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Sting Ray Lover

Sting Ray Lover

Joined
Oct 11, 2022
Messages
158
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451
Location
Concord, NC
I met a local guy that found this 1971 3 Speed Fastback in a barn along with a Violet 5 speed Fastback and a Campus Green 3 speed Sting Ray. I picked what I thought was the best of the group. Maybe I was wrong? I'm going need need a lot of replacement parts. The paint along with the tires and wheels are toasty originals. What I will start out with on this build is the frame, forks, shifter, brakes, brake levers, and chain guard. The fenders are in fair shape, not great but ok for now. I will replace the wheels, tires, handlebars, hand grips, seat, seat post, sissy bar, sprocket, crank, pedals and cables. Wait....what have I gotten myself into? That's most of the bike!
 

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Don't dismiss Schwinn chrome. They really went top notch back in the 70's. Hot water, balled up aluminum foil, and a lot of elbow grease. It sounds crazy, but it works with knocking off rust! If the plating isn't broken, and just has some surface corrosion, this method will bring it back WITHOUT scratching the chrome, like steel wool or a brillow pad will do.
 
Someone already took what looks like a wire brush to the fenders and handlebars. I could have saved to fenders but there is no chrome left on the handlebars.
 
Welcome to the best vintage custom bike forum on the internet, and the build off fun, @Sting Ray Lover !

You've got a great bike to start with there! Remember, we aren't necessarily a 'restoration' forum as much as we are a 'customization' and 're-creation' forum; so like @CRASH (aka resident Muscle Bike guru) said, there are ways to bring back chrome or paint that give the build your own special touch, and keep the costs and parts hunting down.

So cool to see you here! How did you find us? We are always looking at how to attract more members / builders.

Lastly, when you upload photos to your posts, click on the word Insert on your image, and then select Full Image. That way we will get a full-sized view of your progress photos. Here's your first image, done that way:

sting ray lover.jpg


I use a mix of white vinegar and water, the harder the rust the stronger the vinegar proportion, to get the surface rust off initially. It will leave a shadowy film on the parts, so use hot water and rinse afterwards. I use a rag or sponge as to not scratch the chrome. There is a site to get authentic 'Schwinn Approved' decals for most models if you want to do logos after cleaning or a touch up paint on the frame. That looks similar to the blue on my friend's '69 Sting Ray that I 're-freshed' and switched his BMX mods he did as an adolescent back to the original set up as a production Sting Ray. That blue is available in a rattle can GM paint as I recall. I just did a spray over, without stripping the original paint, covering over his vintage stickers and bicycle license tabs with blue painters tape, and then just spraying a light coat on top of the original. And added the new Schwinn decals after. Here's a photo of the before and the after on my vintage re-fresh of the One Owner '69 build:

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And after....

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20160926_200508.jpg
 
Sting Ray Lover said:
I met a local guy that found this 1971 3 Speed Fastback in a barn along with a Violet 5 speed Fastback and a Campus Green 3 speed Sting Ray. I picked what I thought was the best of the group. Maybe I was wrong? I'm going need need a lot of replacement parts. The paint along with the tires and wheels are toasty originals. What I will start out with on this build is the frame, forks, shifter, brakes, brake levers, and chain guard. The fenders are in fair shape, not great but ok for now. I will replace the wheels, tires, handlebars, hand grips, seat, seat post, sissy bar, sprocket, crank, pedals and cables. Wait....what have I gotten myself into? That's most of the bike!
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"I picked what I thought was the best of the group. Maybe I was wrong?"

Maybe. Maybe not. To be sure you made the right choice, go back and get the other two. :113:
 
Sting Ray Lover said:
It turned out pretty nice. Not a RatRod but was a fairly complete bike that just needed A LOT of love.....(💵) and it deserved to be restored.
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Rule #1 on this forum, we never define what is a "RatRod bicycle" and what is not. :wink1: ( I get what you meant) We have our 'ratty' RaTs and our 'natty' RaTs; yours definitely fits in the latter RaTter!

Beautiful work on this bike! Paint is awesome and yes, very close to the Schwinn blue. Great seat re-cover. (I can relate to the arthritis) and cleaning / assembling of parts. Very cohesive build!
 

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