Found an early schwinn ballooner

[Danny the schwinn freak]

Found a cool early schwinn ballooner today. Don't know a lot about it yet, I've always been a stingray guy. But a friend had it and I couldn't pass it up. What do I look for in identifying what it is? There are no numbers under the cranks that I can see. Has some weird tall stem and a pair of exercise bike bars, wrong wheels and fenders, but otherwise she's a cream puff, lol. What do you think?

 

[Wildcat]

It's an old Chicago Schwinn for sure. Scrape the paint on the bottom side of the bottom bracket to see if the number is there. If not, check the left rear dropout. It has a Schwinn skip tooth sprocket so it should be on the bottom, unless it was added. The wheels aren't Schwinn, and the handlebars and stem look like they are from a Schwinn exercise bike. The chain guard is an old Schwinn, and matches up. Since it's been repainted, it's hard to tell if it came with it. You may see a model name along the back half under the green paint. The springer looks good, and is probably Schwinn. The fenders aren't Schwinn but look good on there.
I think it's a ballooner size frame, so it's probably late 40's or early 50's, just guessing.

 

[Danny the schwinn freak]

It's an old Chicago Schwinn for sure. Scrape the paint on the bottom side of the bottom bracket to see if the number is there. If not, check the left rear dropout. It has a Schwinn skip tooth sprocket so it should be on the bottom, unless it was added. The wheels aren't Schwinn, and the handlebars and stem look like they are from a Schwinn exercise bike. The chain guard is an old Schwinn, and matches up. Since it's been repainted, it's hard to tell if it came with it. You may see a model name along the back half under the green paint. The springer looks good, and is probably Schwinn. The fenders aren't Schwinn but look good on there.
I think it's a ballooner size frame, so it's probably late 40's or early 50's, just guessing.

Hi and thanks for the info. It's a ballooner for sure. It has the un-dimpled tubes that are in front of the seat post so it is definitely early. Springer is Schwinn, but has small front rods that are curved back at the very bottom, so I don't know if they are Schwinn or not. Just needs some love and a few parts and it will make an excellent beater bike. Just what I was looking for.

 

[Wildcat]

Also, the cranks may have a 2 digit year on them, on the inside portion between the bearings. If you pull it to grease it it may have something like AS 48 on them. AS is Arnold and Schwinn, also seen on the springer bolts and seat stem bolt.

 

[Danny the schwinn freak]

Also, the cranks may have a 2 digit year on them, on the inside portion between the bearings. If you pull it to grease it it may have something like AS 48 on them. AS is Arnold and Schwinn, also seen on the springer bolts and seat stem bolt.

Awesome, thank you again for the info.

 

[Danny the schwinn freak]

Well the numbers are under the crank housing in the bottom of the frame. They are very faint. Looks like X87429. Any ideas what year it is?

 

[A.S.BOLTNUT]

From what I can see the springer looks to be after market or atleast the top part..

 

[Wildcat]

I've never seen an X. But all the serial codes before 1948 were burned up. They normally used a letter, starting with A for January, B for February etc. But I looked and saw a Z being used in 49 or 50, so it is a Schwinn but no X in all the numbers after 48.
So, my best guess is pre-1948, but after 1945 when the first forward facing dropouts appeared. That's just the frame. Pull the cranks for the best chance at the exact year.

The springer looks like the one I put on my 53 Schwinn. The springer was made for a frame that had less height in the head tube. So the spring isn't perpendicular as it should be. Your bigger frame shows the spring with a slight upward bend toward the handlebars. It still works well that way, no problem. If you take it apart and put it back together it may seem like something doesn't fit, but that's why, the slightly taller head tube of the frame.

So bottom line, you have an early postwar Bike!

 

[Danny the schwinn freak]

Awesome @Wildcat, thanks for all the great info. I'm really diggin' this bike and it rides like a dream.