This is a 'barn-find' (literally, I bought it from @barnbikes forum member!) that was made in Chicago, Illinois in March of 1977, and sold at the Tonka Schwinn Cyclery store in Minnetonka, MN; on the west side of our greater Twin Cities area.
It has already been rat-rodded at least once before. The wheels are not Schwinn S-7, but a comparable pair of 20 inchers. They had been fitted with the Comp III tires which were so popular in the '80s for making your 20" bike look and feel more like a BMX bike, which were sweeping the country by storm at the time.
I'm guessing that at one point, the original 'naner saddle had been chucked to put on a more BMX style seat, and then later after that, this girl's banana seat and sissy bar were added to fit the next kid in line.
Luckily, the original paint, Sunset Orange, was left alone and the bike kept the original bars, grips, stem, cranks and pedals, seat post, rear fender, and reflectors.
My goal will be to do a 'vintage clean' restore, leaving the original paint, cleaning it up, lubing all the bearings, building my own custom seat from a Person's Made in USA seat pan, and getting a period correct sissy bar for the bike. I'm sure other things will pop up along the way, and this may take a turn or two during the build process, but I want to finish this in the month of October (it is after all, orange
) while the weather is still nice enough to work out in the BACK40. We had our first hard freeze on Saturday, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed (inside my gloves).
Here's what the '77 SSS looks like for starters....
The photo from the craigslist ad:
Shots from the BACK40.
Alright! Let's get this party started!
It has already been rat-rodded at least once before. The wheels are not Schwinn S-7, but a comparable pair of 20 inchers. They had been fitted with the Comp III tires which were so popular in the '80s for making your 20" bike look and feel more like a BMX bike, which were sweeping the country by storm at the time.
I'm guessing that at one point, the original 'naner saddle had been chucked to put on a more BMX style seat, and then later after that, this girl's banana seat and sissy bar were added to fit the next kid in line.
Luckily, the original paint, Sunset Orange, was left alone and the bike kept the original bars, grips, stem, cranks and pedals, seat post, rear fender, and reflectors.
My goal will be to do a 'vintage clean' restore, leaving the original paint, cleaning it up, lubing all the bearings, building my own custom seat from a Person's Made in USA seat pan, and getting a period correct sissy bar for the bike. I'm sure other things will pop up along the way, and this may take a turn or two during the build process, but I want to finish this in the month of October (it is after all, orange
Here's what the '77 SSS looks like for starters....
The photo from the craigslist ad:
![1977 schwinn stingray project CL.jpg 1977 schwinn stingray project CL.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attach/84/84990-1977-schwinn-stingray-project-CL.jpg)
![1977 schwinn stingray project CL.jpg 1977 schwinn stingray project CL.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attach/84/84990-1977-schwinn-stingray-project-CL.jpg)
Shots from the BACK40.
![40561795_2231572956872588_8289372059071414272_n.jpg 40561795_2231572956872588_8289372059071414272_n.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attach/84/84991-40561795-2231572956872588-8289372059071414272-n.jpg)
![40544414_680629702304180_2689429763939893248_n.jpg 40544414_680629702304180_2689429763939893248_n.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attach/84/84992-40544414-680629702304180-2689429763939893248-n.jpg)
![40603731_1086946234814245_7523525612909101056_n.jpg 40603731_1086946234814245_7523525612909101056_n.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attach/84/84993-40603731-1086946234814245-7523525612909101056-n.jpg)
![40538626_680148455702142_1202968129987149824_n.jpg 40538626_680148455702142_1202968129987149824_n.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attach/84/84994-40538626-680148455702142-1202968129987149824-n.jpg)
![40685497_1717466978379393_3718008774166839296_n.jpg 40685497_1717466978379393_3718008774166839296_n.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attach/84/84995-40685497-1717466978379393-3718008774166839296-n.jpg)
![40628760_1760935917338040_2302437864652144640_n.jpg 40628760_1760935917338040_2302437864652144640_n.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attach/84/84996-40628760-1760935917338040-2302437864652144640-n.jpg)
Alright! Let's get this party started!
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