As I stated at the onset of this Build-Off, I wasn't looking to reinvent the wheel nor approach this with a Dr. Frankenstein "lets create a new monster" vibe.
My intent was to save this beautiful Prewar Schwinn 1940 DX while maintaining as much of the originality as possible.
The inherent problem with trying to save a bike that's been left to the elements, for perhaps as many as 50 years, is trying to save as much as possible - but also to make whatever replacement parts match what is left from the original bike.
![IMG20240316091052.jpg IMG20240316091052.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attachments/273/273342-c2f86f1a836d46a1d213b44f4035e0ff.jpg)
![IMG20240316091254.jpg IMG20240316091254.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attachments/273/273343-7e4ae0838accfe32bce3f0cb102e9f50.jpg)
![IMG20240319201646.jpg IMG20240319201646.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attachments/273/273344-6259d349bc365feddab1c087fb93be04.jpg)
Luckily for me, and many others here on the forum, we have some truly gifted and creative people. OddJob's techniques and willingness to so unselfishly share the tricks of "faux-tina" helped make this project what it is.
The original bike's fenders, chainguard, wheels, truss rods and handlebars were not salvageable.
This bike was built from a women's 1939 DX, the original 1940 DX, and a 1941 DX supplied the fenders and truss rods.
This women's 1939 DX (above) supplied me with the rims, crank, chain and chainguard. As you can see, the chainguard was not a match.
Due to slight length differences, I also ended up going back and had to steal the rear fender braces from the '39 to add to the '41 fenders. That created another matching problem as 1941 was a one year only painted braces model - meaning I had to make them match.
The original wheels were stripped to bare metal and re-painted then aged to match.
![IMG20240522201007.jpg IMG20240522201007.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attachments/273/273352-c914e94a1de5cc871d1f9839e93f1421.jpg)
![269124-IMG20240610193852.jpg 269124-IMG20240610193852.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ratrodbikes/data/attachments/273/273351-19db7ce122c07280b6f10f4232c2470f.jpg)
The finishing touches were the 1953 Manistee Bike License that was on it when found, and also a St. Christopher bike medal that was on one of the non-surviving bicycles from the farm-haul.
In the grand scheme of build-offs, this is not one of my usual entries. I said from the beginning, "I'm going to be building this bike anyway, I might as well build it along with friends and see what y'all are up to".
A shout out to my Wednesday night bike building buddy Dyno Dan who is a master builder and true friend.