Freeliner with 3 x 1 gearing is GO!

[GTHOtrod]

This build is awesome. Love it!
I have also successfully used an old cut down spoke to lock a derailleur in place.

 

[JA331]

This build is awesome. Love it!
I have also successfully used an old cut down spoke to lock a derailleur in place.

Thanks mate. I think you'll like the main colour I'm painting it.

 

[GTHOtrod]

Thanks mate. I think you'll like the main colour I'm painting it.

Awesome. Look forward to seeing it

 

[Tallbikeman]

I did a quick assembly today. To my amazement the 3 x 1 gear system works perfectly. I locked the rear derailleur in the position it needed to be to get a decent chain line, using a short section of brake cable. It all came together a lot easier than I thought and is testament to the quality of the 35+ year old Japanese parts.

I took the bike for a quick ride and the gear spacing feels similar to a Nexus 3 speed. The Chang star front canti brake and Sturmey Archer rear drum work well. I'll need to search my parts bins for a quick release binder bolt for the seat post clamp like the old klunkers used.

Hopefully we get a clear day soon so I can take it for a longer ride before pulling it down for paint or a brighter bare metal finish.

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Very creative use of the rear derailleur/chain tensioner. Bike turned out really well. You should be able to ride this anywhere a mountain bike can go. Looking forward to your paint/polish job.

 

[Pondo]

The bike looks great man! I think it would even look good with a brushed steel treatment on the frame and the green forks. Or an old school flame job.

 

[JA331]

Very creative use of the rear derailleur/chain tensioner. Bike turned out really well. You should be able to ride this anywhere a mountain bike can go. Looking forward to your paint/polish job.

Thanks. I pulled the bike down yesterday to prepare it for paint. We’ve had constant rain here for almost a month and more is forecasted at least until the end of November due to La Nina weather. I’m hoping when summer rolls around in December we get some decent weather so I can get the bike painted.

 

[JA331]

The weather will be improving towards the end of this week so I am hoping to get started on painting the frame. I spend some time yesterday removing some surface rust that formed on the frame since it was blasted 2 years ago. I also have 2 small repairs to do on the braces between the stays.

I intended to paint the frame in Fighter Jet grey and black like the 2022 Mach 1 Mustang below but I've since changed my mind as I believe those colors would work better with black rims rather than the silver rims I have. I also contemplated a candy orange, similar to Schwinn's Coppertone with a pearl white but I'm still scarred from painting a bike in a candy color for one of my girls 2 years ago. If you haven't done it before, painting a candy color is a 4 stage process requiring primer, silver, the candy color and then a clear coat. It is time consuming and expensive. The other option is orange and white like the klunker bikes below from Alan Bond's website. I can get Mopar engine orange in a VHT spray pack and it doesn't require a clear coat and rather than using white I would use gloss black for the accents like on the engine below.. The last option is to shine up the raw metal which may be the easiest option of all. I have a rust prevention paste but I'm not sure if it is the look I want and how well the paste would work to prevent rust from forming again on the old steel frame.

 

[GTHOtrod]

So many choices, it really is a personal thing. Which ever way you will look great on that build.

My opinion. Hemi orange for the bulk, with the scallops and fork polished. Or fork orange also. If you have issues with rust forming, can always add the black or white later on.

I agree the grey/ black combo would suit better to a build with black rims.

 

[JA331]

So many choices, it really is a personal thing. Which ever way you will look great on that build.

My opinion. Hemi orange for the bulk, with the scallops and fork polished. Or fork orange also. If you have issues with rust forming, can always add the black or white later on.

I agree the grey/ black combo would suit better to a build with black rims.

Thanks for the input. Your suggestion with orange for the bulk of the frame and polished accents is very cool and something I never would have thought of. I have the stencil kit so it would be easy to do. Thanks heaps.

 

[Pondo]

Thanks for the input. Your suggestion with orange for the bulk of the frame and polished accents is very cool and something I never would have thought of. I have the stencil kit so it would be easy to do. Thanks heaps.

That's a great idea, I think it would look really cool!

 

[JA331]

That's a great idea, I think it would look really cool!

I thought over this yesterday and I think the issue with leaving the front part of the frame raw is the paint build up along the edge of the stencil. My experience is you need to peel the stencils off while the paint is still curing or the paint will chip.

 

[Pondo]

Good point. I haven't done it before but it sounds like it could look cool. The orange/white and polished raw looks would also be great so several good options.

 

[JA331]

Beautiful weather this morning to do some painting however first I had to add some new brazing on the brackets between the stays. I then treated the frame with de-oxidine and painted it with VHT red oxide primer. There’s some heavy pitting in a few areas and a few dents that need to be repaired before I can begin the final colors.

 

[GTHOtrod]

Beautiful weather this morning to do some painting however first I had to add some new brazing on the brackets between the stays. I then treated the frame with de-oxidine and painted it with VHT red oxide primer. There’s some heavy pitting in a few areas and a few dents that need to be repaired before I can begin the final colors. View attachment 215895
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Red oxide. Done. Perfect I like it.

 

[Markm]

Cool bike stand!

 

[JA331]

Took a day off working on bikes yesterday and went to a historic race car meeting instead. The sound of this 650+ hp 351W Mustang screaming to 8000rpm made my day. Named Mustang Sally, it won 6 Historic touring car championships in Australia in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The red Mustang below with the transporter in the background is a replica of the car Alan Moffat drive in Australia. The original car was one of 7 Trans-am ‘69 Boss 302 Mustangs built at Kar Kraft and gifted to Moffat by Ford USA with the sole aim of winning the Australian Touring Car Championship. It never won a championship but won all 3 races on its race debut and 101 wins from 151 starts.

Kar Kraft sliced 2 inches out of the front of the car to improve the aerodynamics which gave the car its shark like hunkered down look. Moffat’s competitors never caught on until years later.

The original car is in a private collection in Queensland and is shown in the last 2 photos.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

My cousin used to take me for a spin up the country roads in an orange and black Mach 1. Some of my earliest lessons in straightening the curves. I'm not a Ford guy, but those are special cars, bigger than brand loyalty

 

[JA331]

I’m debating whether I should apply some filler to smooth out these factory welds. I can’t remember if they had lead filler before the frame was blasted. There was some remaining in the area where the middle tube met the down and head tubes.

As this is not a back to original build I am inclined to use filler but I kind of like the roughly finished welds pointing to a different time in Schwinn’s history.

 

[Captain Awesome]

I’m debating whether I should apply some filler to smooth out these factory welds. I can’t remember if they had lead filler before the frame was blasted. There was some remaining in the area where the middle tube met the down and head tubes.

As this is not a back to original build I am inclined to use filler but I kind of like the roughly finished welds pointing to a different time in Schwinn’s history.
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Really do jump out in those photos

 

[JA331]

Really do jump out in those photos

Sure do.

I found this listing for a bike with the same frame on the web. It appears the welds on the top of the frame are made smooth with filler and the ones at the bottom bracket are not.

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1936-schwinn-majestic-“c”-model-part-out.88136/