When I picked up this 'barn find' 1977 Schwinn Sting-Ray, it looked like this:
The frame and fork and handlebars were straight, and the wheels weren't ! I re-spoked the wheels with spokes from a late model BMX bike, cleaned up the faded paint and de-rusted the rims, bars, cranks, stem, rear fender; all the chrome parts basically. Added some new shoes, did custom lettering on the tires, made a new seat from a Person's 'naner pan I had, covered it with vinyl and painted it black. Picked up an original Schwinn sissy bar and made some custom clamps for it. Cleaned the original grips and added steel end plugs as the originals were torn / worn off. Cleaned up the original Schwinn pedals, added a chain from my shelves in the BACK40, and applied Schwinn approved decals to the refreshed original paint Sunset Orange frame (hence, the name). I made a new front fender from a rear fender from backstock in the bike shed, and fashioned it after the way this 1977 model would have come originally. Here is a photo of a stock 1977 Schwinn Sting-Ray:
I was born too early to enjoy a Schwinn Sting-Ray as a kid, already had my 26" Schwinn Typhoon by the time the Sting-Ray hit landed in the bikes shops across America. This will be a treasure for me, and a nostalgic reminder of a true muscle bike, and bicycle hot rod of it's day.
Really enjoyed being a part of this MBBO again! I have to say, these Muscle Bike Build-Offs have been some of the most fun for me over the past 4 years. Thanks @LukeTheJoker and @Rat Rod for pulling this together once again!
My build thread can be found here for a step-by-step process.
http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/in...-strip-1977-schwinn-sting-ray-refresh.107491/
This video summary will give you a good idea of what went into the build, and some up close views of the bike.
RaT oN~!
