
ratina said:
Try looking at the chainguard in different lights, you can usually see a faint outline of some lettering.

I've tilted, craned my neck, indoors, outdoors... misted with water from a spray bottle... there's not a trace of the original screening...

No kidding. Thats weird. Seems theres almost always an outline left.
 
I know, I bought a 26" Schwinn from a guy a couple weeks ago. The seller told me that there was nothing on the chainguard aside from a very faded "Schwinn". When I got out of the truck I could see the "typhoon" on it from 10' away... just had to do with how the light was hitting it.
 

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