(MBBO #5 Class I) One-owner '68 Sting-Ray..and the OddJob Award!

[OddJob]

Hey Odd, what's the serial number on the left dropout? Second letter E means 69 (first letter is the month A = Jan etc). Crank looks long for a Junior. 69 was a transitional year, too; lots of late '69s have the mag sprocket and different guard. The bars look like '70 style to me, but hard to tell from the angle and the smoosh.

furyus

I will check the serial # in the morning. I was going on the owner's say on what year it was. However, after examination and inquiry, he wasn't sure that the rear wheel was stock either (which it wasn't, because it had a 20 x 2.125 tire on it, except for the fact that it said 'Schwinn' on the tire?) . I have a rear wheel coming off of ebay that will / should match the 'Schwinn tubeless' rim that's on the front. So, the bike could be '70. I'm curious to know now....not curious enough to get off the couch...

 

[Chad T]

20 x 2.125 would be standard rear tire for a Stingray but that back wheel is not from a Schwinn. Should be a Schwinn S2 1 3/4 is the front size. Junior would have 1 3/4 front and back.

The more I look at it though the more I think it might not be a short frame. The chain stays look too straight. Here's a short frame. Notice how the chain stays are curved up? Hard to tell the long frame when it's got the lucky 7 sprocket.

Then here's a '68 with the later, longer frame.

So I guess yours does look like a '69...so.....nevermind...

I still say you should put '69 bars on it tho....

 

[OddJob]

Hey @furyus ....finally checked that rear drop out for the serial # on '69 One-owner. CD29224, which according to the Schwinn serial number site, was a bike built in March of 1968.
And @Chad T, I will get a better idea about junior or not, after I get the wheels on it this next weekend. One thing I do know, Randy is a fairly short guy, so a kid version of him at age 8 or so might have been able to ride a junior frame pretty comfortably.

 

[Chad T]

I don't think it's a junior after looking at my junior and looking at this one again. '68 makes sense. I think they started using mag sprockets in '69. '66-'68 had the lucky 7 sprocket with the larger frame.

They're a little tough to tell apart sometimes but I think you actually have the large frame there. Short frame has the more upswept chain stays and shorter top tube.

 

[OddJob]

Getting started on some cleaning this morning. Chain guard shined up nice. @Chad T , can you hook me up to your source for Schwinn decals?

Front wheel is next in line...

 

[OddJob]

There's almost nothing more painstaking than cleaning rust off of chrome, especially tight spots. And at the same time, almost nothing more satisfying than renewed, shiny chrome....

 

[Chad T]

Getting started on some cleaning this morning. Chain guard shined up nice. @Chad T , can you hook me up to your source for Schwinn decals?

Sure buddy...http://www.memorylane-classics.com/ They're old school. You gotta call but they should have anything you need. Just tell him the year of Stingray and he should be able to hook you up.

 

[furyus]

Mine's February '68. Goodness gracious coming up on 50 years.

Making some good progress there. I'm working almost as hard trying to keep my rust!

furyus

 

[CRASH]

The Wald 880 bars are similar but not sure how they match size wise.

Wald 880's are only a 10.5" rise. That's like a late Fair Lady handlebar. He'd need something around 14" to match correctly.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Chrome is looking good OJ!

Luke.

 

[OddJob]

[QUOTE="OddJob, Looks like I found a good match thenl, because the rise, width of the bars at the clamp and the grips are exactly the same. The only difference is the sweep of the grip areas; the originals sweep down a bit more than my '70s replacement bars. Right around 13,5". [/QUOTE]

 

[OddJob]

Question for all you 'restoration' gurus. I want to keep the original blue Schwinn grips for this build. In pretty good shape. What method do you use to clean them up? And....GO!

 

[pholTmonx]

Simple green is awsome. Its what we used to wash bikes at arlen ness back in the day. It will breakdown the nasties funk, but has no solovents that harm paint chorme or dry out rubber.
Id sit them in a bath overnight then take a toothbrush quickly to knock back any residue left.
*edit if want use as a dry wash ( like we did for show staging) be sure lets stuff cool down before spraying w simple green. Brakes pipes and casings... its overly concentrated so pour out half the bottle or more for later use and refill with water (dont if u have hard water issues, use distilled ITS CHEAP) if u dont reduce it it will leave a mild film for stuff to stick to eventually.
Extra bonus your bike will smells all piney freash...

 

[OddJob]

Simple green is awsome. Its what we used to wash bikes at arlen ness back in the day. It will breakdown the nasties funk, but has no solovents that harm paint chorme or dry out rubber.
Id sit them in a bath overnight the tak a toothbrush quickly to nock back any residue left.

I have some on hand! Good suggestion.

 

[OddJob]

Last stages of preparation before I 'color wash' the frame, fork, and chain guard. Going to try some light coats of the Chrysler paint recommended by @Chad T , and the thinning and blending technique mentioned by @Indyjps . New water decals on the way from Memory Lane, and a new / old tire for the rear. Getting close....

My customer wants to save the stickers on the frame. His old Minneapolis bike license, a NW Bank sticker (where his dad worked, he now works for an affiliate), a Ride Safe Club sticker, and the prize of the collection: an old school Minnesota Twins sticker from the '60s. His brother, now passed on, was a big Twins fan and it has a lot of emotional attachment for him.

3M blue taped off the stickers before final prep and the paint wash...

 

[pholTmonx]

Good luck with saving the stickers, im watching to see how it works. Im stuck on a few prodjects cause i cant figure out how to save graffix. Im contimplating laquering the critical stuff to allow me to be a bit rougher on polishing out rest of the candy color coat.

 

[Indyjps]

Sorry I haven't done a how to on this. Gets your paint matching close as possible. Thin it way out with acetone and brush it on. Acetone is a faster reducer. If you wanna get fancy, you can buy automotive fast reducer. Let it set up. Wipe it off with lacquer thinner, a slower reducer. You want a "glaze" coat where some of the worn area still shows thru, this allows for color mismatch to not be as noticeable, but still provide corrosion protection.

If you can match the color well, darken it up ( build more paint coverage)

 

[N.Kildare1718]

Here is a 65 shorty. Distance between back/top fender mount to seat post mount is 3"
A full size stingray this same distance will be 4"
On a junior stingray. Which I do not have a pic for reference will be 2".

Here is a link for one I restored and sold sometime back. Video shows a few differences.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

View attachment 34470 View attachment 34469 Here is a 65 shorty. Distance between back/top fender mount to seat post mount is 3"
A full size stingray this same distance will be 4"
On a junior stingray. Which I do not have a pic for reference will be 2".

Here is a link for one I restored and sold sometime back. Video shows a few differences.

Good info there!

Luke.

 

[OneHorsePower]

Question for all you 'restoration' gurus. I want to keep the original blue Schwinn grips for this build. In pretty good shape. What method do you use to clean them up? And....GO!

View attachment 34335

SOS for me .from tires/grips/chrome, to polishing bare metal and aluminum, it also clean dishes
as long as there is blue soap on it , its magic .. under hot water for rubbers helps