'68 Schwinn DeLuxe Elizabeth

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udallcustombikes

udallcustombikes

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After several years of tolerating my hobby (obsession) my wifey has told me it is time for me to build her a bike. She had a picture in her head of what she wants so we spent some time surfing the interwebs looking at pictures of different bikes to find the one in her head. It turns out the bike she wants is the one I sent to member Lauren Stanger a few weeks ago :x
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So the hunt began for a late 60's-early 70's Schwinn Lightweight. After calling out to my rat rod brethren, my fellow Coasters members, and ads on CL, I was waiting to see what popped up. I got a few leads but nothing that was just right. Then I get a call from a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend. He has a Breeze that fits the bill. I pick it up and I am very pleased with this beautiful blue '68.
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The down side is that my wifey is quite adamant that she wants her bike to be Cherry Red. I am dreading destroying this blue beauty. Luckily I also picked up this rough Breeze in the deal as well.
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Now to find the right parts for this build. :!: :!: :!: :!: :!:

I picked up this '10 Schwinn Gateway at Target for a whopping $45 brand new. I did not like the ride and only got it because it was cheap and had a decent set of 700c wheels (28"???).

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Started swapping parts over today. I wasn't sure how the bigger wheels would fit the frame and I had to squeeze the fenders in there as well. Winner, winner, Chicken Dinner!!!!

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I was pleased to see the kickstand still worked with the bigger wheels as well.

Stay tuned for more!
 
Re: My wife is coming around

looking good so far, I wish my wife was into bikes... i restored one for her and she likes it, but that's it...no more :(
 
Re: My wife is coming around

aka_locojoe said:
This ought to work out great. Will you re-decal it or do something custom or...?
Hoping to see your wife at a future Coaster event.
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It will be getting some decals, just not sure what she wants yet. We will all be there Sunday for the Canal Cruise.
 
Re: My wife is coming around

I have the bike ready for tear down and powder coating. Just need to hit my LBS for some red grips and track down a red messinger seat.

You can see that the other blue Breeze has been given a reprieve on it's death sentence in the back ground.
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Re: My wife is coming around

I like it 8) What are you going to use for paint... the Schwinn in a can :?: :?: I'd like to see what it looks like :wink:
 
Re: My wife is coming around

Took the frame, fork, chain guard, and kick stand to my powder coater today. By the end of the week I should be reassembling the bike.
My coater came out to the Midwest Bike Swap and saw this 24" BMX cruiser that I bought from 65rat for a whopping $5. I worked a deal where I will give him this bike in exchange for the work on my wife's bike. I took it apart and he is going to coat it and I will reassemble it for him as part of the deal as well.

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Re: My wife is coming around

I picked the frame and forks up from the powder coater yesterday! I was rushing to get my tandem done and this one had to wait until today for attention.

I decided to sacrifice this minty '77 Suburban since I couldn't find a buyer. The leftovers may end up getting the burrito treatment in the future. Still waiting on the chain guard and I need to find some red Schwinn grips before I can call it done.
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Once again I was so focused on building I forgot to snap some pics before I got done. :oops: :oops: :oops:

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And here she is with the other Schwinn ladies- blue '68 Deluxe Breeze, green '70 Collegiate, and the red '68 Breeze turned Collegiate/Gateway.
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Re: My wife is coming around

One step closer to being done. I got the white rubber she wanted and mounted it this morning. All that is lacking is the decals (ready to be picked up) and a pair of red grips- Schwinn or Hunt Wilde opaque red, not glitter.
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I picked up the decals on my way into work today. I got a pair of fork darts, a pair of Starburst Schwinns for the top tube, Schwinn, De/Luxe, and Elizabeth for the chainguard, and the Schwinn Quality for the seat tube. All for less than $11. The guys at my decal shop are great! To get the graphics I needed I rolled my daughter's '68 Breeze into the shop. They measured everything and snapped some pics, less than a week later I have all the vinyl decals I need. I will show some pics later on tonight.
 
A local company, Apple Graphix, here in Wichita. No website or anything, I usually go in to see them or work through calls and email. I have had them do several bikes worth of decals for me so far. They do a great job and are very quick. The only time I had much of a wait is when they had to order the vinyl in to match my coppertone paint.
 
Man,that really turned out sweet!!! :D I wish I had a decal source like that. Don't know when I'd ever get around to rebuilding my old '68 Schwinn,but not having decals was actually one of the things what put her on the backburner,LOL! I need to check around my area for something local,I'd never thought of having some made up :lol:
 

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