73 Heavy-Duti fast build (Done; well mostly)

[whitefiretiger]

So picked up a 73 Schwinn Heavy duty the other day and I'm hoping to make this a fast build and ride it.

The day I got it after a little cleaning.

Today I fitted up a pair of crankbrook wheels with my Bontrager Hank tires and bolted them up. Well the rear was a bit fun because the fender was tweaked more than I could reshape to clear the big tire.
Got the seat post out but it took 1/2 hour or so; didn't care if I killed it because it was 2 posts welded (badly) together to make it tall.
Got a very tall post to replace it.
Fitted up a new chain after cutting the old one off.
Still trying to get the top nut off the steer tube (only worked at it for 15 minutes)
Also hoping to be able to use the ratty 15" apes I have.

I'll get some pics of progress tomorrow if all goes well; don't have good enough light right now.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

3 Builds at once WFT! You are a glutton for punishment!

Luke.

 

[whitefiretiger]

3 Builds at once WFT! You are a glutton for punishment!

Luke.

4 builds at once. Still playing with 3-on-the-tree.

Difference with this one is I really need a solid rider and my daily rider is broken yet again (been all I could do to not throw that mongoose under a bus or truck)

I'm just doing some cleaning on this some grease and throwing some parts at it.

I just tossed the bb bearings in to soak for the night to clean them up.

Out of lack of anything else to do till daytime I just polished the new seat post. Never did understand why so many old post were raw (or just became that way over time? Look like old galvanised coating that's gone south and lead to random rusting).

This is a cool post its 15.1875" long from end to end so I should be able to get proper leg extension.

Before polishing (cat got in the light so picture only had a small area I could crop to show before and it doesn't even show how bad it was)

After polishing

 

[whitefiretiger]

BB bearings / parts after 10 hour soak.

Unfortunately its raining and work called me in so no time for more than a couple posts before I head out.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Good work so far!

Luke.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Thanks.

I'm a bit puzzled on this bike.
Some stuff that is normally a pain to get off of a bike that's been setting outside for years is coming apart easily (not that I'm complaining about it) but for how easy everything including the stem came apart I'm not sure why the heck the crown (top) nut is fighting me so badly.
If I can just manage to get the fork out it should be cake to finish bringing this bike to rideable.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Ok thought I'd try to get back to work so I got the fork pulled from this today.
Pieces are soaking in vinegar; hoping I won't need to find too many replacements. I need a new top nut for the steer tube as it made me angry and I don't think its usable by any standards lol.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Well I got a bit done. The bike is full stripped apart. Got it almost as clean as I can (what a pain getting all the oxidation and pb blaster cleaned off)
Thinking I may give it a quick clear coat to help keep from losing any more paint; its so thin in some areas that I lost paint rubbing the thing with a soft cloth.
Already shot the chain guard as I don't want to lose the shadow of it saying heavy duti.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Well its decided and been done; I shot clear on the frame.
I went to move the frame back to the repair stand and got a lovely bunch of yellow on my hands & shirt.
The clear made that old yellow spring back to life so I'm glad I sprayed it.

I still need to clear coat the fork but haven't been able to figure out how to get that chrome piece off that's slid down the steer tube.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Went after that chrome piece with a bit of annoyance and got it off (wow are my fingers sore) its a bit too late to clear coat it tonight so I'll try to get it done in the morning.

Here's the chain guard after clear coat.

Oh and I forgot to post this. It freaked me out a bit.

That's what I found when I went to check on the fork bearings & parts after forgetting about them. They soaked in white vinegar for 20 hours.
Of all the parts I've soaked I've never seen froth like that.

 

[The Black Monark]

Great bike, I spent ~2hrs a day on one for many years
Tip: push all the old ball bearings out of the cages and replace them with new top-grade chromium balls.

 

[Nagant]

WOW! Ive never seen parts forth like that in vinegar neither. Maybe they had PB Blaster on them and that caused the wild chemical reaction in the vinegar.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Great bike, I spent ~2hrs a day on one for many years
Tip: push all the old ball bearings out of the cages and replace them with new top-grade chromium balls.

Thanks.
I did replace the balls in the cages for the fork; but I just used the balls from a pair of Hartford bearings that I accidentally missed up the cages on a while back. The crank balls look good so no worry there.

WOW! Ive never seen parts forth like that in vinegar neither. Maybe they had PB Blaster on them and that caused the wild chemical reaction in the vinegar.

I don't think it was pb blaster but anything is possible.
It freaked me out when I saw it tho.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Just checked on the frame; its drying nicely.
It was a bit cool last night when I shot the clear and ended up with a couple little runs but not a big deal as I can fix them later if I do desire.

 

[whitefiretiger]

The frame seems dry so I will hopefully be able to get to work on it soon.
Didn't get a chance to shoot the fork like I wanted so I'm going to try to get to it tomorrow.
Would work on it after work but think I need to clean my work area first as I've got parts from at least 4 bikes all over (luckily I'm smart enough to have bagged & tagged most all the small bits).

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looking forward to seeing this one done!

Luke.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Thanks Luke.

Today went to everything but bikes; didn't even get to cleaning my work area.
Tomorrow looks about the same too but I am going to try to squeeze in time.

On a fun side note I found a pos women's Murray mtn bike in a dumpster; wouldn't have noticed it because all the trash on it but I noticed what looked like the handle of ape hangers and lo & behold they were.
Took the full bike but at the quick look over I did I think the bars is only good part.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Quick update.
Its back on the stand and going to try to get a tad bit of work in real quick.

 

[whitefiretiger]

Well got the fork clear coated.
Got the crank installed & started fitting the new rear fender.
Need to find a couple new bolts to be able to move forward with the fender but for now its bed time.

 

[ThundaCrymz]

Good luck with this build, what type/color of handlebars you plan on using ?